Review
Praise for Our Wild Calling:
“Richard Louv has done it again. A remarkable book that will help everyone break away from their fixed gaze at the screens that dominate our lives and remember instead that we are animals in a world of animals.”
—Bill McKibben, author Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?
“These pages weave a wondrous tapestry in which we all are crucial threads. It’s a picture of our own creation, about a future we will share, a future we can strive to make worth living for.”
—Carl Safina, author of the New York Times bestseller Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel
“We need community with nature and communication with animals more than ever now that so many of us live in urban environments. Through many fascinating stories of human-animal interaction, Richard Louv urges us to be open-minded about animals and reposition our species inside the natural world.”
—Frans de Waal, author of Mama’s Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us about Ourselves
“I wish I had written this book! In this deep exploration, Louv celebrates our essential connections to animals—in the wild, in the city, in our dreams, in our hearts.”
—Jennifer S. Holland, author of the New York Times bestselling Unlikely Friendships series
“Not just a brilliant, wise, and eloquent book, but a powerful summons to reconnect with the life all around us. Reconnecting with animals is a remedy for much of what ails modern life including loneliness and boredom.”
—David W. Orr, Paul Sears Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Oberlin College
“Powerful. A must-read for everyone who is concerned with the ways in which human animals are becoming increasingly alienated from nonhuman animals, with devastating results for all involved.”
—Marc Bekoff, author of Rewilding Our Hearts
“The timing for Our Wild Calling could not be better. Louv suggests that humans who have strong relationships with animals help their own mental health as well as possibly saving life on earth. This book is incredibly important to our future on this planet.”
—Robert Bateman, artist, naturalist, and author of Robert Bateman’s Canada
“Richard Louv continues to connect all of us to nature through his new book . . . A great read for all!”
—Fran P. Mainella, 16th Director of the U.S. National Park Service
Selected Praise for Last Child in the Woods:
“[The] national movement to ‘leave no child inside’ . . . has been the focus of Capitol Hill hearings, state legislative action, grass-roots projects, a U.S. Forest Service initiative to get more children into the woods and a national effort to promote a ‘green hour’ in each day. . . . The increased activism has been partly inspired by a best-selling book, Last Child in the Woods, and its author, Richard Louv.”
—The Washington Post
“Last Child in the Woods, which describes a generation so plugged into electronic diversions that it has lost its connection to the natural world, is helping drive a movement quickly flourishing across the nation.”
—The Nation’s Health
“This book is an absolute must-read for parents.”
—The Boston Globe
“An honest, well-researched and well-written book . . . the first to give name to an undeniable problem.”
—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“One of the most thought-provoking, well-written books I’ve read in recent memory. It rivals Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.”
—The Cincinnati Enquirer
“Important and original . . . As Louv so eloquently and urgently shows, our mothers were right when they told us, day after day, ‘Go out and play.’”
—The Christian Science Monitor
“Last Child in the Woods is the direct descendant and rightful legatee of Rachel Carson’s The Sense of Wonder. But this is not the only thing Richard Louv has in common with Rachel Carson. There is also this: in my opinion, Last Child in the Woods is the most important book published since Silent Spring.”
—Robert Michael Pyle, author of Sky Time in Gray’s River
“A single sentence explains why Louv’s book is so important: ‘Our children,’ he writes, ‘are the first generation to be raised without meaningful contact with the natural world.’ This matters, and Last Child in the Woods makes it patently clear why and lays out a path back.”
—The Ecologist
“With this scholarly yet practical book, Louv offers solutions today for a healthier, greener tomorrow.”
—Washington Post Book World
“The simplest, most profound, and most helpful of any book I have read on the personal and historical situation of our children, and ourselves, as we move into the twenty-first century.” —Thomas Berry, author of The Dream of the Earth
Selected Praise for The Nature Principle:
“An exploration of the many happy repercussions of getting in touch with the environment.”
―Austin Chronicle
“Louv describes the many ways in which reconnecting to the natural world is fundamental to human well-being…I believe [Louv’s] onto something important, and not just for children . . . So consider this a bit of health care advice: Get outside and dive in—nose first.”
―Charlotte Observer
“Louv’s vital, inclusive, and inspiriting call to better our lives by celebrating and protecting the living world marks the way to profound personal and cultural transformation.”
―Booklist, starred review
"Louv takes nature-deficit disorder, introduce in his seminal Last Child in the Woods, a step further, to argue that adults need nature, too . . . [This] book may be just what our high-tech, urban culture needs to bring us down to earth."
―Publishers Weekly
“[Louv’s] onto something important here, something lasting, and by the time you turn the final page, you’ll not only understand why you should make or deepen your own connections to nature, you’ll know how . . . His book is a stirring argument for not waiting a moment longer.”
―San Diego Union Tribune
“What would life be like if we were as immersed in nature as we are in electronics? In Richard Louv’s world, we’d be happier and healthier. We’d experience fewer cases of depression, anxiety and attention deficit disorder. And we’d build smarter, more sustainable communities.”
―Chicago Tribune
“The Nature Principle is, in essence, a book for grown-ups who crave―and need―nature just as much as kids”
―Minneapolis Star Tribune
Selected Praise for Vitamin N:
“Richard Louv's Vitamin N should find its place in the list of essential vitamins! If we stress a connection to the natural environment . . . we can lessen the lifelong effects of a stressful childhood, including depression, obesity, behavior problems, drug use, and risk-taking behavior.”
—Mary Brown, MD, past board member of the American Academy of Pediatrics
“Vitamin N (‘N’ is for nature) is everything the worried parent needs...The accessibility of Louv’s writing is what truly shines, and his enthusiasm, so evident in earlier works, is on overdrive here. Anyone who works with children will embrace this title; families will be thrilled by its offerings. This is, without question, another shot out of the park for nature-advocate Louv.”
—Booklist, starred review
“Louv (The Nature Principle) proclaims the many advantages of reconnecting with nature, both for children and adults, in an insightful and practical guide chock full of inspirational advice... Issuing an imperative that everyone should heed, this important new book provides the tools to reclaim the wonders and health benefits of nature.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Balancing the needs of time-stressed families with activities that appeal to different cultural backgrounds, and those that require organization as well as encourage independence, Louv strikes gold again… Louv has become a national leader in advocating for kids to connect with nature. His macrovision of ecological health speaks beyond the benefits of youngsters getting dirty. Essential for all collections.”
—Library Journal, starred review
“Both parents and teachers will find this book invaluable. Louv has provided a thoughtful and practical guide to establishing and ensuring a successful relationship between children and the outdoors.”
—National Science Teachers Association
“A truly engaging book, this resource is an excellent how to guide for getting students and families out in nature.”
—Green Teacher Magazine
