Nature
Ranger Rick kids' guide to hiking : all you need to know about having fun while hiking
Helen Olsson
j796.51 Olsson
Nature
A guide to hiking discusses where to do it, what time of day and year to go, what to wear, what gear to bring, proper trail etiquette, how to stay safe, and how to have fun.
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
Annie Dillard
508.755 /Dillard
Nature
A collection of essays on the natural world during a year spent in the Blue Ridge Mountains reflects the author's interactions with her wilderness surroundings.
This book has been on my to-read list for a long time. Dillard's essays on her observations of the natural world in the Blue Ridge mountains are so beautiful and almost otherworldly. There was way too much information about plants and creatures to possibly retain it all but I enjoyed every page. -Mari
Echo Mountain
Lauren Wolk
jFICTION Wolk Lauren
Kids, Nature, Historical Fiction
When twelve-year-old Ellie and her family lose livelihood and move to a mountain cabin in 1934, she quickly learns to be an outdoors woman and, when needed, a healer.
I loved this story, and it provides some pretty incredible perspective for kids in the modern age. Financially affected by the Great Depression, a family has no choice but to live off the land on a mountain. Ellie learns about her gift to heal when tragedy leaves her father gravely ill. Ellie uses the survivalist skills he taught her along with her own intuition to save her family and foster a community on the mountain. -Mari
The book of eels : our enduring fascination with the most mysterious creature in the natural world
Patrik Svensson
597.43 /Svensson
Nature, Nonfiction
"Part H Is for Hawk, part The Soul of an Octopus, The Book of Eels is both a meditation on the world's most elusive fish-the eel-and a reflection on the human condition. Remarkably little is known about the European eel, Anguilla anguilla. So little, in fact, that scientists and philosophers have, for centuries, been obsessed with what has become known as the "eel question": Where do eels come from? What are they? Are they fish or some other kind of creature altogether? Even today, in an age of advanced science, no one has ever seen eels mating or giving birth, and we still don't understand what drives them, after living for decades in freshwater, to swim great distances back to the ocean at the end of their lives. They remain a mystery. Drawing on a breadth of research about eels in literature, history, and modern marine biology, as well as his own experience fishing for eels with his father, Patrik Svensson crafts a mesmerizing portrait of an unusual, utterly misunderstood, and completely captivating animal. In The Book of Eels, we meet renowned historical thinkers, from Aristotle to Sigmund Freud to Rachel Carson, for whom the eel was a singular obsession. And we meet the scientists who spearheaded the search for the eel's point of origin, including Danish marine biologist Johannes Schmidt, who led research efforts in the early twentieth century, catching thousands upon thousands of eels, in the hopes of proving their birthing grounds in the Sargasso Sea. Blending memoir and nature writing at its best, Svensson's journey to understand the eel becomes an exploration of the human condition that delves into overarching issues about our roots and destiny, both as humans and as animals, and, ultimately, how to handle the biggest question of all: death. The result is a gripping and slippery narrative that will surprise and enchant."--
Part natural history, part philosophy, and part eulogy for his father, Svensson writes beautifully about the mysteries of the eel, an animal that has beguiled scientists from ancient times to the present. -Anne M
The emerald horizon : the history of nature in Iowa
Cornelia Fleischer Mutel
508.777 /Mutel
Nonfiction, Nature, Science
A terrific overview of the natural history of Iowa. Any state would be lucky to have such a primer for residents to better understand the world outside their doors. -Jason
The shortest day
Susan Cooper
jE Cooper
Picture Books, Nature, Literary Fiction
A celebration of the winter solstice and the Yuletide season. As the sun set on the shortest day of the year, early people would gather to prepare for the long night ahead. They built fires and lit candles. They played music, bringing their own light to the darkness, while wondering if the sun would ever rise again. Written for a theatrical production that has become a ritual in itself, Susan Cooper's poem "The Shortest Day" captures the magic behind the returning of the light, the yearning for traditions that connect us with generations that have gone before-- and the hope for peace that we carry into the future. Richly illustrated by Carson Ellis with a universality that spans the centuries, this beautiful book evokes the joy and community found in the ongoing mystery of life when we celebrate light, thankfulness, and festivity at a time of rebirth. Welcome Yule!
Lofty, elegant, and achingly beautiful, Carson Ellis's illustrations are the perfect pairing for Susan Cooper's poem. Don't miss this true winter solstice celebration from and for the ages! -Casey
Drawdown : the most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming
363.73874 /Drawdown
Nonfiction, Science, Nature
Ten years ago, environmentalist, entrepreneur, and writer Hawken reported, in Blessed Unrest, on diverse activist groups working independently "toward ecological sustainability and social justice." The results of their efforts, along with those of numerous scientific inquiries, generated Hawken's latest contribution to the global sustainability movement, Project Drawdown. "Drawdown" is the point at which greenhouse gases will peak and begin to decline, "the most important goal for humanity to undertake." And one toward which, as Hawken and his contributors so assiduously record in this comprehensive and exacting compilation of vivid exposition and data, we are making progress. Hawken's coalition of experts in fields as varied as biology and economics, geology and engineering, along with such writers as Elizabeth Kolbert, Bill McKibben, and Michael Pollan, take full measure of the 100 "most effective solutions" in a meticulous inventory of current global-warming-reversing practices that are "commonly available, economically viable and scientifically valid." Richly illustrated and accessible, if fervently detailed, this enlightening inventory, backed by an open-source database, covers advances in energy, land use, food, transport, and buildings. The diverse discoveries and achievements, all lucidly explained, from modest domestic adaptations to infrastructure advances, forest restoration to wave and tidal energy, do attest, as Hawken observes, to the power of "our collective imagination, creativity, and conviction." A rigorous and profoundly important resource.
Added by Candice
Just cool it! : the climate crisis and what we can do : a post-Paris Agreement game plan
David T. Suzuki
363.73874 /Suzuki
Nature, Science, Nonfiction
For decades, Canadian scientist, activist, and broadcaster Suzuki (The Sacred Balance) has spoken up on behalf of the environment. With journalist coauthor Hanington, he updates the message, taking into account the points established at the UN 2015 Paris Agreement. At that conference, almost all nations made commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and set a date by which they would stop burning coal, oil, and gas. The authors remind governments, businesses, and individuals that honoring these "breakthrough" commitments requires making major changes. They acknowledge that fighting global warming is challenging and expensive, but contend that ignoring it would be catastrophic. They state that agricultural solutions should revolve around sustainably working with nature and storing more carbon in soil, and that technological solutions should include building a smart power grid and storage to manage renewable energy that is replacing fossil fuels. More controversial statements are about economics and politics: that producing carbon pollution indicates market failure, that mainstream economics must value natural capital and ecological services, and that governments must lead the global shift from fossil fuels. As in Suzuki's earlier books, the tone is practical about the means to make change yet passionate about preserving an environment that supports biodiversity and human civilization.
Added by Candice
Climate of hope : how cities, businesses, and citizens can save the planet
Michael Bloomberg
363.73874 /Bloomberg
Nonfiction, Science, Nature
"The 2016 election left many people who are concerned about the environment fearful that progress on climate change would come screeching to a halt. But not Michael Bloomberg and Carl Pope. Bloomberg, an entrepreneur and former mayor of New York City, and Pope, a lifelong environmental leader, approach climate change from different perspectives, yet they arrive at similar conclusions. Without agreeing on every point, they share a belief that cities, businesses, and citizens can lead--and win--the battle against climate change, no matter which way the political winds in Washington may shift. In Climate of Hope, Bloomberg and Pope offer an optimistic look at the challenge of climate change, the solutions they believe hold the greatest promise, and the practical steps that are necessary to achieve them. Writing from their own experiences, and sharing their own stories from government, business, and advocacy, Bloomberg and Pope provide a road map for tackling the most complicated challenge the world has ever faced."--Jacket.
Added by Candice
Climate justice : hope, resilience, and the fight for a sustainable future
Mary Robinson
363.7 /Robinson
Nonfiction, Science, Nature
"Holding her first grandchild in her arms in 2003, Mary Robinson was struck by the uncertainty of the world he had been born into. Before his fiftieth birthday, he would share the planet with more than nine billion people--people battling for food, water, and shelter in an increasingly volatile climate. The faceless, shadowy menace of climate change had become, in an instant, deeply personal. Mary Robinson's mission would lead her all over the world, from Malawi to Mongolia, and to a heartening revelation: that an irrepressible driving force in the battle for climate justice could be found at the grassroots level, mainly among women, many of them mothers and grandmothers like herself. From Sharon Hanshaw, the Mississippi matriarch whose campaign began in her East Biloxi hair salon and culminated in her speaking at the United Nations, to Constance Okollet, a small farmer who transformed the fortunes of her ailing community in rural Uganda, Robinson met with ordinary people whose resilience and ingenuity had already unlocked extraordinary change. Powerful and deeply humane, Climate Justice is a stirring manifesto on one of the most pressing humanitarian issues of our time, and a lucid, affirmative, and well-argued case for hope."--Dust jacket.
Added by Candice
Added by Anne W