50
Used, New, and Out of Print Books - We Buy and Sell - Powell's Books
Cart |
|  my account  |  wish list  |  help   |  800-878-7323
Hello, | Login
MENU
  • Browse
    • New Arrivals
    • Bestsellers
    • Featured Preorders
    • Award Winners
    • Audio Books
    • See All Subjects
  • Used
  • Staff Picks
    • Staff Picks
    • Picks of the Month
    • 50 Books for 50 Years
    • 25 PNW Books to Read Before You Die
    • 25 Books From the 21st Century
    • 25 Memoirs to Read Before You Die
    • 25 Global Books to Read Before You Die
    • 25 Women to Read Before You Die
    • 25 Books to Read Before You Die
  • Gifts
    • Gift Cards & eGift Cards
    • Powell's Souvenirs
    • Journals and Notebooks
    • socks
    • Games
  • Sell Books
  • Blog
  • Events
  • Find A Store

Don't Miss

  • Literary Friction: 20% Off Select Fiction Books
  • Self Portraits: 20% Off Select Memoirs
  • Powell's Author Events
  • Oregon Battle of the Books
  • Audio Books

Visit Our Stores


Keith Mosman: Five Book Friday: Fearless New Collections from Asian American Poets (0 comment)
As Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month draws to a close, I wanted to highlight some of the recent books of poetry that have so impressed me. Here are five poets who have written collections that are each rich, wise, and fearless...
Read More»
  • Kelsey Ford: Powell's Picks Spotlight: Elif Batuman's 'Either/Or' (0 comment)
  • Keith Mosman: A Long(ish) List of Recent Short Story Collections (0 comment)

{1}
##LOC[OK]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##

Last Child in the Woods Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder

by Richard Louv
Last Child in the Woods Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder

  • Comment on this title
  • Synopses & Reviews
  • Read an Excerpt

ISBN13: 9781565126053
ISBN10: 156512605X
Condition: Standard


All Product Details

View Larger ImageView Larger Images
Ships free on qualified orders.
Add to Cart
$10.50
List Price:$16.95
Used Trade Paperback
Ships in 1 to 3 days
Add to Wishlist
QtyStore
1Cedar Hills
1Hawthorne
1Local Warehouse

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

"I like to play indoors better 'cause that's where all the electrical outlets are," reports a fourth-grader. Never before in history have children been so plugged in--and so out of touch with the natural world. In this groundbreaking new work, child advocacy expert Richard Louv directly links the lack of nature in the lives of today's wired generation--he calls it nature deficit--to some of the most disturbing childhood trends, such as rises in obesity, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), and depression.

Some startling facts: By the 1990s the radius around the home where children were allowed to roam on their own had shrunk to a ninth of what it had been in 1970. Today, average eight-year-olds are better able to identify cartoon characters than native species, such as beetles and oak trees, in their own community. The rate at which doctors prescribe antidepressants to children has doubled in the last five years, and recent studies show that too much computer use spells trouble for the developing mind.

Nature-deficit disorder is not a medical condition; it is a description of the human costs of alienation from nature. This alienation damages children and shapes adults, families, and communities. There are solutions, though, and they're right in our own backyards. Last child in the Woods is the first book to bring together cutting-edge research showing that direct exposure to nature is essential for healthy childhood development--physical, emotional, and spiritual. What's more, nature is a potent therapy for depression, obesity, and ADD. Environment-based education dramatically improves standardized test scores and grade point averages and develops skills in problem solving, critical thinking, and decision making. Even creativity is stimulated by childhood experiences in nature.

Yet sending kids outside to play is increasingly difficult. Computers, television, and video games compete for their time, of course, but it's also our fears of traffic, strangers, even virus-carrying mosquitoes--fears the media exploit--that keep children indoors. Meanwhile, schools assign more and more homework, and there is less and less access to natural areas.

Parents have the power to ensure that their daughter or son will not be the "last child in the woods," and this book is the first step toward that nature-child reunion.

Review

“This book is an absolute must-read for parents.” Boston Globe

Review

"[The] national movement to 'leave no child inside'…has been the focus of Capitol Hill hearings, state legislative action, grass-roots projects, a U.S. Forest Service initiative to get more children into the woods and a national effort to promote a 'green hour' in each day…The increased activism has been partly inspired by a best-selling book, Last Child in the Woods, and its author, Richard Louv." - The Washington Post The Washington Post

Review

"Last Child in the Woods, which describes a generation so plugged into electronic diversions that it has lost its connection to the natural world, is helping drive a movement quickly flourishing across the nation." - The Nation's Health The Nation's Health

Review

“Louv’s provocative new book…is raising debate and tough questions nationwide.” Parade magazine

Review

“The simplest, most profound, and most helpful of any book I have read on the personal and historical situation of our children, and ourselves, as we move into the twenty-first century.” -Thomas Berry, author of The Dream of the Earth

Review

“An honest, well-researched and well-written book…the first to give name to an undeniable problem.”

Review

“[The] national movement to ‘leave no child inside’ . . . has been the focus of Capitol Hill hearings, state legislative action, grass-roots projects, a U.S. Forest Service initiative to get more children into the woods and a national effort to promote a ‘green hour’ in each day. . . . The increased activism has been partly inspired by a best-selling book, Last Child in the Woods, and its author, Richard Louv.” —The Washington Post

“Last Child in the Woods, which describes a generation so plugged into electronic diversions that it has lost its connection to the natural world, is helping drive a movement quickly flourishing across the nation.” —The Nation’s Health

“This book is an absolute must-read for parents.” —The Boston Globe

“An honest, well-researched and well-written book, . . . the first to give name to an undeniable problem.” —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“One of the most thought-provoking, well-written books I’ve read in recent memory. It rivals Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.” —The Cincinnati Enquirer

“Important and original. . . . As Louv so eloquently and urgently shows, our mothers were right when they told us, day after day, ‘Go out and play.’” —The Christian Science Monitor

“Last Child in the Woods is the direct descendant and rightful legatee of Rachel Carson’s The Sense of Wonder. But this is not the only thing Richard Louv has in common with Rachel Carson. There is also this: in my opinion, Last Child in the Woods is the most important book published since Silent Spring.” —Robert Michael Pyle, author of Sky Time in Gray’s River

“A single sentence explains why Louv’s book is so important: ‘Our children,’ he writes, ‘are the first generation to be raised without meaningful contact with the natural world.’ This matters, and Last Child in the Woods makes it patently clear why and lays out a path back.” —The Ecologist

“With this scholarly yet practical book, Louv offers solutions today for a healthier, greener tomorrow.” —Washington Post Book World

“The simplest, most profound, and most helpful of any book I have read on the personal and historical situation of our children, and ourselves, as we move into the twenty-first century.” —Thomas Berry, author of The Dream of the Earth

Synopsis

The Book That Launched an International Movement

"An absolute must-read for parents." --The Boston Globe

"It rivals Rachel Carson's Silent Spring." --The Cincinnati Enquirer

"I like to play indoors better 'cause that's where all the electrical outlets are," reports a fourth grader. But it's not only computers, television, and video games that are keeping kids inside. It's also their parents' fears of traffic, strangers, Lyme disease, and West Nile virus; their schools' emphasis on more and more homework; their structured schedules; and their lack of access to natural areas. Local governments, neighborhood associations, and even organizations devoted to the outdoors are placing legal and regulatory constraints on many wild spaces, sometimes making natural play a crime.

As children's connections to nature diminish and the social, psychological, and spiritual implications become apparent, new research shows that nature can offer powerful therapy for such maladies as depression, obesity, and attention deficit disorder. Environment-based education dramatically improves standardized test scores and grade-point averages and develops skills in problem solving, critical thinking, and decision making. Anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that childhood experiences in nature stimulate creativity.

In Last Child in the Woods, Louv talks with parents, children, teachers, scientists, religious leaders, child-development researchers, and environmentalists who recognize the threat and offer solutions. Louv shows us an alternative future, one in which parents help their kids experience the natural world more deeply--and find the joy of family connectedness in the process.
Now includes
A Field Guide with 100 Practical Actions We Can Take
Discussion Points for Book Groups, Classrooms, and Communities
Additional Notes by the Author
New and Updated Research from the U.S. and Abroad

Synopsis

In his landmark work Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv brought together cutting-edge studies that pointed to direct exposure to nature as essential for a child's healthy physical and emotional development. Now this new addition updates the growing body of evidence linking the lack of nature in children's lives and the rise in obesity, attention disorders, and depression. Louv's message has galvanized an international back-to-nature campaign. His book will change the way you think about our future and the future of our children.

Synopsis

“I like to play indoors better ’cause that’s where all the electrical outlets are,” reports a fourth grader. But it’s not only computers, television, and video games that are keeping kids inside. It’s also their parents’ fears of traffic, strangers, Lyme disease, and West Nile virus; their schools’ emphasis on more and more homework; their structured schedules; and their lack of access to natural areas. Local governments, neighborhood associations, and even organizations devoted to the outdoors are placing legal and regulatory constraints on many wild spaces, sometimes making natural play a crime.

As children’s connections to nature diminish and the social, psychological, and spiritual implications become apparent, new research shows that nature can offer powerful therapy for such maladies as depression, obesity, and attentiondeficit disorder. Environment-based education dramatically improves standardized test scores and grade-point averages and develops skills in problem solving, critical thinking, and decision making. Anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that childhood experiences in nature stimulate creativity.

In Last Child in the Woods, Louv talks with parents, children, teachers, scientists, religious leaders, child-development researchers, and environmentalists who recognize the threat and offer solutions. Louv shows us an alternative future, one in which parents help their kids experience the natural world more deeply—and find the joy of family connectedness in the process.

Synopsis

“The children and nature movement is fueled by this fundamental idea: the child in nature is an endangered species, and the health of children and the health of the Earth are inseparable.” —Richard Louv, from the new edition

In his landmark work Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv brought together cutting-edge studies that pointed to direct exposure to nature as essential for a child’s healthy physical and emotional development. Now this new edition updates the growing body of evidence linking the lack of nature in children’s lives and the rise in obesity, attention disorders, and depression. Louv’s message has galvanized an international back-to-nature campaign to “Leave No Child Inside.” His book will change the way you think about our future and the future of our children.

“[The] national movement to ‘leave no child inside’ . . . has been the focus of Capitol Hill hearings, state legislative action, grass-roots projects, a U.S. Forest Service initiative to get more children into the woods and a national effort to promote a ‘green hour’ in each day. . . . The increased activism has been partly inspired by a best-selling book, Last Child in the Woods, and its author, Richard Louv.” —The Washington Post

“Last Child in the Woods, which describes a generation so plugged into electronic diversions that it has lost its connection to the natural world, is helping drive a movement quickly flourishing across the nation.” —The Nation’s Health

 “This book is an absolute must-read for parents.” —The Boston Globe
 Now includes
A Field Guide with 100 Practical Actions We Can Take 
Discussion Points for Book Groups, Classrooms, and Communities 
Additional Notes by the Author 
New and Updated Research from the U.S. and Abroad

About the Author

RICHARD LOUV, a columnist for the San Diego Union-Tribune, has written for national publications, including theNew York Times, the Washington Post, and the Christian Science Monitor, and has appeared on Good Morning America, Today, and NPRand#8217;s Fresh Airand Talk of the Nation. He is the author of seven books about family, nature, and community.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction 1

Part I : The New Relationship Between Children and Nature

1. Gifts of Nature . . . . 7

2. The Third Frontier . . . . . . 15

3. The Criminalization of Natural Play . . . . . 27

Part II:Why the Young (and the Rest of Us) Need Nature

4. Climbing the Tree of Health . .. 39

5. A Life of the Senses: Nature vs. the Know-It-All State of Mind . . . . . 54

6. The “Eighth Intelligence” . . . 70

7. The Genius of Childhood: How Nature Nurtures Creativity . . .. 85

8. Nature-Deficit Disorder and the Restorative Environment . . . 98

Part III: The Best of Intentions: Why Johnnie and Jeannie Dont Play Outside Anymore

9. Time and Fear .. . . 115

10. The Bogeyman Syndrome Redux . . . . . 123

11. Dont Know Much About Natural History: Education as a Barrier to Nature .. 132

12. Where Will Future Stewards of Nature Come From? . . . 145

Part IV: The Nature-Child Reunion

13. Bringing Nature Home . . . 161

14. Scared Smart: Facing the Bogeyman . . . . 176

15. Telling Turtle Tales: Using Nature as a Moral Teacher . 187

Part V: The Jungle Blackboard

16. Natural School Reform . . . 201

17. Camp Revival . . . 223

Part VI: Wonder Land: Opening the Fourth Frontier

18. The Education of Judge Thatcher: Decriminalizing Natural Play . .. 233

19. Cities Gone Wild . .. 239

20. Where the Wild Things Will Be: A New Back-to-the-Land Movement . . . . 265

Part VII: To Be Amazed

21. The Spiritual Necessity of Nature for the Young . . . . . . 285

22. Fire and Fermentation: Building a Movement . . . . 301

23. While It Lasts . . . . 309

Notes 311

Suggested Reading 321

Index 325


5 4

What Our Readers Are Saying

Share your thoughts on this title!
Average customer rating 5 (4 comments)

`
Krystle , June 08, 2016 (view all comments by Krystle)
First off I want to say that this should be read by everyone, not just parents and educators, but everyone. This book really tackles the importance of nature but specifically to our children. If you use the prompts in this book you could build a better community. Everything is backed with research and it makes you wonder why more people are not concerned with preserving the earth. It's not so much as an environment factor but a relationship with nature and how we are a stronger race if we do so. This book is very eye opening and has gotten myself outside a lot more.

Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No

report this comment

`
SM4 , January 02, 2012 (view all comments by SM4)
What an eye-opening book on why children and youth need nature to help them to be creative, healthy and better concentration for school and work. I love in section 16 when the author mentioned how natural education in the schools help students be better in school, good peer relationships, and other benefits. Louv discovered Portland's Environmental Middle School and said about the school as "teachers employ a curriculum using local rivers, mountains, and forests; among other activities, they plant native species and study the Willamette River. At that school, 96 percent of students meet or exceed state standards for math problem-solving--compared to only 65 percent of eight-graders at comparable middle schools" (p.207-8).

Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No

(2 of 2 readers found this comment helpful)
report this comment

`
Britton Gildersleeve , September 20, 2011 (view all comments by Britton Gildersleeve)
Every parent, teacher and school admin should read this. So should the rest of America. Louv makes an eloquent case for why America's children are victims of Nature Deficit Disorder. He convinced me ~

Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No

(1 of 2 readers found this comment helpful)
report this comment

`
Liesl , January 02, 2011
This is an ESSENTIAL read for all parents, anyone who has ever been a parent, anyone who intends to be a parent, and anyone who was a child at one point in their lives! Yes, EVERYONE! It is provocative as well as alarming, and is a message which needs to be heard NOW, TODAY.

Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No

report this comment

View all 4 comments


Product Details

ISBN:
9781565126053
Binding:
Trade Paperback
Publication date:
04/22/2008
Publisher:
ALGONQUIN BOOKS OF CHAPEL HILL
Pages:
390
Height:
1.00IN
Width:
5.40IN
Thickness:
1.00
Number of Units:
1
Copyright Year:
2008
Author:
Peter Brown Hoffmeister
Author:
Peter B. Hoffmeister
Author:
Marcie Chambers Cuff
Author:
Richard Louv
Author:
Richard Louv
Subject:
FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS / Child Development
Subject:
Child Care and Parenting-General
Subject:
Nature -- Psychological aspects.
Subject:
Children and the environment
Subject:
Nature Studies-General
Subject:
Psychological aspects
Subject:
Nature

Ships free on qualified orders.
Add to Cart
$10.50
List Price:$16.95
Used Trade Paperback
Ships in 1 to 3 days
Add to Wishlist
QtyStore
1Cedar Hills
1Hawthorne
1Local Warehouse

More copies of this ISBN

  • New, Trade Paperback, $16.95
  • Used, Trade Paperback, Starting from $7.50

This title in other editions

  • Used, Hardcover, Starting from $9.95
{1}
##LOC[OK]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram

  • Help
  • Guarantee
  • My Account
  • Careers
  • About Us
  • Security
  • Wish List
  • Partners
  • Contact Us
  • Shipping
  • Sitemap
  • © 2022 POWELLS.COM Terms

{1}
##LOC[OK]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##