Nature Reading List

Although nature study is to be pursued every day, every year, this fall I have given over at least twelve weeks to the intensive study of the world around us and to the study of nature-related literature and biographies.  My goal is to acquaint my children intimately with the natural world near our home and to develop a love for natural history writing and illustrations.  Perhaps more importantly, I want to embrace with them the world God created for us, to be inspired and to rest in the comfort and splendor there.  My sense is that we may head for the hills (the woods, the pond, the river) and never return to doing school at home again!  Here are some books we are enjoying this autumn:

 

 

Read Alouds for everybody:

Caddie Woodlawn

My Side of the Mountain

Rascal

Walden

Laddie

Water Sky

Where the Red Fern Grows

Paddle to the Sea

Minn of the Mississippi

Owls in the Family

Level Three Readers

(I will use several of these with Michael

 while I wait for Biology)

Black Hearts in Battersea

Nightbirds on Nantucket

The Wolves of Willouby Chase

Michael O'Halloran

Freckles

The Keeper of the Bees

The Harvester

The Best of Beston

Girl of the Limberlost

Level Two

Trumpet of the Swans

The Herriott Treasury for Children

Autumn Moon

One Day in the Woods

One Day in the Alpine Tundra

Kildee House

Owl in the shower

The Blue Hill Meadows

Tarantula in my Purse

Winter Moon

Picture book biographies to share:

Into the Woods

A Man Named Thoreau

Black Whiteness

Pond Watching with Ann Morgan

Bug Watching with Charles Henry Turner

Bird Watching with Margaret Morse Nice

Nature Art with Chiura Obata

Flower Watching with Alice Eastwood

Fish Watching with Eugenie Clark

Exploring the Earth with John Wesley Powell

Wildlife Watching with Charles Eastman

Girls Who Look under Rocks

(note:  We enjoyed this last  book, with inspiring stories of young scientists.  But, as a homeschooling family, were surprised—there is a specific bit of information the author did not include.  Miriam Rothschild, for instance, never went to school.  Why didn't the authors mention that her family believed that school was a waste of time, and that it stifled scientific creativity?  And what of the early education of other women naturalists?  Be inspired to use this book as a starting place, as an inspiration for more in-depth research.  --MacBeth)

 

 

Picture Books

(these are Level One but I really

 think everyone should share them):

Henry David's House 

Henry Hikes to Fitchburg

Henry Builds a Cabin

Louisa May and Mr. Thoreau's Flute

Several titles by each of the following:

Joanne Ryder

When the Woods Hum

Fog in the Meadow

A Fawn in the Grass

Each Living Thing

Wild Birds

 Mockingbird Morning

Catching the Wind

My Father's Hands

The Waterfall's Gift

 Hello Tree!

Eric Carle:

The Very Busy Spider

The Very Quiet Cricket

The Very Lonely Firefly

The Very Clumsy Click Beetle

Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

The Mixed up Chameleon

The Grouchy Ladybug

The Honeybee and the Robber

Cynthia Rylant

Every Living Thing

The Bird House

Tulip Sees America

Night in the Country

Blue Hill Meadows

In November

The Wonderful Happens

This Year's Garden

More good stuff:

America The Beautiful

Salamander Rain:  A Lake and Pond Journal

Crinkleroot's guide to Knowing the birds

Crinkleroot's Guide to Animal Habitats

Crinkleroot's Guide to Knowing the Trees

(click on thumbnail for closer look!

Resources and books for Mom and/or high schoolers:

The Amateur Naturalist

Golden Guides:

Pond Life, Insects, Birds

The Wild Out Your Window:  Exploring Nature Near at Hand

The Curious Naturalist:  Nature's Everyday Mysteries

Reading the Mountains of Home

Writing Naturally:  A down to earth guide to nature writing

Fun With Nature Take Along Guide

More Fun with Nature Take Along Guide

Drawing From Nature

Keeping a Nature Journal

A Crow Doesn't Need a Shadow

Acorn Pancakes and Dandelion Salad and 38 Other Wild Recipes

Hurricane Reading

Peter Spier's Rain

Galveston's Summer of the Storm

Hurricane

Magic School Bus inside a Hurricane

Rain Makes Applesauce

Come on, Rain!

Down Comes The Rain

One Morning in Maine

 

Picture Study

Thomas Locker:

Cloud Dance

 Mountain Dance

Where the River Begins

In Blue Mountains

Walking With Henry

 

and others.

 

Audubon paintings

Monet’s Water Lilies

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