FAMILY LIFE Last child in the woods , book review.

I certainly don't intend to tell you so much about this book that you feel it's just not worth getting and reading. Defiantly no, because this book is worth getting and reading, it is in my top five ever!!

Last child in the woods by Richard Louv is a best seller in the US, but the revised and updated revision is just as relevant to me in the UK.  It is packed with children and adults interests and experiences in nature or the growing lack of them. Yes there is that label of nature deficit order, which I find hard as I'm not one for labels anyhow, but it's trying to make us understand whats been going on for the last twenty five years! Why are our children not able to go outside and discover nature for themselves, why don't they want to, what are the consequences for this? He relates to many many studies all really interesting in their own right, I particularly like the links to Howard Gardener who explained our intelligence as 'smart', until recently he had put children's intelligences into seven categories, number, music ect, but he added a eighth, nature smart which just shows the influence growing with nature can have to make our children happy and successful.

I'm sure there are plenty of you thinking this book sounds like a hard slog, well it's just as good as a resource book, in the back there are brilliant categories, links and ideas on how to move forward giving our children the freedom to explore and the confidence to their parents to let them do so. There are aspects such as 100 actions we can take as parents, carers ect. Recommended further reading, and fun stuff included like how to build a tree house.  suggestions for transforming our communities,. ways in which educators can bring about outdoor reform. And of course discussion points.

If your not sure about the outlay, go to the library and give it a go, I'm sure you will find it very absorbing and inspiring to give nature the respect it deserves.