Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder

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Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder

3.95 of 5 stars 3.95 · rating details · 4,560 ratings · 1,046 reviews

In this influential work about the staggering divide between children and the outdoors, child advocacy expert Richard Louv directly links the lack of nature in the lives of today's wired generation, he calls it nature-deficit, to some of the most disturbing childhood trends, such as the rises in obesity, attention disorders, and depression.
Last Child in the Woods is the fi...more

Hardcover, 323 pages

Published 2005 by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill

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May 15, 2011 Skylar Burris rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: parenting, politics, sociology, education, psychology

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.

Full review here.

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Feb 24, 2008 Nicole rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: parents, educators, environmentalists, humans

Shelves: women-motherhood

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 relationship with...more

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Apr 11, 2008 Nell rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

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

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Apr 02, 2009 Audrey rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 kids -- an...more

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Dec 04, 2011 Tim rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What a significant piece of literature.

At first glance, and even through the first chapter, one could confuse Louv for an overaggressive hippie whose soul purpose is to let mankind wander barefoot while living solely off fruits and berries.

Instead, however, Louv has masterfully woven together monster topics such as parenthood, education, diet, relationships, and even religion--all in one book. This book should be read by all human beings, and I do not mean that in a hyperbolic way. At the very...more

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Jul 24, 2010 Debbie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: parenting, philosophy-education

Charlotte Mason got it right. Children need the outdoors.

It turns out the outdoors also need children. Richard Louv points out the incongruity behind the environmental extremists who want to set aside nature without allowing mankind to interfere, and the fact that our children aren't experiencing nature first-hand, since they aren't getting the chance to play, live and explore the outdoors unencumbered by interfering adults. This, he says, results in children who have no love for nature and thus...more

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Sep 27, 2008 Cynthia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 some...more

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Aug 13, 2008 Mehrsa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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-deficit disorder" is r...more

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Jan 25, 2009 S. R. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 that, but ap...more

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May 11, 2008 Tony Cohen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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)

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Apr 04, 2008 Christina rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: education

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 culture views the natu...more

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Nov 19, 2008 Annalisa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: resource, audiobook, non-fiction

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)

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Dec 07, 2007 Kim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition 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

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Dec 04, 2008 Carrie Lundell rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 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.

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Oct 27, 2007 Joy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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

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Sep 06, 2010 Brooks rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Validation of all the horrible things I do to my kids. A bit too much on the theory and environmental activitism, but some good practical ideas. Basically, we all need nature to keep ourselves calm. Autistic kids may do better with more time in nature. A lot of "when we were kids" we were outside all day and we were better for it. A lot of theories that outdoor time stimulates all sorts of other skills in science, SAT scores, and math. Some of the actual practical ideas...
1) buy a 1/2 cubic yard...more

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Apr 18, 2009 Keith rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-and-nature

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 know...more

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Sep 11, 2008 James rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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

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Oct 11, 2010 Erica - Bonner Springs Library rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: parents, teachers, children's librarians

Shelves: 2010, audiobook, nonfiction

After attending a lecture by a law professor who is interested in land use and how cities are planned and how this effects children, I decided I need to read this book. It's a bit dense but listening to it as an audiobook has made the material fascinating and quite enjoyable. Though I'll admit at times I had to take a break and come back to the audiobook. Some areas of the book were more dense than others and I'm hesitant to recommend it to friends.

All too often I see kids in the library who do...more

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Mar 23, 2009 Jennifer rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, popular-psychology, nature, culture, owned

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 ground! From re...more

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Feb 12, 2009 Nikki rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2007-reads, non-fiction

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

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May 10, 2013 Benjamin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

After finishing this book this morning, I am finding it difficult to decide how I want to rate it. Louv’s book focuses on the physical, mental, and spiritual health of children (as well as adults who were children at one time), and the essential role that nature plays in a child’s physical, mental, and spiritual health. I find the book most helpful in the chapters Louv devotes to the green innovations in education, city planning, and healthy living taking place in countries such as Canada, the U...more After finishing this book this morning, I am finding it difficult to decide how I want to rate it. Louv’s book focuses on the physical, mental, and spiritual health of children (as well as adults who were children at one time), and the essential role that nature plays in a child’s physical, mental, and spiritual health. I find the book most helpful in the chapters Louv devotes to the green innovations in education, city planning, and healthy living taking place in countries such as Canada, the U.K., the Netherlands, and the U.S. I also value the many places in the book where he interviews individuals, including parents and educators.

Yet I find significant portions of the book disorganized, and well as encumbered by Louv’s digressions that nostalgically narrate his own memories in nature and the memories of the times he and his sons (now adults) spent in nature (at the end of the book, Louv confesses that he is still grieving “that my years as a parent of young children is over, except in memory,” which at least partly explains why he so frequently interrupts his text to tell us stories).

I also find Louv’s attempts at introducing his own opinions into the narrative distracting (such as his attempt at explaining why he emotionally, rather than rationally, supports fishing but not hunting, and his reservations concerning biocentrism and the collapse of the “human/animal divide”). I also find some of his phrasing and word choice to be incongruous. For instance, in the chapter “The Spiritual Necessity of Nature for the Young,” Louv argues for the importance of spirituality and “the spiritual necessity of nature to the young,” though not of the importance of organized religion, yet he chooses to describe many environmentalists pejoratively as “church-allergic.”

I read the “Updated and Expanded” edition, which includes additional material in a “field guide.” I particularly find the section that lists “100 Actions We Can Take” as children, parents, educators, health-care providers, etc. to be extremely beneficial, and one of the highlights of the book. I have to say that in spite of certain critical observations concerning the book’s organization and its style as well as the author’s subjectivity and weighty use of memory, I must conclude that _Last Child in the Woods_ is a valuable, thought-provoking text. (less)

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Apr 15, 2013 John rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Richard Louv begins this book with a story of a conversation with his son, Matthew, 10. Out of nowhere, Matthew asks: "Dad, how come it was more fun when you were a kid?"

Louv asks what he means, and discovers that Matthew is thinking of the stories he has told of being out-of-doors as a kid - "catching crawdads in a creek" - and feeling that he has missed out on something important. "This book", Louv writes, "describes the increasing divide between the young and the natural world, and the enviro...more Richard Louv begins this book with a story of a conversation with his son, Matthew, 10. Out of nowhere, Matthew asks: "Dad, how come it was more fun when you were a kid?"

Louv asks what he means, and discovers that Matthew is thinking of the stories he has told of being out-of-doors as a kid - "catching crawdads in a creek" - and feeling that he has missed out on something important. "This book", Louv writes, "describes the increasing divide between the young and the natural world, and the environmental, social, psychological and spiritual implications of that change." Explicating the change to which he refers, he writes "As a boy, I was unaware that my woods were ecologically connected with any other forests...but I knew my woods and my fields; I knew every bend in the creek and every dip in those beaten dirt paths. A kid today can likely tell you about the Amazon rain forest - but not about the last time he or she explored the woods in solitude, or lay in a field listening to the wind and watching the clouds move." And he suggests that this transformation amounts to a kind of "closing of the frontier" in children's' development, analogous to the closing of the westward frontier of the USA in the late 19th century, which some historians have seen as marking a fundamental change in American consciousness.

Louv's point is not simply to grumble about "kids these days": he has two serious concerns. The first is that the lives of children may be stunted by the lack of direct experience with nature; the second, that a stewardship of nature that deals only in generalities and abstractions will be anemic unless it is rooted in a rich childhood experience of some particular, specific natural place. He asks what are the roots of this transformation, and how it can be reversed or mitigated.

I really wanted to like this book, and I'm certainly sympathetic with its thesis. But I did find it a bit repetitive, with the same studies being cited over and over again in slightly different contexts. An important argument? No question. An essay? Would be great A full-length book? Maybe longer than was needed.

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Feb 03, 2013 William Burruss rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As an adult that had rein over the many open spaces around Virginia as a child, I see natural habitats closed due to development. Creeks where we looked for minnows, tadpoles, and snakes filled with mud. Woods where we boys would brazenly run as naked warriors converted to residential homes and the construction of tree-houses and forts taken over by new forms of entertainment: TV’s, electronic games, and computers. Literally, we have gone from an outdoor recreational community to an indoor cubic...more As an adult that had rein over the many open spaces around Virginia as a child, I see natural habitats closed due to development. Creeks where we looked for minnows, tadpoles, and snakes filled with mud. Woods where we boys would brazenly run as naked warriors converted to residential homes and the construction of tree-houses and forts taken over by new forms of entertainment: TV’s, electronic games, and computers. Literally, we have gone from an outdoor recreational community to an indoor cubical Dilbert and couch potato society in two generations*. - Yes, this book disturbs me as a father because it describes problems with child obesity and Nature Deficit Disorder.

The Preamble of the REALTORS© Code of Ethic’s states this, “REALTORS© should recognize that the interests of the nation and its citizens require the highest and best use of the land and the widest distribution of land ownership. They require the creation of adequate housing, the building of functioning cities, the development of productive industries and farms, and the preservation of a healthful environment.” As a REALTOR©, Last Child in the Woods challenges our ethics. It sub-conscientiously raises too many questions: Are we creating healthful environments? How do we build functioning cities? How should I use my talents to improve the environment, or my city? Do I compromise the highest property value for my client for the healthful environment of my community?

As a parent of the woods I am battling the norm of modern day childrearing. I feel that it is important to spend time outdoors with my boys. We hike, canoe, camp, bike, and play ball. During the summer we vacation in Maine where there is no electricity or indoor plumbing. We see moose and the Milky Way - sometimes at the same time. We live differently than in the city. Water comes from a spring; garbage is burned, hauled out to be recycled, or composted. Toilets are outhouses that have to be dug out every few years. The one by seven mile lake becomes our tub and recreational playground. This vacation is not supposed to reenact the way people lived one or two hundred years ago; it is suppose to get the family interacting in the outdoors. It burns off our Christmas and Thanksgiving feasts, gets us away from computers, telephones, and TV, and allows us to look at that magnificent night sky and dream.

Last Child of the Woods disturbs me because it raises issues that were not apparent when I was a child. Yet, it offers one-hundred suggestions that will allow us as parents and community leaders to make changes for our children. Below are just six:

• Get a truckload of dirt for your children to play.
• Maintain a birdbath.
• Create a leaf collection and learn about the trees.
• Go camping in the backyard.
• Go star gazing. Get as far from the city lights as you can.
• Have your children talk to you and your parents about how they played in the outdoors as children.

Don’t be disturbed, be involved. Bring nature and the outdoors into your family’s lives. Evaluate what schools and your municipality are doing to include nature. If you have fears of what outdoor sports are doing to your children evaluate what T.V., computers, and reduced exercise are doing. Tell developers and REALTORS© what you would like to see in new development. Think how man and nature can work together.

* American farm production dropped from 40% of the U.S. households in 1900 to 1.9% in 1990. This drop caused the federal government to stop its annual survey of American farms. p. 18
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Nov 19, 2012 Sara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A very interesting resource book that opened up my mind to things I already knew on some level. I found myself slipping scraps of paper in so many places, I finally just pulled them all out. This is the sort of book I'd prefer writing a paper about than giving a review. I found the section about ADHD, childhood depression and teen delinquency particularly compelling. I was also fascinated by the examination of the American education system regarding nature. Louv says that in 2003, Finland outsco...more A very interesting resource book that opened up my mind to things I already knew on some level. I found myself slipping scraps of paper in so many places, I finally just pulled them all out. This is the sort of book I'd prefer writing a paper about than giving a review. I found the section about ADHD, childhood depression and teen delinquency particularly compelling. I was also fascinated by the examination of the American education system regarding nature. Louv says that in 2003, Finland outscored thirty-one other countries, including the USA, placing first in literacy and in the top five in math and science. Yet the Finns don't start school until they are seven years old, and they have recess every forty-five minutes. They have no special programs for gifted students, and they spend less money per student than the US. Their secret? They believe children learn the most important things from the outdoors. My aunt (from Finland) said a common practice is to bundle up babies and put them outside on the porch for fresh air.

This book is really a plea to encourage people to connect with the immediate outside world around us in a personal way, for the well-being of our health and happiness. Louv points out our children know much more about rain forests and endangered species in Africa (from computers and indirect sources) than they do about the creatures that live in their back yard. Technology has eaten away direct experience. Our parks are often designed not so that children can maximize creativity and connect with nature, but so that no one will get sued. Louv makes a push to change this and allow children the joy of building tree houses. Louv also makes a great case for encouraging green, environmental practices without ramming it down your throat in distasteful tree-hugger fashion.

In recent years I have contemplated how much better our world would be if everything revolved around what would be best for children. Louv certainly makes that argument here.

My one warning here is to tell you this book may make you a bit paranoid. Since reading this book I've struggled to push back parental guilt (Like right now, since my kids are not outside and I am on the computer).(less)

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Feb 02, 2012 Anthony rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

This book is important. Important enough that it was the talk of the ANJEE (Alliance for New Jersey Environmental Education) conference at the beginning of January. Important enough that Randy's Books, the main bookseller at the conference every year, sold out on day one and the rest of us had to mail/back-order it from them. Important enough to bring one teacher at the conference to declare: If you teach children, you need to read this book; if you have children, you need to read this book; if...more This book is important. Important enough that it was the talk of the ANJEE (Alliance for New Jersey Environmental Education) conference at the beginning of January. Important enough that Randy's Books, the main bookseller at the conference every year, sold out on day one and the rest of us had to mail/back-order it from them. Important enough to bring one teacher at the conference to declare: If you teach children, you need to read this book; if you have children, you need to read this book; if you were a child, you need to read this book. And I can't disagree with that statement.

First off, as the author says, let's be clear about this: Nature-deficit disorder is NOT a medical diagnosis of any kind. Nature-deficit disorder describes the human cost of alienation from nature, among them: diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties and higher rates of physical and emotional illnesses. The disorder can be detected in individuals, families and communities. (page 34) A definition that is bound to be controversial; and one that is probably bound to be nay-sayed by those medical professionals who prefer medicating kids to finding natural solutions to their problems.

The book weaves commentary from naturalists, researchers, parents, teachers and children themselves -- much of it about how they perceive nature. One San Diego student commented that he prefered to play indoors, because "that's where all the electrical outlets are." It quotes DH Lawrence: Nature is about smelling, hearing, tasting, seeing below the transparent mucous-paper in which the world like a bon-bon is wrapped so carefully that we can never get at it, leading, as Prof Robin Moore of North Carolina State says, Primary experience [to be replaced by the secondary, vicarious, often distorted, dual sensory (vision and sound only), one-way experience of television and other electronic media. (pg 65)

One of the chapters discusses the "criminalization of natural play," the fact that so many communities, especially suburban developments and gated communities, enact rules that make it impossible for kids to build tree-houses, play in the woods and explore streams, run in the streets -- the kind of non-structured outdoor play the author asserts (and I agree) children need to be whole individuals.

The book is connecting on a personal level, too. Page 34 asserts that new studies suggest that exposure to nature may reduce the symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and that is can improve all children's cognitive abilities and resistance to negative stresses and depression. In my work as an environmental educator I see evidence of that all the time -- but the clearest case in my mind always has been "CC." (Initials only because I haven't gotten his permission to discuss his childhood in public yet.) Few of you reading this knew him when he was 11 and coming to camp for the first time; but he was all over the place, at that time was on ritalin during the school year but not during the summer. To this day, as an environmental studies major in college, he credits being able to be outdoors and med-free during the summer with calming his spirit, giving his life a direction, and helping him learn how to focus.

Last thoughts on "Last Child:" The second-to-last section of the book, which centered on urban renewal and re-greening, held my attention the least, probably because I haven't lived in a major city since I was in second grade, and the minor cities I've lived in (Elmira, Roanoke) have both had plenty of green within walking distance or not far beyond it. The final section discussed the spiritual connection with nature. Favorite quotes: The author quotes fly fishing expert Seth Norman: Grasping the Grand Scheme is demanding for adults; for kids raised on Disney, it's simply shocking to discover that it takes a bunch of Bambis to feed a Lion King, and that Mowgli's wolves would eat Thumper and all his siblings. And this quote from Paul Gorman, discussing the Biblical command for Man to have dominion over the creatures of the world and the Earth itself: Human beings didn't need scripture to rape the natural world. Yes, it's important to think in terms of stewardship instead of domination, but I have always made the point that given the power of human agency over nature now, we have dominion whether we like it or not. And this question by the author: So what does it mean when Sunday school begins to sound like Ecology 101 and environmentalists (many of them church-allergic) begin to sound like street preachers? [Perhaps it means] good news for both.

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Jan 04, 2012 Lisa M. Guerrero rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone with fond memories of rolling down hills and playing in the mud

It was taken for granted by generations past that all children would have the opportunity to experience a childhood full of natural and outdoor play experiences. This is why, according to Louv (2005), we do not have older data and evidence based on longitudinal studies to compare today’s children to, and therefore, do not have much by way of scientific research backing up the arguments that he makes in his book. Louv (2005) also notes that presently research continues to be slow to come because...more

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Nov 08, 2011 Joy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: social-commentary, spirituality-morality-philosophy, parent-n-f, nature, child-development

A scientifically and anecdotally researched look into the lack of connectivity between contemporary people and natural environments, and the effects that seem to accompany this breach between man and nature. Specifically explored are the correlations between nature-exposure in youth with general emotional and mental development, and the corresponding deficits that are accompanying many of this generation who have little contact with the natural world.

This is a fascinating subject, but the storie...more A scientifically and anecdotally researched look into the lack of connectivity between contemporary people and natural environments, and the effects that seem to accompany this breach between man and nature. Specifically explored are the correlations between nature-exposure in youth with general emotional and mental development, and the corresponding deficits that are accompanying many of this generation who have little contact with the natural world.

This is a fascinating subject, but the stories of people of my generation and older that grew up with access to natural areas in their youth, contrasted with this current generation of kids that are in increasingly encapsulated and antiseptic environments is downright disturbing. I began taking my kids outside to play in the back yard while reading this book. Louv’s research is good, and the content of this book is extremely illuminating, and I think is a valuable read for parents, especially if they have a child that has been labeled ADD/ADHD, for whom this book has particular merits. Any parent can benefit from the wake-up call that this book presents, and be inspired to provide more and richer opportunities for their children to interact with unstructured nature in unstructured ways, and the benefits that flow from it. The freedom that a homeschooling parent might have to implement such nature encounters may seem obvious, but I think it is the public-school parent who might most appreciate the significance that this book gives to its subject as each year more children in public schools get diagnosed with attention problems while more schools continue to reduce student free-time (or contemplate eliminating it altogether), pave over natural play areas, and impose more constrictions on students’ play activities. In such times it becomes imperative that children receive this gift of nature time from other sources, and family vacations, day-trips to nature centers, or simple evenings in the park or other free spaces, can begin to replace the myriad activities with which we fill our schedules in an ever more frenetic attempt to enrich and entertain our children.

This book covered topics related to the divorce of society from the natural world, such as children in nature, the legal issues involved with natural areas for play, the gradual diminishment of natural history and field work in the environmental sciences, urban & sub-urban planning issues, and a chapter devoted to nature and spirituality. After finishing the book, the author’s religious convictions are not so obvious as I had assumed. Aside from his general evolutionary point of view, he takes spirituality seriously and discusses the significance of nature on our spirituality at great length, and many of his anecdotal stories and interviews are from people of strong spiritual persuasions, and those are varied too (not just the typical New Age environmentalist spiritualist), and treated with respect, whether he agrees or not (a comment that he rarely interjects at all). The discussion of how religion fits into nature and our response to it is actually the closing chapter of the book. This is not one of those books that people of religious convictions can’t read without feeling frustrated or belittled.
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Sep 09, 2011 Jen Marin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction-education, nonfiction-balanced-living, nonfiction-nature-studies, nonfiction-parenting, nonfiction-spirituality

Richard Louv doesn't pull any punches when he describes the growing distance between today's average American childhood and the direct experience of nature. Screen time takes up increasing amounts of our children's time, often to their detriment. Whether in terms of academic achievement or physiological and emotional health, studies show that the direct open-ended experience of nature confers innumerable benefits to human beings of all ages. Unfortunately, our children are growing up in a world...more

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Jul 20, 2011 Anna rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"Last Child in the Woods" by Richard Louv is a must read. I whole-heartedly recommend this important book! The first time I heard Richard Louv was at a N.A.E.Y.C. conference where he spoke about "the nature and child reunion" and I was so inspired by him. This book reminded me how important being in nature is for my physical, spiritual and mental health. This book has re-opened my senses to the truth that I am a part of nature and even though I live in a city, I have the obligation to care for...more

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About Richard Louv

Richard Louv (born 1949) is a journalist and author of seven books about the connections between family, nature and community. His most recent book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder (Algonquin), translated into 9 languages and published in 13 countries, has stimulated an international conversation about the relationship between children and nature.

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Books by Richard Louv

The Nature Principle: Human Restoration and the End of Nature-Deficit Disorder

Web of Life: Weaving the Values That Sustain Us

Fly-Fishing for Sharks: An American Journey

101 Things You Can Do for Our Children's Future

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“An environment-based education movement--at all levels of education--will help students realize that school isn't supposed to be a polite form of incarceration, but a portal to the wider world.” — 21 people liked it

“The woods were my Ritalin. Nature calmed me, focused me, and yet excited my senses.” — 19 people liked it

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