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

Praise for Last Child in the Woods

One of the most thought-provoking, well-written books Ive read in recent memory. It rivals Rachel Carsons 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 Carsons 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 Grays 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 Nations Health

A single sentence explains why Louvs 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 Louvs team.

The San Diego Union-Tribune

Affecting.... Has the force of a polemic, but none of the badgering quality; its delivered with the casual feel of an afternoon hike.

Austin (TX) American-Statesman

Anyone who cares about the future should heed Richard Louvs prophetic message. Children who dont experience nature wont grow up to cherish or protect it. Last Child in the Woods should be on every conservationistsand every parentsbookshelf.

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 childrens 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

Louvs 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 troubleand Louv explains how to begin recovering our nature.

Carl Pope, Executive Director, Sierra Club

Richard Louvs provocative new book about kids growing nature-deficit disorder... is raising debate and tough questions nationwide.

Parade magazine

Last Child in the Woods isnt 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 readerparent, educator, scientistan assessment of the social and ecological consequences of Americas 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 experimentthe first generation to be raised without meaningful contact with the natural world. Richard Louv provides insight on what its 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 childrens 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 childrenor anyone who plans to in the future.

Martha Farrell Erickson, Ph.D., co-chair of the
Presidential Initiative on Children and founding director
of the Children, Youth, and Family Consortium,
University of Minnesota

LAST CHILD IN THE WOODS

ALSO BY RICHARD LOUV

Fly-Fishing for Sharks: An American Journey
The Web of Life
FatherLove
101 Things You Can Do for Our Childrens Future
Childhoods Future
America II

Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder

Updated and Expanded

RICHARD LOUV

Published by
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
Post Office Box 2225
Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27515-2225

a division of
Workman Publishing
225 Varick Street
New York, New York 10014

2005, 2008 by Richard Louv. All rights reserved.