Keeping a Nature Journal: Discover a Whole New Way of Seeing the...

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 224 pages
• Published by: Storey Publishing, LLC
• Edition: 2nd Edition September 1, 2003
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 1580174930
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-1580174930
• Book Dimensions: 10 x 6.8 x 0.9 inches
• Weighs: 1.8 pounds

Product Description
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.

About The Author
Clare Walker Leslie is a nationally known wildlife artist, naturalist, and educator. She conducts workshops and classes at various educational institutions such as Williams College and Massachusetts College of Art. She has written six books including Nature Drawing and The Art of Field Sketching. Clare lives in Vermont and Massachusetts.

Charles E. Roth is a teacher of science and the environment. He was Director of Education for the Massachusetts Audubon Society for many years and is active in numerous local, regional, and national environmental organizations. Besides authoring twenty books, Charles has received many awards including the Environmental Merit Award of the EPA. He resides in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: Keeping a Nature Journal: Discover a Whole New Way of Seeing the World Around You (Paperback) 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.