false 156599 1565125223 9781565125223 1363 482 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172262782m/156599.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/156599.Last_Child_in_the_Woods_Saving_Our_Children_from_Nature_Deficit_Disorder 90594 Richard Louv 1529 538 4 2 false Sat Aug 02 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 10 16:15:50 -0700 2008 Wed Aug 13 14:13:31 -0700 2008
The author also claims that this "nature-deficit disorder" is responsible for some behavioral problems in children and certain over-medicated conditions such as ADHD. The thoughts are not earth-shattering. Of course. Children need to be outside. I did not like the way the book was laid out. There was a lot of repetition and some of the conclusions he draws form (often un-related and shoddy) research are unsupported. Also, I think he is a bit condescending in some of his conclusions--preferring certain outdoor activities to other others (bad: hunting, any outdoor activity aided by a machine; good: fishing, building tree houses).

On the whole, however, I agree with his thesis and the book and the research he cites are very informative. I think a lot of problems with inner-city youth stem from this separation from nature and of course the childhood obesity epidemic and the boredom of children everywhere can be blamed on this.

I am often a little skeptical of books that want to just go back to the good-old days because I think a lot of that time is gone and if we try to raise our kids on farms, it's manufactured (no pun intended) and false. So we have to embrace technology and all the good that comes with it, but I think he allows for a compromise and he lets us live in our cities and gives some great tips on how to get out. Since I read this book, I have been very aware of allowing my children free nature play and I have seen how they really embrace it. ]]>