Selected books & field guides

child development & nature

Children's Special Places: Exploring the Role of Forts, Dens, and Bush Houses in Middle Childhood, by David Sobel, 2001. 

choosing field guides for children

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology BirdSleuth program provides advice on choosing field guides for children.

" We think that a field guide can help turn curiosity into a lifelong passion, while the wrong field guide and approach might lead to frustration and disinterest."

choosing books By and about native americans for children

American Indians in Children's Literature (AICL) provides critical perspectives and analysis of indigenous peoples in children's and young adult books, school curricula, and popular culture. Dr. Debbie Reese, a member of the Nambé Pueblo in New Mexico, recommends the best books by and about Native Americans on the AICL blog.

cultivating environmental literacy

Acorn Naturalists offers a thoughtful list of books that help educators to teach about the natural environment and to nurture children's environmental literacy.

field guides

Acorn Naturalists offers a large selection of field guides for children and adults, including:

• Fandex Guides
• Golden Guides
• Kaufman Field Guides
• Lone Pine Regional Tracking Guides
• National Audubon Society Field Guides
• National Geographic Field Guides
• Peterson Field Guides
• Sibley Field Guides
• Stokes Nature & Beginner's Field Guides
• University of California Field Guides

Evolutionary biologist Jonathan Eisen shares a field guide to his favorite field guides in Wired Magazine.

hudson highlands history

Environmental History of the Hudson River: Human Uses that Changed the Ecology; Ecology that Changed Human Uses, Robert E. Henshaw, Editor, 2011

First Manhattans: A History of the Indians of Greater New York, by Robert S. Grumet, 2011
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Hidden History of the Lower Hudson Valley: Stories from the Albany Post Road,  by Carney Rhinevault and Tatiana Rhinevault, 2012

The Hudson: America's River, by Frances F. Dunwell, 2008

The Hudson River Highlands, by Frances F. Dunwell, 1991

learning through inquiry

Acorn Naturalists offers a strong list of books that advocate and outline methodology for hands-on inquiry-based learning.
Teaching Green: The Elementary Years, Tim Grant and Gail Littlejohn, editors, 2005
Teaching Green: The Middle Years, Tim Grant and Gail Littlejohn, editors, 2004

nurturing a sense of place

• Acorn Naturalists offers a well-considered list of books that help children and adults to connect with their local environment to develop a sense of place.
• Mapmaking with Children, by David Sobel, 1998
• Place-Based Education: Connecting Classrooms and Communities, by David Sobel, 2004

observing and contemplating nature

• Acorn Naturalists offers a list of books that help teachers and students to observe nature more closely.
• Sharing Nature®: Nature Awareness Activities for All Ages, by Joseph Cornell, 2015
  

Sources

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