Outdoor Education Commons^™

Book Reviews, Coalition For Education In The Outdoors

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

This section reviewed several books. These books included:

Outdoor Adventure and Social Theory-- edited by Elizabeth C. J. Pike and Simon Beames and reviewed by Jeff Rose

The Journey at Malloryville Bog-- written by Robert M. Beck and reviewed by Charles Yaple

Book Reviews, Coalition For Education In The Outdoors

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

This section reviewed several books, including:

Navigating Environmental Attitudes, written by Thomas A. Heberlein

Environmental Education (Critical Concepts in the Environment), edited by Justin Dillon and Alan Reid

Letters to a Young Scientist, written by Edward O. Wilson

Review Of Eco Barons, Charles Yaple

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

Are you dutifully, but with a degree of tiredness, still reading about the seemingly endless woes of environmental degradation? If so, get a copy of Edward Humes’ Eco Barons… and experience a true tale about people making significant contributions to the health of the planet. Eco Barons…will acquaint you with individuals possessing the intellectual and financial wherewithal to challenge the unsustainable ways of living to which we have become accustomed. Their identities and stories may surprise you.

Review Of Teaching The Trees, Charles Yaple

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

Wallace Stegner is credited with authoring the statement, “Trees are the geography of hope.” Joan Maloof appears to have taken Stegner’s words to heart and testifies as to their validity in a delightful collection of essays about local trees in Maryland – Oaks, Beech, Pine, Red Maple, Black Locust, Cherry, Walnut and others. Teaching the trees… beautifully combines science, philosophy, and spirituality to make the case for preserving treed landscapes at all costs. Thoreau, Leopold and others who wrote about the importance of trees would give Maloof a standing ovation.

Review Of Flow: For Love Of Water, James B. Macadam

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

In the community where I live - Tucson, Arizona - about a third of our drinking water supply is pumped 300 miles uphill from the Colorado River, by a system of canals and pumps that consume 400,000 homes’ worth of energy every year. The rest is pumped out of local underground aquifers faster than they can be replenished. To say the least, water’s a hot topic around here. So when our nonprofit showed Flow - director Irena Salina’s 2008 documentary on the world water crisis - at the local independent theater, we expected that folks would be interested. When we …

Review Of Nature First, Michael A Anderson

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

Nature First is a collection of essays edited by Bob Henderson and Nils Vikander. In it the evolving relationship between humans and nature in modern industrialized society is explored through the lens of the Norwegian traditions of friluftsliv. Frilufts-what, you may say if like me you're seeing the word for the first time. Fri-lufts-liv. In drawing attention to this most intriguing word, which translates literally to "free air life" or "nature free life", the editors introduce the reader to the deep and complex roots of Norway's cultural relationship with nature. A relationship whose sense of place has a history pre-dating …

Review Of Cache Lake Country, Charles Yaple

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

Those who read Cache Lake Country will quickly understand why it was selected for a 1999 National Outdoor Book Award in the classic category. It is the story of John Rowlands who lived in the wilds of northern Ontario during the early part of the 20th century. A man of many talents, Rowland worked as a miner, prospector, surveyor and timber cruiser as a young person. He was also a journalist and public relations officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Review Of One Man's Wilderness, Charles Yaple

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

Sam Keith's account (One Man's Wilderness) is the story of Richard Proenneke's stay in the Alaskan wilderness during the late 1960s. Like John Rowland's (Cache Lake Country) it too earned a National Book Award in 1999. Also like Rowland's, Proenneke had dreamed since boyhood of living in the wilderness. Proenneke's time to do so came in 1968 when he hired a bush pilot to fly him into the Twin Lakes area near Port Alsworth, Alaska. There he built a small log cabin and established a homestead that would host him for 16 months and periodically over …

Review Of Wind The World Over, Michael A Anderson

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

In our last issue, we identified in our news briefs section the significant increase in wind power installations throughout the United States during 2007. Now coincidentally, we find Irene Roland and Vanessa Kellogg's, 2007 children's book, Wind the World Over in our reviews section.

Review Of Schoolyard-Enhanced Learning, Charles Yaple

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

Schoolyard-Enhanced Learning...will be a very worthwhile edition to any "would be" outdoor educator's library. Herb Broda has written a nicely balanced book blending theory and practice. Stated in easily understood language, the author provides a very good introduction and overview of "outdoor education" that will help guide readers through confusion surrounding the term. Broda's explanation of the evolving concept of outdoor education will be very useful to new students and to those who wish to convince others (school administrators) about its educational value.

Review Of Where Do The Children Play?, Charles Yaple

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

Where Do The Children Play is a DVD based on Elizabeth Goodenough's book Secret Spaces of Childhood. Recently released in May 2008 it will become a very important component in advancing the Children and Nature movement!

Review Of Noah's Children, Josh Bochniak

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

Sara Stein, in a narrative that elicits emotions as divergent as anger and laughter, approaches the broad idea of what is missing in today's childhood, and what she perceives is needed for its restoration. Approaching topics such as evolutionary and cultural heritage, natural interaction, and developmental struggles, she places many contemporary social norms in sharp contrast against their historical predecessors.

Review Of The Creation, Karl E. Johnson

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

At first glance, E.O. Wilson's The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth is hard not to like. It is an attractive volume from Norton, featuring earth tones and outdoorsy feeling rough-cut pages. And who could quarrel with the project- an effort by a renowned Harvard atheist to reach out to a (fictional) Southern Baptist preacher through a set of letters asking him to collaborate in the cause to "save the Creation"?

Review Of Small Wonders, Elizabeth Rinaldo

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

Study after study recommends integrating children into nature at a very young age. Little ones view with innocent and open eyes - they are curious and inquisitive and don't yet know that it isn't proper to get their hands dirty. Facilitating outdoor opportunities for children at a very young age can lead to a lifelong connection with nature.

Review Of Hands-On Nature: Information And Activities For Exploring The Environment With Children, Laura Carey

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

In reviewing the second edition of this excellent resource, I was first struck by the finely detailed, crisp drawings that amply illustrate each activity. I found myself leafing through the whole book just to see the illustrator’s treatment of twigs, caterpillars, seed dispersal and rotting logs, among many other topics. I couldn’t resist comparing it with the first edition, which came out in 1986. I was pleased to see that the original format and sections (adaptations, habitats, cycles, and designs of nature) were maintained with the addition of a new section of more than 50 pages on earth and sky, …

Review Of The End Of Suburbia, Josh Bochniak

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

What was once, and perhaps is currently, considered the rising star of the American life may be its ultimate undoing. The automobile suburb rose at the end of World War II and continues to ride a wave that seems nowhere near cresting. A pointed documentary film, The End of Suburbia looks at the automobile suburb as the heart of the American dependence on foreign oil and as a prediction of its downfall at the hands of rising oil prices and decreasing supply.

Review Of Last Child In The Woods, Charles Yaple

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

Louv defines nature-deficit disorder (NDD) as “an alienation from nature” that results in “diminished uses of the senses, attention difficulties, and higher rates of physical and emotional illnesses.” In Last Child in the Woods, he demonstrates how it can be observed in individuals, families, and communities. He cites numerous studies that show “a relationship between the absence, or inaccessibility, of parks and open spaces with high crime rates, depression” and other maladies.

Review Of Wilderness And The American Mind, Charles Yaple

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

Yes, we know most Taproot readers have probably read Roderick Nash's Wildernesss and the American Mind (WAM). In fact, many practicing environmental and outdoor education professionals "cut their teeth" on WAM and Aldo Leopolds', A Sand County Almanac. However, it is a good wager that many of we "older" practitioners have not read the fourth edition of Wilderness and the American Mind. It is important that we do so.

Reviews, Charles Yaple

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

Destined to become a classic, should be made into a film, a must read ... , what additional superlatives can a reviewer make about a book? All those who call themselves an outdoor educator should add The Earth is Enough ... to their list of recommended books for older (sixth grade and up) children, and for all adults who care about children! In this day and age when the electronification of childhood is common place, Middleton's saga can inspire youngsters to seek outdoor pursuits that will open their eyes to adventures far greater than any contrived by some virtual reality …

Review: The Public Television Series, Journey To Planet Earth, Patrick K. Pryor

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

Sensational journalism, dramatic music, real science, and vivid computer animation lead the viewer on a journey across a world of cultures. At each stop one is compelled to feel compassion for the citizens of the far away region, and for those in our own highly developed nation. Although technologically advanced, the US is not immune to the same ecological, political, and racial predicaments. The narrator illuminates this immunity using rhetoric laced with American pride.

Reviews, Coalition For Education In The Outdoors

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

This section reviewed several books and films.

Books:

The Wild Within: Adventures in Nature and Animal Teachings-- reviewed by Jon Harshbarger

Wild Hunger - The Primal Roots of Modern Addiction-- reviewed by Charles Yaple

Within Reach: M11 Everest Story-- reviewed by Hunter Nezelek

Films:

Lost Borders - Coming of Age in the Wilderness-- reviewed by Chales Yaple.

Reviews, Coalition For Education In The Outdoors

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

This section features the review "Environmental Protection: A Challenge Bigger Than All Outdoors" by Sue Schaefer. This review is about the National Issues Forums. This section also includes some corrections to a previous issue.

Reviews, Coalition For Education In The Outdoors

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

This section reviewed a mixture of lesson plans, educational videos, and books. These reviews include:

Zebra Mussel Mania (lesson plan reviewed by Patricia MacDonald), and

Nature and the Human Spirit: Toward an Expanded Land Management Ethic (book reviewed by Dr. Curtis Schatz)

Reviews, Coalition For Education In The Outdoors

Taproot: A Journal of Outdoor Education

This section reviewed several books:

Down canyon by Elizabeth Sharp

The Environmental Promise of Democratic Deliberation by Dr. Curtis Schatz

(Spotlight Continued)