Gathers together some of the evidence that nature is necessary to well being. Explains some of the barriers, legal and social that interfere with this important connection and suggests remedies for the future ( )

The book is fabulous. I grew up in a place where nature was never far away. We spent two weeks in the woods when I was a Boy Scout in England. After my return to my current home, I discovered we had been busy replacing trees with concrete.

Richard Louv's term, "nature-deficit disorder," is timely. As he mentioned, we study microbiology without smelling a plant or looking at an animal in its natural habitat. Our obsession with technology has taken us away from our natural roots, leaving fear in its place. We need to reclaim our connection with nature. It will make us whole again.

Richard Louv's book is a welcome reminder. It is a call. We must heed the call, and integrate the lessons into our education curriculum. ( )

Nature-deficit disorder is not a medical condition; it is a description of the human costs of alienation from nature. This alienation damages children and shapes adults, families, and communities. There are solutions, though, and they're right in our own backyards. Last child in the Woods is the first book to bring together cutting-edge research showing that direct exposure to nature is essential for healthy childhood development—physical, emotional, and spiritual. What's more, nature is a potent therapy for depression, obesity, and ADD. Environment-based education dramatically improves standardized test scores and grade point averages and develops skills in problem solving, critical thinking, and decision making. Even creativity is stimulated by childhood experiences in nature. Selected Reading Questionnaire.

What an important book. I am inspired to reconnect with nature and saddened by the distance between people and nature today. ( )

I ended up speed reading the second half of the book so I could return it to the library. I think every parent should read this. There are a lot of people clueless about how important nature is. They see it as a dirty inconvenience in their clean white shoes, white carpet, white house lives.
The field guide of actions we can take seems like the best part to me. In a world where everyone is willing to tell us something is a problem but not offer solutions, the field guide is a refreshing list of easy things almost anyone can do. ( )