Last Child in the Woods

by Richard Louv

book data

1,187 ratings, 3.90 average rating, 442 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		30%
4		39%
3		23%
2		5%
1		1%

edit

published

April 10th 2008 (first published 2005) by Algonquin Books

binding

Paperback

literary awards

2008 Audubon medal

isbn

156512605X (isbn13: 9781565126053)

description

Richard Louv was the first to identify a phenomenon nature-deficit disorder. His book Last Child in the Woods created a national conversation about th...more

find at: Amazon | Half.com | Barnes & Noble | Abebooks | compare prices…

new topic
discuss this book

topics	posts	views	last activity
50 Books A Year: S. R. Gruber's 50 in 09	12	86	19 days ago, 08:44PM
Constant Reader: Top Read of 2008	95	935	05/05/2009 11:15PM
API Seattle Reads: 2009 books	1	4	03/04/2009 12:07PM
Nature disorde	1	13	12/09/2007 12:05PM

friend reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

lists with this book

Most Influential Parenting Books

46 books | 27 voters

More lists...

other reviews (showing 1-20 of 2,742)

sort: default (?) | date
filters: all | text-only

02/12/08

Nicole rated it:

(review of isbn 1565125223)

Read in February, 2008

recommends it for: parents, educators, environmentalists, humans

I would give this a 3.5 rating if I was allowed.

After that caveat, I have to say that overall this book left me feeling sad, a little hopeless, nostalgic, grateful, and angry. I had a childhood spent outside; in the fields and woods behind our house and on camping and fishing trips with my Dad. I know how formative these experiences were to my personality, spirituality, politics, and attitude about so many things. I have always pictured my child/ren having a similarly intimate r...more

Like this review? yes (6 people liked it)

add a comment

09/27/08

Skylar Burris rated it:

(review of isbn 1565125223)

bookshelves: nonfiction, parenting, politics, sociology

Read in October, 2008

This is typical sentence from Last Child in the Woods: "he offered no academic studies to support his theory; nonetheless his statement rang true." That about sums up this book: it's not empirical, but, nonetheless, it rings true—more or less. He draws his conclusions far too widely, and gives too much credit to what nature will do for kids, but the general idea rings true. Kids should play in nature – not because (as Louv questionably implies) it will cure ADHD, make them better a...more This is typical sentence from Last Child in the Woods: "he offered no academic studies to support his theory; nonetheless his statement rang true." That about sums up this book: it's not empirical, but, nonetheless, it rings true—more or less. He draws his conclusions far too widely, and gives too much credit to what nature will do for kids, but the general idea rings true. Kids should play in nature – not because (as Louv questionably implies) it will cure ADHD, make them better athletes, increase their math and language test scores, prevent depression, or guarantee great creativity – but because it's fun, it's freeing, it's healthy, and they're kids, and that's what kids have done for centuries.

The author takes a rather random, meandering, unfocused, and largely anecdotal approach to supporting his argument that playing in nature makes kids better off in a myriad ways. Jumping on the "there's a disorder for everything I don't like about modern kids" bandwagon, he dubs the results of modern lack of contact with nature "nature deficit disorder." His actual studies are few and usually include small or isolated samples or questionable methodology. He often ignores the maxim that "correlation does not necessarily imply causation." A typical support goes something like this: look at all these creative people. They used to play in nature as kids. Playing in nature must make people creative. It's rather like picking the most creative people of the current youngest generation and saying – look at all these creative people. They used to surf the internet as kids! Surfing the internet must have made them creative!

It makes sense, however, that nature would have a calming effect on kids; that balancing on fallen trees as you cross the creek would build coordination, that spending time imbibing the wonders of the great Creator would inspire human creativity. And I join in a feeling of sadness for a world that is largely gone; I want my children to have the childhood I had, spending hours after school exploring the creek with friends, building forts from scratch in the woods, catching waterbus and tadpoles and butterflies, digging pits in the earth, and engaging in neighborhood-wide, week-long war strategy games from patch of woods to patch of woods. I don't necessarily agree with all of his solutions, and I don't think he realizes how large a share of the problem is owing to private familial choice and not external circumstances, but I dearly want my kids to play in nature.

He seems to want to replace environmentalist moral indoctrination in the schools, which he feels has backfired, with experiential education, which he believes will actually produce more conservationists. I think he's probably right. People who are taught morality primarily through lecture, guilt, and hyperbolic pictures of the dread consequences of their inaction (be it global warming covering the world in melted ice or the fires of hell consuming them) are often inclined to tune out and do only the minimum they need to do to escape the censure of their teachers. But people who experience first-hand the good things in life are more likely to notice their decline or absence and desire to preserve them. An experiential education of nature, particularly in the elementary years, might lead to the creation, also, of a less romanticized environmentalism, one more aware of trade-offs and more practical and beneficial in the long run.

He has ideas for improving the problem, but, as is true of most people making public policy proposals, he doesn't really consider the cost or practicality of implementing them. And ultimately it isn't schools or poor city planners that keep kids from nature, it's family culture. And he does mention this: the overscheduling, the fear of allowing children to wander off on their own to explore, and the permissive use of electronic entertainment. But roaming freely in packs from school until dinner time is the way children have always explored nature, so until you change that private family culture of fear, structure, scheduling, and plugging-in, no amount of city planning or tinkering with the public school curriculum is going to address the problem of "nature deficit disorder." This is why I think this is much more a private family issue than a public policy issue, and while I think this book is a good kick in the pants to parents (including me), it's not necessarily a good springboard for policy making, being based almost entirely on emotion rather than reason and lacking sufficient empirical verification of the claimed benefits of free play in nature or evidence that the particular policies he supports really would sufficiently increase free play in nature.

The truth is – nature is still there. Development has made the areas smaller, but they're there. The very same creek I explored as a child is right where I left it. The question is – are we individual parents going to allow our kids to explore it on their own and encourage them to? Or are we going to say, I want you home after school, in your room, studying until basketball/football/piano/band practice? Even the author of this book doesn't let his kids explore the canyon behind his own backyard without taking their cell phones, and he has taught them to be appalled by hunting.

Some questions I wished he'd addressed better (or at all): (1) How much of our perception of the problem might be connected to mere romantic nostalgic longing for our own pasts? I was not born into a world of personal computers (though I got my first in 4th grade) or of the Internet (which I didn't use until college); the world has changed irrevocably, and there is more difference between the childhood lifestyle of my children's generation and my own generation than there was between the childhood of me and my parents, or even me and my grandparents. The talents the future world will demand will be different; we have to acknowledge this and prepare our kids for it. (2) How much of it is that nature has a calming effect on children, and how much is it that in open spaces, adults are more tolerant of children acting like children? (3) I want my kids to explore nature on their own, and will allow them, but I did this with friends as a kid because this is what kids did. Now, how will my children make and maintain friends spending most of their time doing things most other kids simply aren't doing?

The book isn't very well organized or exceptionally well written, but I give it three stars because most of what he says, even if it's exaggerated, NEEDS to be said – kids need to get back to free playing in nature. And it was a great reminder and motivator to me – as a parent – to just let my children play outside without structure, to stop cautioning them to be careful constantly, and to not be annoyed that I brought them all the way to the fancy playground only to have them climb trees and roll down hills, which they could have done in our backyard. It has inspired me to make a regular habit of taking them to the creek and the lake and the woods now, as preschoolers, so that they can be in the habit of exploring before they start school. The truth is, being children, they insitinctively LOVE the outdoors, and playing in it. It's getting me off my butt, away from my books and the Internet, to take them there more often that is the real problem. And if I don't get in that habit, they may not develop a firm enough habit of playing in nature to withstand the blinking, flashing temptations of the electronic play of their classmates in later childhood. When they ARE old enough to play in nature on their own, and I kick them out the door, they may no longer be so inlcined to go as they are now. But now they need supervision, being 4 and 2, so I have to go with them every time, which isn't easy when there's stuff to do and internet to surf...So I appreciate the kick in the pants to get MY act together and get them out more! (less)

Like this review? yes (5 people liked it)

2 comments

03/11/08

Nell rated it:

(review of isbn 1565125223)

bookshelves: non-fiction

Read in March, 2008

The idea that struck me the most is that it is not just good for children to be outside in the grass, in the trees, in the creeks, wandering and unstructured--it is vital, as necessary every day as is food, water, and sleep. The accounts of how disconnected today's society has become from nature were dispiriting, although there were also many examples of communities and schools striving to reconnect children to the natural world. I also enjoyed the arguments against several things that drive me ...more

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

add a comment

03/28/09

Audrey rated it:

(review of isbn 1565125223)

Read in March, 2009

This book has been criticized because it doesn't really offer empirical evidence, but I think for those of us who spent time wandering the woods (we had 40 acres that I knew like the back of my hand) as kids, we know what a gift that outdoor time can be for kids. That's why this book is a must-read for parents and educators, I think -- to remind us of what's out there and possible and what we've forgotten. It may be that "nature" therapy can work as a form of behavior therapy for ADHD ...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

1 comment

09/08/08

Cynthia rated it:

(review of isbn 1565125223)

bookshelves: currently-reading

This one is a must read for anyone with children of their own, children in their life, teachers... Actually this is for all humans who grew up with or without nature...
It shows the shift in how children were relating to the outdoors 40 years ago and how they are today. It explores the effects that technology and too much time inside is having on young lives and on the life of the planet.... It is hart warming and funny, it will bring you to tears and make you get outside yourself and take...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

1 comment

07/10/08

Mehrsa rated it:

(review of isbn 1565125223)

Read in August, 2008

I think every parent and educator should read this book or at least hear the thesis and give it some thought. The point is that children need nature--especially free play where they can roam and discover and create in the wild and that we, as a society have instilled too much fear of nature in our children and also outlawed a lot of free play and the changing landscape and culture have moved children into cities and away from farms.

The author also claims that this "nature-defi...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

3 comments

07/04/08

S. R. rated it:

(review of isbn 1565125223)

Read in January, 2009

Now, any book that insists kids should be spending more time playing outside than in front of a screen is, in my case, preaching to the choir. I don't need to be convinced. I need data and ideas and backup.

Louv makes many interesting observations and provides some references to research that supports his claims, but not much in the way of in depth examinations of those studies. (I am a skeptic even when presented with data that backs up my beliefs.) I would have liked to see more of ...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

2 comments

05/11/08

Tony rated it:

(review of isbn 1565125223)

Read in May, 2008

A book I strongly recommend, although I wish the information/research/extrapolation was farther long the developmental cycle. In a nutshell, the author coins the term 'nature deficit disorder' was some sort of easy-to-use term to somewhat anchor his still developing notions that children need unfettered time in un-organised nature. They need to be able to play in the margins, where the truly interesting stuff is happening (one study among scant few mentioned [for reasons that I will discuss late...more A book I strongly recommend, although I wish the information/research/extrapolation was farther long the developmental cycle. In a nutshell, the author coins the term 'nature deficit disorder' was some sort of easy-to-use term to somewhat anchor his still developing notions that children need unfettered time in un-organised nature. They need to be able to play in the margins, where the truly interesting stuff is happening (one study among scant few mentioned [for reasons that I will discuss later] was that children in the rubble of WW!! Europe preferred the wild spots to the undamaged concrete) The book is riddled with anecdotes about the changes in youthful patterns of interaction with nature, and the scary declines in that area: how children who once grew up with time alone in nature now spend it near the ubiquitous and ESSENTIAL electrical socket. Of course, there is a cavalcade of potentially damaging implications to our behavioural changes, few if any of which have yet been subjected to strict scientific rigor.

There is some further effective commentary on the potential problems with development when we minimize our sensory input solely to the visual medium, which is the ever-increasing and general trend of our societies. There is also further tidbit relating to learning effectiveness and behaviours when there is a more ecological bent, and the scary decline in peoples' knowledge of the natural sciences (again a symbol of early play with nature) in lieu of a more recent molecular dominance. As vignettes go, one particularly memorable one was how, do to our society's fears and litigiousness, we have actually, legally, made it very hard to have unfetterd play with significant potential monetary penalties upon whose land fun can be had, which is a trend that we clearly need to reverse!

It is a strong book, but there is not enough hard science to back up all the interesting (and there are many of them) theories, but this book is important because it is putting the ideas out there. Along a paradigm, the early adopters will have to be preaching into an unknown before what they consider common-sense is put to the hard science test. I do feel that many of these ideas, and damning trends the author warns about, will one day be reversed when the science manages to catch up a bit more with what can only be fairly described now as very intelligent conjecture. In general, Americans should be worried, and Singapore should be absolutely shitting themselves; it is hard to even conceive of a place which more marginalizes 'wild' nature in lieu of a nicely manicured lawn. (less)

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

03/10/08

Christina rated it:

(review of isbn 1565125223)

bookshelves: education

Read in April, 2008

I mostly read the middle, since I don't need to be convinced that significant exposure to the natural world is essential for kids, or that there is less of it today than there was a generation or two ago. The back of the book promised to provide "solutions" and I wanted to see what those would be.

Lots of recommendations for what changes the author would like to see made to the school/education system (pre-k through college), to how we build our cities/towns, and to how our...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

1 comment

02/12/08

Annalisa rated it:

(review of isbn 1565125223)

bookshelves: audiobook, non-fiction, resource

Read in November, 2008

I really enjoyed this book. I found myself analyzing the way I interact with nature and the encouragement I give to my daughter to do the same. She's not really a play in the dirt kind of a girl and when she told me she was bored on a sunny afternoon a few weeks ago just after I started this book I told her to go outside and play. I looked out the window a few minutes later to see her lying in the grass reading and had to laugh that she wasn't technically playing outside. At least she was feelin...more I really enjoyed this book. I found myself analyzing the way I interact with nature and the encouragement I give to my daughter to do the same. She's not really a play in the dirt kind of a girl and when she told me she was bored on a sunny afternoon a few weeks ago just after I started this book I told her to go outside and play. I looked out the window a few minutes later to see her lying in the grass reading and had to laugh that she wasn't technically playing outside. At least she was feeling the rays of sunshine and the grass on her back. I think I will forever have these concepts in my head and look for ways to bond more with nature and encourage my daughter to do the same.

The basic concept of the book is that as human beings we are creatures of nature and need nature as part of our emotional, intellectual, and spiritual development. The generations before us have spent their childhoods outdoors exploring and learning, but because of factors like less land and more people (and the way land is developed with less natural open space), our litigious society, fear of predators and injury, overscheduling, and modern technology, our children do not have the same quality unstructured outdoor play. While we do not know all the effects this lack of nature will have in our children, it most likely affects their creativity, attention (ADHD), ability to soothe and cope, emotional and behavioral (problems arise from a disconnect with nature), and my favorite: their spiritual connection to the space they live in. There is something about lying on your back in the grass at night and watching the stars above and feeling both insignificantly small and significantly important. It's just good for kids to get their hands in the dirt and play, but nobody really does anymore. I always knew nature was important, but never stopped to think just how important it is to our lives.

The majority of the book tells us all the reasons we need nature and the ways our society has gone wrong turning its back on nature, but I wish he had more answers for just how to do that. Building utopian societies that revolve around farming and that are more expensive to build just isn't feasible in this country. People just aren't interested in spending more for a system they don't see as broken. My neighborhood has small parks, but there isn't a lot of open exploring area, nor do I know where around here I could move that would give me that without giving up the sense of community I enjoy. My daughter's school does not have grass area but man-made surface area in the playground. There isn't much, if anything, I can do to get that changed, other than move and I am happy with the education she is receiving. While he does give options like cultivating a garden and giving your children more unstructured play, I wanted more solutions that I could do personally instead of grand gestures society on whole must do.

I was left with a little bit of a feeling that America is losing its love for nature and this generation will grow up without any loyalty to it and nobody to protect it, but there isn't much that can be done about it without improbable rewiring of the way Americans think. I found his solutions far too optimistic and unrealistic to surpass the mountains he spent the first half of the book showing us need to be climbed for change. And the problems seem just as much to blame on the natural exponential growth in population than anything else. There may be a lot of undeveloped land in this country, but wide open spaces around everyone's home is not only not feasible but it's not many people's style. I am a city girl and have no interest in returning to a frontier lifestyle that he seems to idolize. While I have a healthy appreciation for nature and often like to ponder it and enjoy the small pleasures of walks or rain, I'm not the type of person who likes to be outdoors getting my hands dirty. I could spend days on end indoors and be perfectly happy. And I don't think there's anything wrong that.

While I was a little dissatisfied with the lack of solution, I still think the problems addressed in his book both real and extremely important ones to address. Being aware of this trend toward nature deficiency is the first step to evoking change. In our own small ways in our communities and families everyone can find creative solutions for getting more nature time. I especially could be better about encouraging my daughter to spend time bonding with the earth from whence she came. It's healthy and it's important. And I think it's an issue everyone should be aware of so they too can be conscious of the ways they incorporate and protect nature.(less)

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

1 comment

10/29/07

Kim rated it:

(review of isbn 1565125223)

Read in December, 2007

recommends it for: Eco-minded parents

As a reader, a would-be environmentalist, and a mom, I felt like Richard Louv was writing this book for me. Like so many other former kids who remember lazy days of running free through the woods, wading in streams, and catching toads and butterflies, I am saddened by our current video-game culture in which kids have more electronics than they know what to do with and yet are utterly bored (I have a teenage nephew; I've seen it with my own eyes). I hate the fact that parents can no longer let th...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

12/04/08

Carrie Lundell rated it:

(review of isbn 1565125223)

bookshelves: new-parent-must-have

I feel like this is a book every parent should read. Personally, I ate it up because he explained in words what I have always felt and wanted for my children. He does back up some of his ideas with research, but also with a lot of anecdotal evidence. I did a lot of underlining and I like to keep the book handy to remind me to make sure my kids get dirty during plenty of unstructured outdoor time.

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

10/27/07

Joy rated it:

(review of isbn 1565125223)

Read in April, 2008

I picked this book up at Mt. Rainier while I was waiting in line to pay for a National Park passport for Rebecca. One of my biggest struggles living in Indiana has been having the knowledge that outdoor opportunities for Rebecca are much more limited in scope than that which I grew up with. The environmental ethic is much different and ultimately I want more for Rebecca than what she is being exposed to. I've tried, to the best of my ability, to provide her with opportunities and think given my ...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

04/29/08

Keith rated it:

bookshelves: science-and-nature

Read in April, 2009

With its heart in the right place, this book needs an editor--it reads like a rambling, book-length review article. I don't dispute the message and there were nuggets of interest (how do we allow for rambunctious play that doesn't hurt habitat?). However, if I were against this or didn't believe the premise, I don't think Louv would have changed my mind. He doesn't makes a strong argument (the evidence is circumstantial and sentimental)--just a long one. You don't need to read this book to k...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

1 comment

09/11/08

James rated it:

Read in July, 2008

A little long-winded, but this guy reminded me of how fortunate I was to grow up with a cabin in the woods, to have gone camping, to have caught frogs and followed streams and examined plants and animals. It's also a wake-up call to parents who are afraid to let their kids explore the woods alone (they might get a scrape or even break a bone! damn), or stress their children out with organized sports and structured activities and don't foster curiosity with (and thus a penchant for) the natural s...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

1 comment

03/23/09

Jennifer rated it:

(review of isbn 1565125223)

Read in February, 2009

Okay, actually I read most of this book last year, but then it disappeared mysteriously -- until I finally discovered it behind the couch! It took a while to get back into the train of thought I'd left weeks (months?) ago, but I was very glad to finally finish it.

This was a life-changing book in many ways. It was one of those perfect books just two steps ahead of the reader's brain -- I was more than ready to agree with nearly everything contained within. And that covers a lot of groun...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

02/12/09

Nikki rated it:

(review of isbn 1565125223)

bookshelves: 2007-reads, non-fiction

Read in April, 2007

Although there were probably flaws in this book and in some of the author's arguments and suggestions, I gave it five stars because I think it's an important topic that was reasonably well addressed. Even as a fairly sedentary child who loved to read above all things, I spent plenty of time outdoors, climbing trees in the swamp behind our house, imagining on the rocky beach of Long Island Sound, throwing sticks for my grandfather's dog to catch.... My own children had more freedom than many in t...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

05/12/09

Deanrx rated it:

(review of isbn 1565125223)

Read in December, 2008

I would agree with what others have posted. Louv makes some compelling arguements, yet fails to back it up with sound data (mostly because little data exists). Also, while I agree with what he terms "Nature Deficit Disorder", I believe he stretches the positives of unstructured natuer play a little too much. Additionally, his bias is evident in that some outdoor activities seem to less desired (i.e. hunting) to others (i.e. building tree houses).

I do, however, agree with...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

05/04/09

Stidmama rated it:

(review of isbn 1565125223)

Read in May, 2009

This book is a nice support for parents and teachers, and other concerned adults, who mourn the loss of simpler times when children gathered in vacant lots and ran through woods and fields on long summer days.

Louv becomes preachy at times, and relies considerably on anecdotal evidence, though he also includes a few more rigorous studies from around that world that demonstrate what we all know: that children need to run and play, that the physical connection to their world and the ex...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

09/05/07

Jess rated it:

(review of isbn 1565125223)

bookshelves: parenting

Read in November, 2007

i found many excellent points throughout this book, and was especially interested to learn about the historical changes in the way we, as a society, spend time outdoors, and the value we place on it. i also really loved reflecting upon my own childhood, and outdoor experiences - particularly of summers on my grandparent's farm... treehouses, forts, gardening, walks in the woods, and lying the grass watching the clouds move by.

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment