Nature At Your Doorstep


Book Description

"With John and Gloria Tveten as your guides, even a walk across an empty lot can turn into a memorable lesson in the abundance of life." "For more than two decades, the Tvetens' weekly "Nature Trails" column in the Houston Chronicle introduced readers to the miracles of nature that surround them every day. Nature at Your Doorstep gathers in one volume some of the best of these columns, revealing the bounty of plants and animals available within the familiar surroundings of home and region. With updated commentaries and original drawings; the Tvetens open our eyes to the plants and animals thriving in the backyard, the park, the campground, or the family's vacation spot." "In addition to neighborhood flowers, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians, they also take this opportunity to focus on a particular love of John Tveten's - insects. From butterflies and beetles to mosquitoes and moths, the "six-legged horde" receives admiring treatment, revealing the huge number and variety of bugs that occupy our space. With the Tvetens' intimate and knowledgeable descriptions, you are sure to begin viewing the nature at your doorstep in a whole new way."--BOOK JACKET.




Nature at Our Doorstep


Book Description

Naturalist Matt Schuth provides solid information about birds, trees, insects and other aspects of the natural world, enlivened by personal experience, homespun humor, myth and folklore, and deep respect for the rural past. Reading the book is like going on a walk with a good friend who happens to be an expert observer of the natural world.




Beyond Your Doorstep


Book Description

The inspiring classic on the virtues of embracing the great outdoors from the national bestselling author of The Dog Who Came to Stay. Over the course of his career, Hal Borland wrote eight nature books and hundreds of “outdoor editorials” for the Sunday New York Times, extolling the virtues of the countryside. From his home on one hundred acres in rural Connecticut, Borland wrote of the natural wonders, both big and small, that surrounded him every day. Beyond Your Doorstep is his guide to venturing into the outdoors around your home, wherever it is, and discovering the countryside within reach. The beauty to be found in roadsides, meadows, woodlands, and bogs are explored in elegant prose. Borland takes up birds, animals, and plants—both edible and poisonous—and the miraculous ways in which they are threaded together throughout the natural world. Part introductory field guide and part incitement to exploration, Beyond Your Doorstep is a classic of nature writing and a must-read for anyone looking to renew his or her relationship to the outdoors.




Bringing Nature Home


Book Description

“With the twinned calamities of climate change and mass extinction weighing heavier and heavier on my nature-besotted soul, here were concrete, affordable actions that I could take, that anyone could take, to help our wild neighbors thrive in the built human environment. And it all starts with nothing more than a seed. Bringing Nature Home is a miracle: a book that summons butterflies." —Margaret Renkl, The Washington Post As development and habitat destruction accelerate, there are increasing pressures on wildlife populations. In his groundbreaking book Bringing Nature Home, Douglas W. Tallamy reveals the unbreakable link between native plant species and native wildlife—native insects cannot, or will not, eat alien plants. When native plants disappear, the insects disappear, impoverishing the food source for birds and other animals. Luckily, there is an important and simple step we can all take to help reverse this alarming trend: everyone with access to a patch of earth can make a significant contribution toward sustaining biodiversity by simply choosing native plants. By acting on Douglas Tallamy's practical and achievable recommendations, we can all make a difference.




Nature's Day


Book Description

This first book of nature helps young readers to discover the world of wildlife on their doorstep. Beginning in spring, this book revisits nine different places, including the farm, the back yard, and the woods, during each of the four seasons through the year and explores the changing scenery and animal life found there. Informative and fun text teamed with gorgeous, decorative illustrations make this the perfect book to celebrate each season with.




Slow Down


Book Description

Slow down to watch 50 nature stories that command calm and foster mindfulness All around us, nature is working wonders. Every day, hour by hour, magical transformations happen right in front of you. But it’s not always easy to see them . . . In this beautiful illustrated collection, 50 moments in nature are paused for you to watch them in detail. Then you should go outside, and explore, and see what you find when you take the time to slow down. Gorgeously illustrated, this charming collection celebrates the small wonders happening all around us every day.




Nature's Best Hope


Book Description

“Tallamy lays out all you need to know to participate in one of the great conservation projects of our time. Read it and get started!” —Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sixth Extinction Douglas W. Tallamy’s first book, Bringing Nature Home, awakened thousands of readers to an urgent situation: wildlife populations are in decline because the native plants they depend on are fast disappearing. His solution? Plant more natives. In this new book, Tallamy takes the next step and outlines his vision for a grassroots approach to conservation. Nature’s Best Hope shows how homeowners everywhere can turn their yards into conservation corridors that provide wildlife habitats. Because this approach relies on the initiatives of private individuals, it is immune from the whims of government policy. Even more important, it’s practical, effective, and easy—you will walk away with specific suggestions you can incorporate into your own yard. If you’re concerned about doing something good for the environment, Nature’s Best Hope is the blueprint you need. By acting now, you can help preserve our precious wildlife—and the planet—for future generations.




Nature on the Doorstep


Book Description

Nature on the Doorstep reveals the simple pleasures of paying attention to the natural world in one's own backyard over the course of a year. In weekly letters, Angela Douglas shares the joys and curiosities of a decidedly ordinary patch of green in upstate New York cultivated through the art of "strategic neglect"—sometimes taking a hand to manage wildlife, more often letting nature go its own way. From the first flowers of spring to cardinals singing in the winter, Douglas shows us the magic of welcoming unexpected plant and animal life into one's backyard. A paean to the richness we find when we stop to look and let be, Nature on the Doorstep celebrates the role humble backyards play both in conservation efforts and in an expanded appreciation of the living world.




Outside Your Window


Book Description

This gorgeously illustrated volume of poetry — sprinkled with facts and fun things to do — sows an early love for nature in all its beauty and wonder. The buzz of bees in summertime. The tracks of a bird in the winter snow. This beautiful book captures all the sights and sounds of a child’s interactions with nature, from planting acorns or biting into crisp apples to studying tide pools or lying back and watching the birds overhead. No matter what’s outside their windows — city streets or country meadows — kids will be inspired to explore the world around them. Written by award-winning author Nicola Davies and illustrated by Mark Hearld, a breathtaking new talent in children’s books, Outside Your Window is a stunning reminder that the natural world is on our doorstep waiting to be discovered.




Wild Your Garden


Book Description

"It's up to every single one of us to do our bit for wildlife, however small our gardens, and The Butterfly Brothers know just how that can be achieved." Alan Titchmarsh Join the rewilding movement and share your outdoor space with nature. We all have the potential to make the world a little greener. Wild Your Garden, written by Jim and Joel Ashton (aka "The Butterfly Brothers"), shows you how to create a garden that can help boost local biodiversity. Transform a paved-over yard into a lush oasis, create refuges to welcome and support native species, or turn a high-maintenance lawn into a nectar-rich mini-meadow to attract bees and butterflies. You don't need specialist knowledge or acres of land. If you have any outdoor space, you can make a difference to local wildlife, and reduce your carbon footprint, too. "Wildlife gardening is one of the most important things you can do as an individual for increasing biodiversity and mitigating the effects of climate change. From digging a pond to planting a native hedge, the Butterfly Brothers can help you every step of the way." Kate Bradbury