| Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder | 
 enlarge | Author: Richard Louv
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  84 reviews
Sales Rank: 1367
Media: Paperback
Edition: Updated and Expanded
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 390
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.1
ISBN: 156512605X
Dewey Decimal Number: 155.418
EAN: 9781565126053
ASIN: 156512605X
Publication Date: April 10, 2008
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Product Description
Richard Louv was the first to identify a phenomenon we all knew existed but couldn't quite articulate: nature-deficit disorder. His book Last Child in the Woods created a national conversation about the disconnection between children and nature, and his message has galvanized an international movement. Now, three years after its initial publication, we have reached a tipping point, with Leave No Child Inside initiatives adopted in at least 30 regions within 21 states, and in Canada, Holland, Australia, and Great Britain.
This new edition reflects the enormous changes that have taken place since the book—and this grassroots movement— were launched. It includes:
• 101 Things you can do to create change in your community, school, and family.
• Discussion points to inspire people of all ages to talk about the importance of nature in their lives.
• A new afterword by the author about the growing Leave No Child Inside movement.
• New and updated research confirming that direct exposure to nature is essential for the physical and emotional health of children and adults.
This is a book that will change the way you think about your future and the future of your children.
Book Description
“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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 79 more reviews...
 One star off for... December 3, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I loved this book, but...
The author advocates schools taking their kids to wild spaces. I've seen what happens. The kids run around in a loud, hyperactive mob, not paying attention to anything, and not really even catching more than fleeting glimpses of things because they have never been trained to be still and observe. The worst of the children destroy and maim while the overworked teachers and chaperones are busy elsewhere. The kids don't really learn anything even though they are ostensibly there to listen to the naturalist or ranger.
In one year, intertidal creatures clinging to a large boulder and inhabiting a large tidepool were devastated by the influx of two or three bussloads of kids per day from spring all through the summer. To date, those spots have not recovered, and they are swiftly becoming barren due to the yearly hordes. Clearly, exposing children to nature en masse is doing more harm than good. It's best that parents provide "nature time," so that children are more closely supervised and can learn more.
The author also urges schools to create natural spaces on campus. I don't think this would work in reality. Such spaces would be subject to vandalism, and would make great hangouts for bullies and drug dealers. Give me a clear field of view around the building any day.
The author spends many pages on the positive benefits of children who have time alone in nature. Time alone in nature is not feasible for all kids in all situations. One of the primary jobs of a parent is that of bodyguard, and I'm sorry to say that the author makes light of human predators. Enough said.
 Microwave generation November 26, 2008
I teach high school, and I can tell you we have raised what we call a microwave generation: they want to push a button and it happens. They call their cell phone their "baby." When I attempted to tell them about a recent trip to Africa where I did volunteer work for animal anti-poaching in the wild, they were aghast I had no access to cell phones, myspace, or a computer. Few were interested in the slide show of my trip, prefering instead to gossip about teen angst and the latest rumours.
However, we are responsible for this. If I tell them the information "is in chapter 13" they demand to know what page and will not open the book without knowing the exact page. We have a library full of books few students peruse; computers they line up to google. Plaegerism is so difficult to explain( "why is cut and paste bad?"). But when I suggested my class just sit outside one day to hold class, I was met bt gasps and shaking heads from academia. "What if we just sat on the bleachers?" I asked, "in the sun?" I might as well suggest we all go to Egypt.
When I taught career college, I took my criminal justice students to watch the mounted patrol officers train the horses. One of my students, a 24 year old girl, had never seen a horse in real life. She was mesmerized.
We have lost the "let's pretend" games and driven the creativity out of our young people.
A MUST READ! November 26, 2008
Parent or child, young or old, EVERYONE can benefit from this book (for parents, it should be a must read, though). We are a culture that has gone astray from nature, and are hurting as a result. The statistics are astonishing at first, but they are really not that hard to translate into our current state of emotional, physcological, and physical health. Effective at shining light on today's ills (ADD, Autism, Depression, Obesity, etc...), this book also expertly weaves in the solutions, showcasing encouraging examples of people all over the country achieving spectacular results simply by getting connected with nature. No gimmick, nothing to buy, no pills to take, just simply spending more time outdoors does wonders. We all need nature - much more! So let's get it before it's all gone, and maybe even help preserve some of it, if for nothing else then to make ourselves feel better!
please don't let it happen! November 10, 2008
moving urgent plea to give today's kids the healing and stimulating outdoorness we all grew up with--bought extra copies to give to others--a really important book for anyone who cares for a child or even someone like me who only worries about them in general--great thought and action provoking book which is also easy to read and full of action to help.
The Importance of Nature September 9, 2008
Richard Louv makes many great points in his book, Last Child in the Woods. I love that he discusses the fact that nature can help people to be less socially awkward and more confident. All in all, nature can just make people into healthier beings. It is also really neat that he talks about how important it is to stay in touch with nature because it brings us closer to God. If people keep ripping out the nature that God puts there, it is like we are saying that what we create is better than what God can create. In essence, we are making ourselves out to be above God by ripping out His creation and putting our own in its place. There have been times in my life where I have had the opportunity to just sit back and enjoy nature for what it is. This sounds cheesy, but I could simply listen to the birds chirp and wind rustle through the leaves of the trees. This helped me to relax, unwind, and forget about all of the worries that I have. If people work and work all the time, then they will just snap under the pressure. It is so important to have those times in your life to reflect upon the issues that matter the most to you. I strongly feel that nature is the best outlet for this and can heal so many things. People should realize that the connection with nature needs to start with childhood because that is the time when you develop the most. Parents are so afraid to let their children out into the woods for fear of things such as strangers, dangerous vehicles, and nature in general. In all reality, it is very improbable that these factors will harm children. The only reason we think that this stuff is so prevalent is because these are the things that the news teams cover. But really, the pros outweigh the cons when letting children explore and enjoy nature.
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