RESOURCES

Van Noy, an English professor and father, chronicles his efforts to turn his children’s attention from their television and computer screens to the outdoors. In a series of essays organized mostly by season, he describes a host of outdoor adventures including swimming, hiking, gardening, and fishing with his family.  

This book, co-authored by the president and CEO of the Children & Nature Network, focuses on how to create environments where more individuals can feel cherished, productive, and fulfilled. Strategies are suggested for tapping into one’s creative potential and putting that talent to work, resulting in greater health and balance in family, business, school, social, and civic settings.  

Organized by season, and appropriate for urban, suburban and rural settings, I Love Dirt! presents a year’s worth of activities to help further children’s understanding of the natural world by promoting exploration, stimulating the imagination, and creating a sense of wonder. 

This expanded and updated edition includes new research, a progress report on the Leave No Child Inside movement, an added Field Guide with 100 actions for families and communities, and 35 discussion points for book groups, classrooms, families and communities. 

Though published more than a decade ago, The Geography of Childhood remains as relevant as ever. Written by two fathers and naturalists, it makes vivid through essays and anecdotes the importance of a direct experience of nature in childhood development.