Anna Botsford ComstockHandbook of Nature Study

Awesome to have on hand for homeschool nature study. Easy to navigate, informative - A must have in the homeschool family home library!

This is a great book to guide any group through Nature Study! It is not, as some negative comments reveal, an all-inclusive book of every species or occurrence. But it is a great to guide curious minds to learn more about the natural world around us all! I got the version with the black cover and orange butterfly. It is very well printed. It is black and white and met with my expectations.

This is a highly recommended book for homeschool nature study and after purchasing for our school year, I can see why! I love that I can look in the index for what we are studying and read a short passage about it before heading outdoors.

As many other Charlotte Mason homeschoolers this hefty book is part of the Ambleside Online recommended reading list. My review is based on thumbing through, as I haven’t actually used it yet. I have included table of contents pictures as I’m always curious of what’s inside before I purchase. I have also included a sample of the authors writing style. Most topics include a list of questions at the end (titled observations) that seem helpful for engaging children. This book seems great for diving into isolated nature topics and I’m excited to learn alongside my children.

I have a fairly decent natural science home library, and this book is probably the jewel in the crown. It's packed with information, and even though some data has been updated by recent discoveries (the book was first issued nearly a century ago) much of it is still relevent.The author has a contagious awe for the world around us, from caddis fly larvae to little brown bats (which she recommends keeping for a while in order to observe closely). She wrote this when our society was less urbanized and more hands-on, so a lot of her audience (teachers and their young students) had only to march out into a nearby field to collect specimens. Today, we're more used to sanitized, distilled, controllable nature--and nothing that can't be washed away with antibacterial soap--that we forget how compelling these little anthill or treetop dramas are.Comstock brings us into that wild world, and we don't have to go far to find it, after all. Her anecdotes about her personal experiences and her study questions that end each section keep this book from becoming just another field guide. Even if you don't have young kids with whom to share these adventures, it's great to have this resource at hand.And if you do have young kids, it's fun to go mucking around in a ditch right after a storm, looking for tadpoles. Don't be obsessive about diseases (we all eat a pound of dirt before we die...or so they say) and don't forget to bring this book.

Critics of the Handbook must know first that this book, approaching 100 years in print 2011, is a classic of nature education, and that the author, Anna Botsford Comstock is considered by many to be the "Grandmother of Nature Education" Though the names Liberty Hyde Bailey and John Spencer, to whom she dedicated this book, may not mean much to audiences today, we have them and Anna to thank for what is now a growing international movement to get kids and their parents and their teachers outdoors. Reading the foreward by Verne Rockcastle alone should remind us that we hold not just a "nature book" in our hands but a historical work of science, education and natural history. Yes, the pictures are in black and white and the lessons are dated and regional (New England/Upstate NY)but consider the historical significance and the lifework of this remarkable woman, who is all but forgotten today - well - by most. Those of us who admire her go off and get our PhD's on the many aspects of her life, philosophy and accomplishments.

I do love the content, and the fact that this book is affordable to those of us who aren't antique collectors! We enjoy reading aloud the various descriptions of the subject, the poetry often included about the animal in question, and the charming anecdotes. Reading about a bird or insect has sparked curiosity to search and learn more about that topic. I wish the photos / illustrations were better, but I understand this is a budget edition. Every child should be lucky enough to have Anna introduce nature study to them!

Appreciate the book's condition, 'very good' indeed.

Great for reading with children and encouraging a live for the outdoors.

TIENE UNA LECTURA CARGADA DE ANECDOTA. RECOMENDABLE

El libro aporta mucha información, pero las imágenes (en blanco y negro) están borrosas. Para tenerlas mal, preferiría que no estuvieran y quitar así páginas. O sustituirlas por mejores fotos.

This is so much thicker than I thought it would be. It has so much information in it, and is presented in a way that even a child can use it.

Un livre de référence très complet. Avec aussi des leçons.