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Keeping a Nature Journal: Discover a Whole New Way of Seeing the World Around Youx$10.66
  (15 reviews)
Best Price: $18.95 $10.66
From the day it was released in 2000, Keeping a Nature Journal has struck a profound chord among professional, casual, and occasional naturalists of all ages. In response to this groundswell of enthusiasm, we have revised KEEPING A NATURE JOURNAL, updated the interior design, and created a new cover. Undoubtedly the most exciting new element in this second edition is a portfolio of 32 illustrated pages from Clare Walker Leslie's most recent journals, reproduced in full color. What makes KEEPING A NATURE JOURNAL so popular? It is inspiring and easy to use. Clare and co-author Charles "Chuck" E. Roth offer simple techniques to give first-time journal-keepers the confidence to go outside, observe the natural world, and sketch and write about what they see. At the same time, they motivate long-time journal-keepers to hone their powers of observation as they immerse themselves in the mysteries of the natural world. Clare and Chuck stress that the journal is a personal record of daily experience and the world around us. Nature's beauty can be observed everywhere, whether in the city, suburbs, or country.
UPC: 037038174939
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Customer Reviews
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Real ideas from real notebooks
By AEKWLJTIMUE5B on 2001-08-16
What makes this book so great? It is partially a nature journal itself, yet it is full of *real* ideas for your notebooks. I love the authors' drawings and comments, and how they help you draw well with small exercises. I was amazed at how well I could draw a bird after doing the bird sketches they recommend. They include sidebars with annectdotes of teaching approaches. They suggest ways to make a note book your own, to make it more interesting, and to make it more scientific, too!Some of my favorite pages in the book are city or country landscapes, including houses and buildings. The authors remind us that humans are part of nature, and what they build is too, just as a wasps' nest is. A drawing of a street in Cambridge MA made me a bit homesick...but it also reminded me that this would be our last year with a cabana at the beach. I started documenting our days there, and rather than take photos, I tried to record our days in pictures I drew. These are not amazingly Rembrant-esque, but they accurately reflect the days we spent. With a bit of help from this book, I was able to capture perspective and shadowing as I drew my children and the local flora and fauna, and add comments as I draw--the time and temperature, what the animals are doing, when the last rain fall was, or how I felt. The entries in this notebook include the buildings and benches, the fences and the kites--everything it take s to capture a scene. Leslie and Roth talk about different types of notebooks, with examples. Seasonal notebooks capture the changing wilderness; scientific notebooks record observations with commentary. A notebook may include only flora or fauna. It may record a journey or special occasion. A nifty section includes a discussion of materials and tools for drawing. Leslie demonstrates pens vs. pencils and markers, drawing the same leaf with several different tools. She tells us her preferences, but leaves us to choose for ourselves. One side-bar includes the author's reflexion on teaching nature journaling: When asked about drawing in an nature notebook, one second grader said, "Well, I can draw the sky." That's how I felt about drawing...and yet that phrase says so much about nature notebooks. The sky is so big, yet so simple. I think this sums up the whole book. Keeping a nature notebook is so simple, yet such a big part of our education.
WOW Beautiful, practical, full of ideas and useful tidbits!
By A35TWECK3S4KY5 on 2002-06-15
Okay, this is a winner! If you do NOT have it on your bookshelf then get it! This has become one of the required textbooks for many of my courses. (Visit my Amazon page for more information.)It is flat out beautiful -- the beauty is that it is filled with the illustrations and notes by the authors. The book delves into the questions you might have, doubts that might arise -- and those get answered but the book allows and encourages creativity and growth through the nature journal process. You'll find hints for what tools to pick for your illustrations and notes, tips for observing, what information you might want to include, how to overcome your critical mind, beginning drawing exercises and tips on how to enchance your creativity. You'll find a seasonal section that gives some good suggestions for documenting natural changes and events. Later there are more drawing exercises on shading, drawing flowers, anatomy, landscapes, etc. There are also samples of different journal techniques, tips on how to set up a nature study, how to keep records, how to journal for a scientific study or biological research project and still more! Toward the end of the book group journaling and exploring is discussed. What you will also find are valuable tips for quizzes, writing, science, art, history, music and math projects. The suggested reading list and assessment scale for the journal or porfolio are also vital resources within this book. If you are not convince now you never will be! One of the best personal journaling _and_ teaching books I've encountered this last year.
This book will inspire you!
By AC43OOV7Y6XX1 on 2001-07-10
What a beautiful guidebook...it's lavishly illustrated with the authors' own nature sketches and comments so that you can really get a feel for what a nature journal is all about. Not only will you be keeping a record of the world around you, but you will be learning to see that world with new eyes. It's so easy to glide over the tiny details that make life truly remarkable...by taking the authors' tips and lessons to heart, you will find yourself paying deeper attention to the little things.You definitely don't have to be an artist (I'm not, by far) to be able to keep a journal of this type. In fact, there are several basic drawing exercises included that will help you develop some skill, even if you think it's hopeless. The important thing is to stop and smell the roses...and then draw them.
Inspiring Tool for Teaching and Learning
By A11LNPG39A2ZV4 on 2000-10-06
This beautifully illustrated and printed book will inspire both the amateur naturalist and the teacher. Leslie and Roth make the process of nature journalling easy to understand and to present to others. Their detailed observations encourage the reader to really look, to really see.
Wonderful, inspiring book!
By AXZJ0FP8Q2YEN on 2002-11-14
This book inspired me to start my own nature journal and gave me the confidence to draw in it! Wonderful, encouraging and instructional. If I can draw nature, then anyone can!
- Wonderful teaching tool.
By on 2004-02-02
I coordinate outdoor workshops for women to provide them the opportunity to learn new skills. We hosted a new class,Nature Journaling, and the instructor needed a book to suplement her curriculum. I selected this book based on the Amazon recomendations and further research. Both the instructor and participants loved the book. It was very helpful and useful once they left the workshop.
I think this book is a great resource in any EE/nature/writing library.
- Not what I thought it was
By A6KKZ8NROZAYK on 2008-01-29
This book is so not what I thought it was going to be. I thought it was a journal to write in with some tips and things to get you started. But it is an entire, huge book telling you how to keep a scientific nature journal. I'd send it back except I don't want to have to pay shipping costs. HOWEVER, if you are looking for a very detailed book on how to keep a scientific nature journal, then this would be great for you. It is a lovely book to look at, and I might find some nice suggestions, but it wasn't at all what I had in mind.
- Love This Beautiful Book!!!
By A1YES8UQ6UBQ46 on 2006-04-28
Our family loves this book - we love the examples from actual nature journals and it has really inspired myself and my children to keep our own nature journals. As we do so, we come to have a better appreciation for the amazing creations all around us. The author really helps to encourage even budding artists to keep nature journals, which helps some of the more timid artists in our family.
- Beautiful and Useable Book
By A306A61Z55D33P on 2006-08-10
I love this book- the art is absolutely beautiful and the general layout really shows it off. It talks about how to begin nature journaling, giving tips on both starting the habit and learning to draw! I love the approach it takes, fostering a closeness and syncronicity with nature and its cycles!
- Excellent introduction to nature journaling
By A2VCKKQ1RGGL7S on 2007-06-14
I bought this book unseen hoping to get some good ideas for a curriculum development project for elementary school kids I'm working on. I wasn't disappointed. This is a beautiful book. It's well written by 2 authors who are obviously passionate about the subject matter. Reproductions of Leslie's journal pages throughout the book also help you see the sorts of things that are possible and are a real inspiration. Her images are often quickly drawn and a little on the rough side, suggesting that anyone with a few minutes, a few colored pencils, a blank book, and a love for nature is capable of making a gorgeous nature journal. The book covers ideas for how to start a nature journal, the kinds of equipment you need, things you might want to keep an eye out for, and suggestions for improving your artistic skills. As I'd hoped, there is also a section for eductators who wish to use nature journals to teach people, young and old, about nature and the environment in which they live.
This book contains a lot of great information and the images from Leslie's journals are amazing. I think anyone who is into nature journals (as I am) would appreciate this book, as well as those who wish to start one.
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