Great Outdoors Month Books
Explore inspiring stories and vivid guides celebrating the Great American Outdoors—full of adventure, nature, and breathtaking landscapes..
Wild Nights Out: The Magic of Exploring the Outdoors After Dark
Environmental educator and founder of WildWise provides a hands-on guide for those who wish to take kids (of all ages) outdoors for an adventurous, even slightly scary nighttime nature experience. Includes a collection of unique activities to explore the natural world from dusk till dawn. 2021.
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Digital Book Number: DB104538
Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Loves to Walk Outside
The actor and author of Paddle Your Own Canoe (DB 78148) shares observations from three journeys he took across America, including a hiking trip in Glacier National Park. The experiences inspired his mission statement about comprehending, protecting, and truly experiencing the outdoors. Contains some violence, some strong language, and some descriptions of sex. Commercial audiobook. 2021.
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Digital Book Number: DB105515
Outdoor Kids in an Inside World: Getting Your Family Out of the House and Radically Engaged with Nature
In the era of screens and devices, the average American spends 90 percent of their time indoors, and children are no exception. Not only does this phenomenon have consequences for kids' physical and mental health, it jeopardizes their ability to understand and engage with anything beyond the built environment. Thankfully, with the right mind-set, families can find beauty, meaning, and connection in a life lived outdoors. Here, outdoors expert Steven Rinella shares the parenting wisdom he has garnered as a father whose family has lived amid the biggest cities and wildest corners of America. Throughout, he offers practical advice for getting kids radically engaged with nature in a muddy, thrilling, hands-on way, with the ultimate goal of helping them see their own place within the natural ecosystem. No matter their location--rural, suburban, or urban--caregivers and kids will bond over activities such as: Camping to conquer fears, build tolerance for dirt and discomfort, and savor the timeless pleasure of swapping stories around a campfire. Growing a vegetable garden to develop a capacity to nurture and an appreciation for hard work. Fishing local lakes and rivers to learn the value of patience while grappling with the possibility of failure. Hunting for sustainably managed wild game to face the realities of life, death, and what it really takes to obtain our food. Living an outdoor lifestyle fosters in kids an insatiable curiosity about the world around them, confidence and self-sufficiency, and, most important, a lifelong sense of stewardship of the natural world. This book helps families connect with nature--and one another--as a joyful part of everyday life.
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Digital Book Number: DB108513
Windswept: Walking the Paths of Trailblazing Women
Annabel Abbs's Windswept: Walking the Paths of Trailblazing Women is a beautifully written meditation on connecting with the outdoors through the simple act of walking. In captivating and elegant prose, Abbs follows in the footsteps of women who boldly reclaimed wild landscapes for themselves, including Georgia O'Keeffe in the empty plains of Texas and New Mexico, Nan Shepherd in the mountains of Scotland, Gwen John following the French River Garonne, Daphne du Maurier along the River Rhône, and Simone de Beauvoir--who walked as much as twenty-five miles a day in a dress and espadrilles--through the mountains and forests of France. Part historical inquiry and part memoir, the stories of these writers and artists are laced together by moments in Abbs's own life, beginning with her poet father who raised her in the Welsh countryside as an "experiment," according to the principles of Rousseau. Abbs explores a forgotten legacy of moving on foot and discovers how it has helped women throughout history to find their voices, to reimagine their lives, and to break free from convention. As Abbs traces the paths of exceptional women, she realizes that she, too, is walking away from her past and into a radically different future. Windswept crosses continents and centuries in a provocative and poignant account of the power of walking in nature.
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Digital Book Number: DB112042
Wonderlandscape: Yellowstone National Park and the Evolution of an American Cultural Icon
An evocative blend of history and nature writing that tells the story of Yellowstone's evolving significance in American culture through the stories of ten iconic figures. Yellowstone is America's premier national park. Today Yellowstone is often a byword for conservation, natural beauty, and a way for everyone to enjoy the great outdoors. But it was not always this way. Wonderlandscape presents a new perspective on Yellowstone, the emotions that various natural wonders and attractions evoke, and how this explains the park's relationship to America as a whole. Whether it is artists or naturalists, entrepreneurs or pop-culture icons, each character in the story of Yellowstone ends up reflecting and redefining the park for the values of its era. For example, when Ernest Thompson Seton wanted to observe bears in 1897, his adventures highlighted the way the park transformed from a set of geological oddities to a wildlife sanctuary, reflecting a nation that was concerned about disappearing populations of bison and other species. Subsequent eras added Rooseveltian masculinity, democratic patriotism, ecosystem science, and artistic inspiration as core Yellowstone hallmarks. As the National Park system enters its second century, Wonderlandscape allows us to reflect on the values and heritage that Yellowstone alone has come to represent?how it will shape America's relationship with her land for generations to come.
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Digital Book Number: DB113684
Cowasee Basin: The Green Heart of South Carolina
Preface by Bill Cate and Foreword by Walter Edgar. Located in central South Carolina along the Congaree, Wateree, and Upper Santee Rivers, the 215,000 acre Cowasee Basin, an acronym for the three rivers that hold it together, features some of the most significant biological, historical, and cultural resources in North America. The heart of the COWASEE Basin is Congaree National Park, the state's only national park.
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Digital Book Number: DBC00079