Go Wild!: 101 Things to Do Outdoors Before You Grow Up [Paperback]

Fiona Danks (Author), Jo Schofield (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2009 | Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

Young people these days are often homebound, entertaining themselves with the Internet, television, video games, and text messages, but completely disconnected from the reality of the great outdoors. Many have never experienced simple pleasures such as telling stories around a warm campfire, camping outdoors, or whittling a stick. Go Wild! is the perfect book for families with children ages 10 to 14 wanting to get in touch with the natural world. The authors describe a range of wild and fun adventures for families to share. Readers learn potentially life-saving skills that give them confidence, independence, and a sense of environmental awareness. Topics include building shelter, building a fire, foraging for food, cooking outdoors, tools and weapons, bushcraft skills, water and keeping clean, and safety. From making a catapult to catching crayfish, creating fire without matches to constructing a tepee, Go Wild! is all about thrilling activities, amazing discoveries, and young people having the time of their lives in the great outdoors.

Editorial Reviews

Review

To help make the idea of going outside more fun for both kids and adults Jo Schofield and Fiona Danks have written a series of books packed full of ideas! The good news is nearly all the activities suggested in the books cosst very little and need hardly any fancy equipment, just the motivation to get out of the door and have a go at something new. The authors hope there is something to everyone whether you live in the town or the country or whether you want to climb a mountain or just make a den at the bottom of the garden or in the local park. --Primary Times

Full of ideas and activities for older children to enjoy the outdoors. --Outdoor Living

Review

With step-by-step guidelines, stunning photos and sensible advice, the book describes a range of outdoor adventures for families to share, offering tempting alternatives to screen-based entertainment. Sue Palmer ... says 'Go Wild! Is just what families need to escape from virtual worlds and rediscover the wonders of the real one. It provides the perfect recipe for transforming cotton wool into confident, independent, resilient young people. Every family should have a copy.

Real kids doing real stuff! This fantastic book is aimed squarely at the age group most often accused by society of spending too much time indoors... Written in a style that implicitly trusts young people's capabilities, and is illustrated with great photos of kids enjoying the outdoors. I've had to wrestle it away from my eight year old just to get a look!

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Frances Lincoln; Original edition (May 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0711229392
• ISBN-13: 978-0711229396
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #812,696 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #55 in Books > Children's Books > Sports & Games > Camping

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enticing, practical instructional book, December 17, 2010

By 

Greenlight (Vermont) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Go Wild!: 101 Things to Do Outdoors Before You Grow Up (Paperback)

I rarely love kids books, but this one is a knock-out. Wish I'd had this one as a kid. My niece loves working on these projects with me.

This is hands-down the most visually delicious, absorbing book on getting kids oriented to outdoor skills. Stellar photos of kids in the UK having a BLAST! ... and all sorts of great projects for them to take up, from "stone age tools," to extracting condensed water from plants, to building fires (with supervision), and on and on.

The narrative is a little odd, and I hope the author revises the text. It's clearly a genius kids' book, but the author has chosen to write it more like a teacher's or parent's activity book. "Sylvia and Jenny really enjoyed doing x." I don't feel that's much of a limitation, as the whole point is to stay involved as an adult in the child's progress -- poring over the pages WITH your child to plan these things -- providing the encouragement, the familiarity, and the continuity. In most cases, a child is likely to lose interest in the text in any event before she loses interest in the fantastic pictures and adventures these kids are having as they acquire new skills in "going wild."