Customer Reviews

HANDBOOK OF NATURE STUDY

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

This is a wonderful book for studying ANY aspect of nature (except ocean life.) Thoroughly discusses all details of any living thing that you could dream of...want to know where a cricket's ears are located? How to tell if you have a male/female? What should you feed your cricket? Ever wondered why a lightning bug "lights up"? How can you tell if you have a male or female? Covers birds, fish, reptiles, wild animals, farm animals, pets, trees, flowers, rocks, weather, stars, etc, ETC!!! Many labled diagrams. A GREAT book, and written to fit in wonderfully with a Charlotte Mason philosophy. Geared towards elementary grades and complete with lessons, questions, projects, etc. Over 800 pages of easily understood information. As the original was published in 1911, be aware that the photos are not in color, nor as clear as modern nature guides, but the book MORE than makes up for this in so many ways! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

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.

I checked this book out of our local library because it was recommended for homeschoolers and because of the reviews here at Amazon.com. I do agree this is an excellent book BUT not very useful when you live in Hawaii. Seems the animals and plants the writer focusses on are mostly common to the eastcoast of the US. If you live in Hawaii, and possibly other places on the mainland, this book in not very helpful in studying our daily environment.

This book was originally written for elementary school teachers with little knowledge of common plants and animals. The book is as helpful and relevant today as it was when first written in 1911---dandelions, toads, leaves and constellations have changed little since that time! Whether you live in the mountains or on a farm with wide expanses of Nature spread before you, or whether your Nature Study involves the bugs and flowers of a small urban backyard, you'll find easy directions and valuable information about studying firsthand the natural world and it's wonders.

I bought this book today, sorry, not from Amazon, but from the zoo! I love this book! It is a great reference for teachers and children, or just anyone wanting to learn more about the nature near home. This book allows all to explore the beauty of nature in their own area, to adventure into a vast land of hidden beauty without going on a exotic safari. This book encourages learning and is a great resourse. It's a wonderful addition to anyone's library!!

I was afraid when I saw this book that it would be "too Big" for me to use with my children. It is not it. It includes instructions and suggestions on how to teach nature studies in the chapter 1. The following cover ANIMALS, PLANTS, EARTH AND SKY making it a very complete science text. It is both simple, and very thorough. It was originally published in 1911 by Anna Botsford Comstock, But please do not allow that fact to turn you off either! It is an excellent guide for the study of nature (biology, botony and earth science.) One might wish for it to include colored pictures, however, since you will create your own notebook with illustrations, and since we have ample resources for colored pictures as well as sound bytes on the enternet, I couldn't ask for more.

My boys love this book, so I decided to try to get it for my Kindle because the larger font size makes it much easier for me to read. So I downloaded a sample, and found that they didn't even bother with a linked TOC in this HUGE book, the formatting is atrocious, and the pictures weren't included.

Keep in mind that this book is in the public domain. Ambleside Online provides links to download the book for free, and an internet search would surely provide the same. The ONLY reason to purchase this book rather than just downloading it would be to have a linked TOC, proper formatting, and the pictures.

Basically, Amazon took two minutes worth of time to download the free online text, then decided to sell it for a ridiculous price (considering what it lacks). Save your money and just download the text for free.

While I do not agree with everything the author asserts about teaching methodology, I doubt there is any other book on the market that is as comprehensive as this one. What other textbook can be used with equal effectiveness in both kindergarten and high school? Lessons are short and easy to follow. It covers almost everything including agriculture, wildlife, geology, astronomy, etc. Marine life and oceanography are not included. Some minor flaws. For example, the author confuses selective breeding with evolution theory. However, such flaws can be overlooked and they do not detract from the value of the lessons.

This is an excellent resource that my family and I take with us when we go out for nature walks. There are lots of pictures that we use to compare what we see along the way. The descriptions and facts help us learn what we never knew before. Great for homeschooling families.

We purchased this book for our two little ones and have enjoyed running to get the book when we see unusual and interesting bugs, leaves, etc. outside in our natural wonderland of a back yard! We even keep the book on the bookshelves in the kitchen for fast reference! I have noticed that not everything we have wanted to look up is in the book but not everything can be and we are very pleased with the book as a whole. I do wish there were colored pictures to help me identify certain creatures when I'm not 100% sure "that is it".