Praise for Last Child in the Woods
“One of the most thought-provoking, well-written books I’ve read in recent memory. It rivals Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.”
—The Cincinnati Enquirer
“Important and original. . . . As Louv so eloquently and urgently shows, our mothers were right when they told us, day after day, ‘Go out and play.’”
—The Christian Science Monitor
“Last Child in the Woods is the direct descendant and rightful legatee of Rachel Carson’s The Sense of Wonder. But this is not the only thing Richard Louv has in common with Rachel Carson. There is also this: in my opinion, Last Child in the Woods is the most important book published since Silent Spring.”
—Robert Michael Pyle, author of Sky Time in Gray’s River
“This book is an absolute must-read for parents.”
—The Boston Globe
“One man who bears a large responsibility for breathing new life into back-to-nature efforts is Richard Louv. . . . [His] book is helping drive a movement quickly flourishing across the nation.”
—The Nation’s Health
“A single sentence explains why Louv’s book is so important: ‘Our children,’ he writes, ‘are the first generation to be raised without meaningful contact with the natural world.’ This matters, and Last Child in the Woods makes it patently clear why and lays out a path back.”
—The Ecologist
“With this scholarly yet practical book, Louv offers solutions today for a healthier, greener tomorrow.”
—Washington Post Book World
“The simplest, most profound, and most helpful of any book I have read on the personal and historical situation of our children, and ourselves, as we move into the twenty-first century.”
—Thomas Berry, author of The Dream of the Earth
“The book is an inch-thick caution against raising the fully automated child.”
—The New York Times
“Our society has been de-natured and few seem aware of how seriously television and the Internet have replaced nature in the lives of our children. This book is essential for the effective prescriptions for the recovery. Every parent should read this book, but equally important, every teacher should take it to heart and take every student into nature.”
—Paul Dayton, Ph.D., winner of the E. O. Wilson Naturalist Award
“Engrossing. . . . Thrilling to read.”
—St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“I found myself seeing the last chapter through suddenly blurry eyes and wondering, as I reached for the Kleenex, how I could sign on to Richard Louv’s team.”
—The San Diego Union-Tribune
“Affecting. . . . Has the force of a polemic, but none of the badgering quality; it’s delivered with the casual feel of an afternoon hike.”
—Austin (TX) American-Statesman
“Anyone who cares about the future should heed Richard Louv’s prophetic message. Children who don’t experience nature won’t grow up to cherish or protect it. Last Child in the Woods should be on every conservationist’s—and every parent’s—bookshelf.”
—Will Rogers, President, The Trust for Public Land
Last Child in the Woods has sparked a formal national campaign to get kids engaged in informal nature play and unstructured out-of-doors activities.—Boat U.S. Magazine
“Last Child in the Woods coalesced a broad spectrum of interest groups that share a belief that spending time in nature can improve children’s health, stimulate their creativity, sharpen their thinking skills, and help them care about the environment. Richard Louv has energized the national debate on the importance of connecting kids to nature.
—John Flicker, President, National Audubon Society
“An honest, well-researched and well-written book, among the first to give name to an undeniable problem.”
—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“[A] wake-up call.”
—Spirituality and Health
“Louv’s case for outdoor play is a convincing one, and the possibility of a drug-free ‘nature’ cure for many modern ills is too tantalizing to ignore.”
—Audubon magazine, Editors’ Choice
“Rich Louv has written an extraordinarily important book. American democracy is rooted in the landscape, not the skyline. If the next generation is denied this heritage, we are in big trouble—and Louv explains how to begin recovering our nature.”
—Carl Pope, Executive Director, Sierra Club
“Richard Louv’s provocative new book about kids’ growing ‘nature-deficit disorder’ . . . is raising debate and tough questions nationwide.”
—Parade magazine
“Last Child in the Woods isn’t an exercise in nostalgia. Mr. Louv provides plenty of evidence to back up his core contention.”
—The Wall Street Journal
“Writing to the heart and intellect with telling anecdotes and pertinent research, Louv gives the reader—parent, educator, scientist—an assessment of the social and ecological consequences of America’s divorce from nature and prescribes new paths for reconnecting children with nature, resulting in healthier, better-adjusted kids who will care for our planet.”
—Craig Tufts, Chief Naturalist, National Wildlife Federation
“An eloquent, urgent, and timely book [that] presents important ideas and remedies for parents, schools, and communities.”
—Samuel Osherson, Ph.D., author of Finding Our Fathers
“Brilliant, encouraging.”
—Healthy Beginnings magazine
“Our children are part of a truly vast experiment—the first generation to be raised without meaningful contact with the natural world. Richard Louv provides insight on what it’s doing to our children, and savvy advice about how to restore the age-old relationship between people and the rest of the planet.”
—Bill McKibben
“A magnificent case for unplugging our kids from the Net and letting them roam free again in the woods.”
—Mike Davis, author of Ecology of Fear
“Louv has a wealth of advice for parents, teachers, policy-makers, and urban planners. . . . A must read for those with a keen interest in the subject.”
—The Raleigh (NC) News and Observer
“This book is an eye-opener for adults involved with children and for adults themselves. I hope it becomes the turning point it deserves to be.”
—Bernice Weissbourd, contributing editor to Parents magazine and author of Putting Families First
“Provides inspiring examples of ways and places where nature is consciously and thoughtfully being brought back into children’s lives all over the country.” —The Madison (WI) Capital Times
“A wake-up call for parents, educators, and anyone who cares about children and the future of our society. . . . Last Child in the Woods should be required reading for anyone who lives with or works with children—or anyone who
