Born to Be Wild: Hundreds of free nature activities for families

Description

Want to save cash, your child's imagination and possibly even the planet? This is the book you need. Packed with great photos of real families in the outdoors, Born to Be Wild contains easy-to-follow instructions for activities that require nothing more sophisticated than a small person's imagination and access to a little outdoor space. Nature lays on magical materials for free each season, from fallen leaves and twigs, moulted feathers, sand and shells, to mud, puddles and rain. Everything else you'll need for these activities is already hiding in your cupboards at home. No expensive art supplies of outward-bound kit required. All you need are the toolkit items at the front of the book - ordinary household essentials like scraps of paper, string, glue, recycled food containers and an empty jar or two. Along the way Hattie talks to families, organisations and communities who have rebuilt their relationships with nature with extreme or inspiring results, and she introduces scientists, psychologists and other experts who explain why, as modern families, we should revive our waning relationships with nature, whatever age or stage we're at.

Hattie Garlick is a former journalist for the Times, where she wrote features, comment and news, and now contributes to the Guardian, the Telegraph, the Sunday Times, the Sunday Telegraph's Stella magazine, the Financial Times magazine, and Mother and Baby magazine, as well as to Radio 4's Food programme. Hattie also interviewed all of the 100 Leading Ladies photographed by Nancy Honey for her 2014 exhibition and book. Nancy Honey has been a professional photographer for over 35 years. She loves photographing people, especially children and teenagers, who she finds refreshing, idiosyncratic and constantly inspirational. Her work has been widely published and exhibited internationally and she has received numerous awards, commissions and prizes. Her monographs include Woman to Woman 1990, Entering the Masquerade 1992, Poodle Parlour 2008 and 100 Leading Ladies 2014.

Offers instructions for free outdoor activities that engage a child's imagination. * New York Times * A lively and endearing book... The photographs offer a work of art beyond their instructional nature. * Library Journal * Nature and imagination are a potent combination, exposing children to all sorts of delights, and this book provides endless remedies to the indoorsiness of urban life. * Publishers Weekly * It's a fantastic ideas book with simple, easy to do, no fuss activities. * rainydaymum.co.uk * Born to be Wild is rammed with unexpectedly practical ideas to help you and your loved ones enjoy time together. * Natural Health * You can see why Hattie Garlick has written this book, her love for the outdoors and her passion for developing children's imagination are quite obvious. * spanishmummy.co.uk * Born to be Wild is a lovely new book packed to the rafters with fabulous ideas. * babybudgeting.co.uk * With this title nearby, even smartphone-obsessed kids will be clamouring to plan an outing. * Library Journal * Who knew that a little pond dipping could be so much fun? * mummconstant.com * The great thing about this book is that you don't have to be an amazing outdoor guru, you can be a total 'townie' and still be able to complete the activities... It is the perfect book to get everyone outside a little bit more and having oodles of fun. * blogbybaby.com *