Looking back to childhood: influential books
In writing this post, I realize that I’m drawn to this naturalist style of display in magazine spreads. One of my favorite layouts from Martha Stewart Living from my notebook:
If my childhood was boiled down to a couple of influential books, A Practical Guide for the Amateur Naturalist would top the list (others: The Flowering of American Folk Art, The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Tamarack Tree, The Witch of Blackbird Pond). The first two really informed my “design eye” and curiosity about the world and the last three really informed my sense of what bravery and being “grown up” would mean. What were your favorite childhood books?
Gerald and Lee Durrell’s book is a beautifully illustrated guide to becoming an amateur naturalist and encourages readers to explore the world of nature first-hand. The book mixes practical tips (such as what to pack in a naturalist’s daypack, how to take plaster casts of animal tracks, how to garden for wildlife, and how to use a hand lens) with detailed information about a wide variety of habitats (chaparral, grasslands, desert, tundra, deciduous woodlands, coniferous woodlands, tropical forest, mountain, ponds, streams, wetlands, cliffs, dunes, shores, oceans and more).
I loved the photographs in this book and would spend hours pouring over them. I also converted an old bag of my mother’s into a specimen bag and ran around the woods picking up rocks, plants and generally getting dirty. I guess somethings never change. The book is out of print but available on Amazon.com and Abe Books. If you have young children — I’m sure you won’t be disapointed!
August 18th, 2007 15:55
Excellent, I like the look of that book! Have you read Gerald Durrell’s My Family and Other Animals novel about his childhood on a Greek island? It’s one of my favourites, hilarious and inspiring. I too can still spend hours pouring over those kind of detailed pages, nose close to the images :).
August 18th, 2007 20:41
Caroline — I haven’t read anything else by him, but, today I was looking at Amazon and saw the rest of his books — I had no idea he was such a writer. Can’t wait to read more! Thanks for the tip, Abbey
September 25th, 2007 20:59
Abbey,
I love the way you laid this section out with a slight diagonal!
April 11th, 2008 01:40
This blog is simply smashing. In my humble opinion of course. As this post is rather debatable I don’t think all your blog visitors are going to agree with it.