Building a Library for Nature Study -- Recommendations Needed

[Narnian]

We're getting ready to start a CM-style approach to science (while the weather in Texas is especially cooperative), and I'd like to add to our reference library.

 

I have:

 

The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees (Eastern)

 

Peterson Field Guide - Eastern Birds

 

a field guide to wildflowers

 

Barb's awesome Handbook of Nature Study Blog :)

 

 

On my list of possibilities:

 

Handbook of Nature Study, Anna Comstock (probably won't buy this one just yet, as it can be read online)

 

Field guides on insects, reptiles/amphibians, butterflies, etc. (Does anyone have/like/dislike the Peterson Field Guides for Young Naturalists series? Do they have enough information, or are they too simplistic to be useful?) What other field guides should I get? What am I missing?

 

I'm also planning to use Drawing With Kids (Mona Brooks), which should help with our sketching skills, but I'd like to chose a book that is geared toward sketching nature as well. Preferably something that would work well for an 8-year-old:

 

The Sierra Club Guide to Sketching Nature, Cathy Johnson

 

Keeping a Nature Journal, Claire Walker Leslie

 

Illustrating Nature: Right-Brain Art in a Left-Brain World, Irene Brady

 

If you have any of these books (or have a recommendation for something better), I'd love to hear your thoughts.

 

Any field guides that you love? Good books for cloud identification/weather?

 

Please do share!

[Cynful]

My children loved these books:

 

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Take-Along+Guides&x=0&y=0

 

Good luck,

[swellmomma]

In our collection so far we have:

Handbook of nature study,

pocket full of pinecones,

seaside naturalist(ordered last night)

the full collection of one small square books(ordered last night),

various guides (butterflies, bugs, trees, birds)

Roots, shoots, buckets and boots

And not books but for the kids to use: a flower press, various little critter catchers(small for bugs, bigger for things like pond dipping), butterfly cage, butterfly nets, pond nets, binoculars, magnifying glasses and bird call(ordered last night)

I also ordered a cloud chart and book from rainbow resource, though I will have to double check my order form(ordered it last night) to see who they were by.

 

On my wish list are:

100 flowers and how they got their names

100 birds and how they got their names

practical entomologist

How to draw botanical drawings

[swellmomma]

My children loved these books:

 

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Take-Along+Guides&x=0&y=0

 

Good luck,

 

I forgot about those ones, we have a couple of them and really enjoy them too. Good thing I forgot about them lastnight when I was ordering stuff, I already spent too much lol

[Jayne J]

Along the same lines as the Take Along Guides , we have liked the One Small Square series. We get the ones we can actually use in our area (woods, pond, swamp, backyard and nightsky so far. No tidepools or deserts for us...) and use them to structure our studies a little bit.

 

Oh, by the way, here is a GREAT company for discovering new nature study resources:

http://www.acornnaturalists.com/ They have an excellent catalog.

Edited January 21, 2010 by urpedonmommy

[ubermomto5]

go here to download the handbook of nature study for free...

http://www.homeschoolfreebie.wholesomechildhood.com/

[helena]

In addition to what others have said:

Crinkleroot Books are nice:

http://www.amazon.com/Crinkleroots-Guide-Knowing-Trees-Arnosky/dp/0027058557

If you want to get goovy on your kids, we love this series:

http://www.amazon.com/Everybody-Needs-Rock-Aladdin-Book/dp/0689710518/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264116296&sr=1-1

Here is a book I'm planning to use next year with botany:

http://www.amazon.com/New-Eyes-Plants-Workbook-Observation/dp/186989085X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264116363&sr=1-1

I just got it last week, it's really beautiful.

 

I'm not sure if these are nature study type books, but I love books illustrated by Thomas Locker, I think there is a place for them :):

http://www.amazon.com/Water-Dance-Thomas-Locker/dp/0152163964/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264116503&sr=1-3

Here is the nature journal we use, we like it but it's not happening that often:http://www.amazon.com/My-Nature-Journal-Personal-People/dp/0967245915/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264116672&sr=1-6

We use this type of book to make garden journals:http://www.waldorfsupplies.com/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/psstone/store/agora.cgi?product=Lesson_Books_and_Paper

We glue in the empty seed packets in the book and photos of the plants at different stages. We date everything as we go along and jot down whats happening with the plants. These note books are awesome for nature journaling because they're on the heartier side and the paper is thick enough to glue in pressed flowers etc.

 

We've also found some of the Waldorf type craft books to have good nature activities:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1869890477/ref=s9_simi_gw_s0_p14_t1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=06NQR6PQ3XKDN6ETB4RY&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846

http://www.amazon.com/Crafts-through-Year-Petra-Berger/dp/0863153224/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264117836&sr=1-1

This is a wonderful nature curriculum:http://www.the-private-eye.com/index.html

The book was very useful:http://www.amazon.com/Private-Eye-225X-22-Developing-Interdisciplinary/dp/0960543414/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264117982&sr=8-2

Here is a website I got turned onto here:http://www.ellenjmchenry.com/

She has some neat free stuff, my girls just finished her barnacle activity, they turned out beautiful. There are free printable pages for botany that may work for you.

 

Here is another nature studies website:http://www.nature-watch.com/

hth

[Narnian]

Thank you all for the great recommendations and ideas! What a huge help. Just placed a whole bunch of library holds, and I can practically hear the folks at Amazon laughing with maniacal glee as I add more and more things to my wish list and cart. :D

 

Thanks again.

[Guest Cindie2dds]

 

Outdoor Secrets is our favorite right now. :)

[Amy Jo]

Finding Your Wings - Peterson field guides. Its a course on bird-watching.

I'm going to use some of Tom Brown Jr.'s books too. He has handbooks for nature observation and tracking, as well as survival and an autobiography called The Tracker. He learned nature skills from his friend's grandfather, Stalking Wolf (an Apache I think, one of the last raised in the "old ways").

I finally bought the Handbook of Nature Study. It actually gets read now that I don't have to wait for the file to load / scroll. Probably not an issue if the file is in smaller pieces though.

[MelanieM]

I love the Peterson Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants. We've had great fun foraging with this book.

[Kareni]

I like The Country Diary Of An Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden (which I believe is now out of print). It's a great example of a nature diary. Perhaps you can find it at your library or obtain it through inter-library loan.

 

Regards,

Kareni