Customer Reviews

Walking the World in Wonder: A Children's Herbal

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is definitely a must have book for any family who does herbal medicine- Pagan or not! I was so excited to see the Wheel of the Year described. Each description is in very easy to read language for the children, yet offers valuable information. Plainly put, the author trusts the children's intelligence, and doesn't dumb it down for them. Many simple recipes for remedies and treats are included in the descriptions, as well as lore. My only problem with this book is that there aren't more pictures of each plant in various stages. Some of the pictures offer only a flowering shot of the arial parts. Still, with a parent's help the children will have no problem seeing that they are indeed the plants from the book. The pictures offered are full page beautiful shots. So, it's not really much of a complaint- more of a suggestion in case there are any future editions. :) BUY THIS BOOK!

This book is a delight for children of ALL age! For those just exploring the magical world of nature to those young at heart. The beautiful photography and illustrations along with the wondrous style of writing is enchanting. This is a marvelous addition to any library, full of information from the practical and medicinal uses of herbs to a beautiful introduction to the wheel of the year and cycles of nature, with glimpses into ancient folklore of various cultures.

The author begins with some good information on practices of collecting, use and identification, and then proceeds with a nice introduction to the Wheel of the Year complete with the popular festival names (Samhain, Yule, etc.)

My kids (boys, ages 5 and 8) love the full-color illustrations of easy-to-find herbs. This is truly written to be used by a child (though adults will find it enchanting as well) which is exactly what I needed. I have plenty of my own adult versions of herbals and wanted something that my children could call their own and use on their own.

An interesting twist is the organization of the herbs. The herbs are grouped into four seasons, the season they would most commonly be found, and the chapters begin with Autumn, the start of the Wheel of the Year. Living in Florida, we are less likely to be finding that exactly useful; but we do enjoy seeing how they are usually found in the more northern areas of the nation and will enjoy that feature on our travels to visit family.

Kids ages 5-10 and their parents will find Walking The World In Wonder an inviting survey of the medicinal and magical uses of over sixty common herbs. Each herb introduces itself and talks about its uses, with activities reinforcing the lessons on basic herbal skills, along with simple recipes kids can use.

I really love this book. It has real photos of the plants making them easy to identify. Gives a nice amount of informations and something you can do with each plant. Plus which season to find the plant in!

Heather mama of 5

This book is perfect for kids an adults alike. The illustrations are beautiful and the write ups very interesting and easy to read. I keep a copy for reference and another for my collection.

This review originally appeared on The Magical Buffet website on 1/11/09.

Right now, I'm writing this at home, trapped inside because of yet another ice storm. As I hear the clicking noise of ice hitting the ground, I find it hard to imagine spring will ever be here. However, I know that it will, and with it will come all the vibrant hues of the flowers, trees, and herbs that only a winter followed by spring can bring. I'll have to ramp up all the allergy medications I take, but also it will be the appropriate time to give a certain little girl I know the book "Walking the World in Wonder" by Ellen Evert Hopman.

I found the existence of "Walking the World in Wonder: A Children's Herbal" a pleasant surprise. It never occurred to me that such a book would exist. I was given the chance to look it over for review and jumped at the offer. I was rewarded with a wonderful book. The back cover says the book is appropriate for children ages 5-10 years old. Although I will readily admit that as a novice to the world of herbalism this book was at about the right speed for me too.

The book highlights 67 plants, ranging from barberry to witch hazel, conveniently divided up by season. Each plant introduces itself to the reader (such as "I am barberry. I am found in open fields and sometimes in people's yards.") and has a large, clear, full color photo of the plant. Each entry clearly describes the plant, provides details as to harvesting, and examples of traditional uses of the plant in herbalism.

All that was awesome, but what really impressed me was that Hopman offers advice to parents and teachers as how they can utilize "Walking the World in Wonder" as a fun, educational tool. Hopman discusses safety, "green etiquette", and provides a checklist of all the plants so as children find them they can check them off the list.

I can't wait until spring when I can give "Walking the World in Wonder" to a special little girl in my life.

PROMOTES PAGAN Rituals and practice! Not what I expected. This book promotes pagan practices. It continually refers to various gods and power/magic of herbs. The pictures are beautiful. The explanation of the herb itself is well written-just take the "magic" twist and paganism out and it would be a great book. I believe that the description of the book is misleading. As I wrote this review I decided to look at the author's homepage....below is a list of her other books-you can get a sense of the author's worldview (from the titles of her other books) which is reflected and promoted in this book. If you are a Christian or God honoring-YOU DO NOT WANT THIS BOOK.

Ellen Evert Hopman is the author of a growing number of books. Her first novel, Priestess of the Forest: A Druid Journey (Llewellyn, February 2008), was an exciting new project for her, combining a heart-warming fictional romance with practical Druid rites and rituals. The sequel is called The Druid Isle (Llewellyn, April 2010). Her newest book on tree medicine and tree lore is A Druid's Herbal for Sacred Tree Medicine (Inner Traditions - Bear and Company, June 2008) Other books include Being a Pagan: Druids, Wiccans, and Witches Today (Destiny Books, 2001), People of the Earth: The New Pagans Speak Out (Inner Traditions, 1995), Walking the World in Wonder - A Children's Herbal (Healing Arts Press, 2000), A Druid's Herbal for the Sacred Earth Year (Destiny Books, 1994) , and Tree Medicine -Tree Magic (Phoenix Publishing, Inc.,1992, currently out of print).