I’m a wimp in the cold. Much as I respect the Charlotte Mason “get out for a walk every day, no matter what the weather” principle, I don’t live by it. No well-bundled foul-weather treks for me, invigorating though they might be. The children are encouraged to get outside for fresh air every day, but if they want my company, they have to settle for the sofa, the fireside, and a good book. Preferably one full of heroic wilderness adventures in the elements.
But as soon as the weather begins to turn, oh, I’m there. Just try and keep me inside. Housework? Pah! The floors can take care of themselves. The kids and I have paths to tread, shoes to muddy, trees to meet.
In addition to field guides and the indispensible Handbook of Nature Study
by Anna Botsford Comstock, there are a few other books that leap off the shelves at me this time every year:
Wild Days: Creating Discovery Journals by Karen Skidmore Rackliffe
Keeping a Nature Journal: Discover a Whole New Way of Seeing the World Around You by Clare Walker Leslie and Charles E. Roth
Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots: Gardening Together with Children and Sunflower Houses : Inspiration from the Garden – A Book for Children and Their Grown-Ups
by Sharon Lovejoy
Mrs. Greenthumbs: How I Turned a Boring Yard into a Glorious Garden and How You Can, Too
by Cassandra Danz (for adults only)
Noah’s Garden: Restoring the Ecology of Our Own Backyards
and Planting Noah’s Garden: Further Adventures in Backyard Ecology
by Sara Stein
Onward & Upward in the Garden
by Katharine White (A collection of gardening essays by the wife of E.B. White).
These old friends keep us busy during the wet and chilly days of March. Come April, we’re outside living the adventure instead of reading about it. I am intrepid! I am daring! No breeze is too balmy, no creek too melodic, no backpack too full of snacks for this nature-loving mother.
That is, until the weather turns hot.
Eileen Smithdeal says:
Hi Lissa!
Sounds good to me!Here’s another great Nature resource by Clare Walker Leslie: it’s a book Called,
Nature Drawing -A Tool For Learning.It’s different than her journaling book,and Emmanuel books carries it.(Unless you get lucky like me,and your library carries it!)I also like the Jim Arnosky books.They are in the children’s Art section in the Library.Take care!love the site!!!-Eileen
On March 28, 2005 at 12:47 pm
Mary Beth Patnaude says:
Oh, for the balmy breezes you in the Mid Atlantic States Enjoy! Up here in Maine, we get about 2 warm days a summer. I do agree with you about ejoying nature in the warm weather, but we also enjoy it with a wind so brisk you feel like your ears will blow off, and then there’s the mud…
Any way, Thanks for the suggestions for nature books. I’m always looking for new adventures to bring my kids on.
On March 28, 2005 at 4:45 pm