Neophyte ... [nee-uh-fahyt]–noun 1. a beginner or novice:
He's a neophyte at chess.
Yep, that's the right term for me and nature study ... I'm definitely a beginner, novice, schlep who doesn't know diddly about nature but is trying so hard. Nature and science in general usually falls to my poor dh who has a PhD in biological sciences. My degrees are more arts than science for the very good reason that what I was taught when I was younger was so boring, I don't remember any of it. I am trying to avoid this with my own kiddoes.
So, back to the point of this post ... nature study and how it can be done by even this science-flunky: living books. Yep, that's the way to START learning about nature. At some point you actually have to go OUTSIDE and DO, but on a cold winter day, books really help.
Here are some of the best we've found:
These four books by Maryjo Koch are a treasure trove of nature study info ... from great sketches (the kind I'd love to draw in my own nature journal) to interesting facts, these books beautifully translate nature to the page. HT:
Mary M for recommending them a few years back ... we are using these all the time!
Thornton Burgess is a master story-teller for nature books! His characters and descriptions are simple enough for the kindergartener but interesting enough to pique the older student's interst. Today, we started reading
The Burgess Flower Book 
to kick-off a study of plants and flowers ... did you know the first harbinger of spring in swampy areas is the
Skunk Cabbage? My kids do now!
We also love the Clara Dillingham Pierson "among the ..." books. We spent the fall and winter reading about the meadow people, the forest people, the farmyard people and the night people. Quite fun and interesting. We kept a scrapbook of all the animals we discovered and interesting facts about them.
All three kids enjoyed the stories and have "favorites" now and argue about who has the better "people"!
Finally, one of our favorite resources for nature information is just about any book from the pen of Jim Arnosky (sometimes with the narrator-character of "Crinkleroot") ... these books are fun to read and the illustrations are easy to understand and copy into private nature journals. He's got a whole slew of species-specific picture books (raccoons, wild ponies, etc) but we particularly like his more journal-like books. Sadly, most of these are OOP, but you can find them at library booksales and used bookstores -- definitely worth the hunt!
Some of our favorites include:
Well that should give you an idea of how this neophyte naturalist does things ... I'll post more as we head into spring, a great time to go DO after all our indoor studying.
(edited by Peter and Connie Roop with illustrations by Rick Farley) ... this is a great introduction to Audubon, using his own words to describe his background, how he got interested in birds, and a bit about how he learned to draw them so beautifully.
(the Library of America) ... this is a great companion to the above children's version; here you have the actual writings (misspellings and all) of Mr. Audubon, including his journals for going up and down the rivers and his ornithological directory (with amazingly personal notes about each bird) and his letters and notes about drawing birds. This is a great addition to our study as we can do copywork from here and really get to know Audubon!
by Peter Anderson ... this is a great chapter biography about Audubon, illustrated throughout with Audubon's own prints/paintings of birds. The author, Peter Anderson, does a great job of explaining in accessible language all about this great naturalist, artist, outdoorsman, painter!
-- this is an AMAZING DVD that covers 40 countries, all seven continents, following birds on their migrations. It is an amazing work of art to watch this video.
-- the indomitable David Attenborough does a fabulous job of explaining birds -- in all their many facets -- to the audience of this series. Add the award-winning cinematography and gorgeous soundtrack and you'll understand why we are taking the time to watch this 5+ hour series. One of the cool things is that Attenborough and his team seem to make a point of showing less-well-known birds and their antics.
by Doris and Harold Faber is a compilation of biographies about many naturalists and scientists. Written for a elementary-school level, the chapter on Audubon is great. Don't worry if you;re tempted to head off on rabbit trails to discover more about other naturalists discussed in here including: John and William Bartram, Luther Burbank, Rachel Carson, George Washington Carver, Jacques Cousteau, Jean Henri Fabre, Aldo Leopold, John Muir, Teddy Roosevelt ... to name just a few. We did just that and found this lovely chapter book: Children of Summer: Henri Fabre's Insects
-- this is a great read-aloud about bugs!
... 
