Read a Nature Book

Thanks to Kate Rutter for this illustration from her free zine: 7 Ways to Connect with Nature.

Reading nature books is a great way to learn more about this beautiful planet and all of the creatures that call it home. Here is a curated list of some of our favorite books about nature, nature journaling, nature connection, and natural history. (This list is a work in progress. Do you have a favorite that isn’t on this list? Email us—we want to hear about it!)

*These books are written/illustrated by someone who has taught/spoken at our annual Wild Wonder Nature Journaling Conference.

(Note: Some of the links below are affiliate links with Bookshop.org, where your purchase supports local independent bookstores and Wild Wonder Foundation.)

Books about Nature Journaling, Sketching, Nature Art

• The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling by John Muir Laws*

• How to Teach Nature Journaling by John Muir Laws and Emilie Lygren*

• The Laws Guide to Drawing Birds by John Muir Laws*

• The Laws Sketchbook for Nature Journaling by John Muir Laws*

• Drawn to Nature by Clare Walker Leslie*

• Keeping a Nature Journal by Clare Walker Leslie & Charles E. Roth*

• Sketching in Nature by Cathy Johnson

• Nature Journaling for a Wild Life by Roseann Hanson*

• Master of Field Arts by Roseann Hanson*

• The Nature Explorer’s Sketchbook by Jean Mackay*

• The Sketchnote Handbook by Mike Rohde*

• Watercolor in Nature by Rosalie Haizlett*

• Artist’s Sketchbook by Cathy Johnson

Nature Poetry

• Devotions, by Mary Oliver

• The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry

Books About Nature

• What It’s Like to Be a Bird by David Allen Sibley

• The Earth in Her Hands: 75 Extraordinary Women Working in the World of Plants by Jennifer Jewell

• The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature by J. Drew Lanham*

• The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman

• What an Owl Knows by Jennifer Ackerman

• Under the Sea Wind: A Naturalist’s Picture of Ocean Life by Rachel Carson

• An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Worlds Around Us by Ed Yong

• World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

• How to Look at A Bird: Open Your Eyes to the Joy of Watching and Knowing Birds, by Clare Walker Leslie*

• Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds by Bernd Heinrich

• Nature Swagger: Stories and Visions of Black Joy in the Outdoors by Rue Mapp

• The Cold Canyon Fire Journals: Green Shoots and Silver Linings in the Ashes by Robin Lee Carlson*

• The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan*

• Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv*

• The Nature Principle: Reconnecting with Life in a Virtual Age by Richard Louv*

• Vitamin N: The Essential Guide to a Nature Rich Life by Richard Louv*

• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer