The Field and Forest Handy Book: New Ideas for Out of Doors (Nonpareil Book, 94.) (Paperback)

~ Daniel Carter Beard; David R. Godine (Author) "Since it is perfectly proper to speak of the skeleton of a kite, there is no good reason why the sticks may not be called..." (more)
Key Phrases: beaver mats, diving cart, second packer, New York, United States, Macdonald Lake (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Daniel C. Beard (1850-1941), a founder of the Boy Scouts of America, introduces the adventure inherent in the great outdoors and offers simple solutions for overcoming various obstacles in The Field and Forest Handy Book: New Ideas for Out of Doors, first published in 1906 and now reissued in a facsimile edition. Readers can learn how to make a luna kite in the spring, a cheap boat in the summer, an altar camp stove in the autumn and a toboggan in the winter. For those who want to stay indoors, a chapter titled "How to Build Play Houses, Secret Castles and How to Make Mysterious Chests" is included.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

Daniel C. Beard was not only a founder of Boy Scouting in America, but also a prolific and engaging author. His great passion was making boys and girls feel at home in nature, to allow them to experience its wonders while fostering their sense of self-sufficiency and independence. The present volume introduces young people to the pleasures and challenges of camping. In it, Beard suggests any number of projects, plans, and schemes to entertain those whose travels take them into open fields and forests, who want to know everything from how to build kites and birdhouses to snow houses and snow men.

There are chapters on packing a horse, on making clothes and moccasins, on camp cooking, on building piers, boats, and sleds. As usual, the directions are clear, the diagrams simple, and the activities seductive. This is an age when the most common phrase one hears from children is "I"m bored." With this book in hand, you can send them into the smallest woodland plot and be sure they'll have an activity that will occupy them for hours, as well as projects that are not only fun to do but that actually work.

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 428 pages
• Publisher: David R Godine (August 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1567921655
• ISBN-13: 978-1567921656
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #75,971 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Handbook for raising Tom Sawyer, June 20, 2001

By	N. C. Derham "MacBeth Derham" (Floral Park, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I hardly know where to begin. Like the Boys' and Girls' Handybooks, this hefty little book is full of ideas from a bygone era. Written in 1906, the activities are not always the kind of things our kids can do today...but this is a book of IDEAS! While you might not want to camp in a swamp, this book will tell you how. That information might come in useful for another project someday. The book also has historical value--the vocabulary is sometimes quite dated--but that's part of the fun!

Other ideas from the book, which is organized by season: Kites, herbarium, quail farming, bird houses, cages, aquaria, carts, rafts, boats, camping, indoor ideas, outdoor cooking, sleds, packs, and so much more. Oh, and DO learn how to cook a muskrat!

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great fun!, March 18, 2006

By	Marie S. Martinelli - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Originally written 100 years ago, this delightful book shows you how to enjoy the Great Outdoors. Divided seasonally, the author shows you, via illustrations and diagrams, how to make kites, bird houses, aquariams, boats,sleds, moccasins, shirts, and various camping utensils. For the more adventurous, he shows you how to construct bridges, dams, piers and outdoor dwellings of different kinds. He also provides tips for camping out in your own backyard.
Dan Beard was one of the founders of the American Boy Scouts and an irresistibly cheerful, "can-do" attitide makes this book fun for the serious and armchair outdoorsperson alike.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for a young man, January 4, 2007

By	C. Wedge (Great Lakes) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

My son read the covers off the first D. C. Beard book we got (The American Boys Handy Book) and I can tell this will swiftly suffer the same fate. Detailed instructions for dozens of projects... he can't put it down.