*Resources marked with an asterisk are highly recommended.
Adult Resources
General Resources
- NatureTalk.net - a national bulletin board with sections on nature awareness, mentoring, and wilderness skills
General Natural History Resources
- A Piedmont Almanac* by Dave Cook
- For students who are interested in learning general natural history, we highly recommend the Kamana program* which begins with the workbook Kamana One by Jon Young
- Seeing through Native Eyes* (available on loan from our library) by Jon Young
- Advanced Bird Language* by Jon Young
Field Guides and Animal and Plant Information
For Animals:
- A Field Guide to Insects by Peterson Field Guides
- Stokes Guide to Observing Insect Lives* by Donald and Lillian Stokes
- Butterflies through Binoculars: The East by Jeffery Glassberg
- Dragonflies through Binoculars: A Field Guide to Dragonflies of North America by Sidney Dunkle
- Tracking and the Art of Seeing: How to Read Animal Tracks and Sign* by Paul Rezendes
- Field Guide to Mammal Tracking in North America* by James Halfpenny
- Amphibians and Reptiles of the Carolinas and Virginia* by Bernard Martof
- The Sibley Guide to Bird Life & Behavior by David Allen Sibley
- Birders Handbook by Paul Ehrlich, et. al
- The Haw River Watch Macroinvertabrate Manual by the Haw River Assembly
For Plant Identification:
- The Tree Identification Book* by George Symmonds
- The Shrub Identification Book* by George Symmonds
- Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide* or A Field Guide to Wildflowers of Northeastern and North-Central North America* (Newcombs is best if you prefer a straightforward key. Petersons is best if you prefer a color-coded guide. Peterson does not have a guide for the Southeast region but their Northeast/Northcentral guide covers the majority of the wildflowers that we find in this area.)
- Guide to the vascular flora of the Carolinas by A. E. Radford
- Botany in a Day: The Patterns Method of Plant Identification by Thomas Elpel
- The Book of Forest and Thicket: Trees, Shrubs, and Wildflowers of Eastern North America by John Eastman
Edible and Medicinal Plant information:
- A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants: Eastern and central North America
- The Wild Vegetarian Cookbook by Steve Brill
- Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not So Wild) Places* by Steve Brill
- Stalking The Wild Asparagus by Euell Gibbons
We have two medicinal herbalists practicing in this area who we recommend: Will Endres and Suki Roth. We recommend their workshops and consultation sessions.
Highly recommended nature writer: Michael Pollan
- The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World*
- The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals*
- ...and others.
Wilderness Skills
- Schoolhouse of Wonder Adult Workshops*, Wilderness Skills Club and Listserve*
- Tom Brown’s Field Guide to Living with the Earth by Tom Brown Jr.
- Primitive Technology, A Book of Earth Skills by David Wescott
- Bulletin of Primitive Technolgy
- Native Tech
- Primitive Wilderness Skills, Applied & Advanced by John and Geri Mcpherson
For Specific Skills:
- Deerskins Into Buckskins: How To Tan With Natural Materials by Matt Richards
- The Traditional Bowyer’s Bible, Volume 1, Volume 2, & Volume 3 by Jim Hamm
Culture and Philsophy
- The Vision: The Dramatic True Story of One Man’s Search for Enlightenment* by Tom Brown
- The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom* by Don Miguel Ruiz
- Grief and Praise* by Martín Prechtel
- The Thanksgiving Address
Mentoring and Teaching Resources for Educators and Parents
Teaching and Mentoring Philosophy:
- Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder* by Richard Louv
- Ecological Literacy: Education and the Transition to a Postmodern World by David Orr
- Art of Mentoring Workshop* (offered through the Wilderness Awareness School)
Activity Guides:
- Sharing Nature With Children* by Joseph Cornel
- Sharing the Joy of Nature: Nature Activities for All Ages by Joseph Cornel
- Coyotes Field Guide to Learning Naturally by the Wilderness Awareness School
- Keepers of the Earth: Native American Stories and Environmental Activities for Children by Joseph Bruchac
Cultural History
Environmental History:
- Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England by William Cronan
- A Natural History of Trees, of Eastern and Central North America by Donald Culross Peattie
Colonial History and Culture:
- Frontier Living: An Illustrated Guide to Pioneer Life in America by Edwin Tunis
- Shucks, Shocks, and Hominy Blocks: Corn As a Way of Life in Pioneer America by Nicholas Perkins Hardeman, Linda M. Steele
- Revolutionary War reenactments are great resources for learning more about colonial life and culture. Locally, there is one near Guilford courthouse in the spring and one at House in the Horseshoe (south of Pittsboro) in the summer.
American Indian History and Culture
- The Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation* hosts powwows and other events in the area.
- Southeastern Indians by Charles Hudson
- A New Voyage to Carolina by John Lawson
- First on the land: The North Carolina Indians by Ruth Wetmore
- Native Tech
- 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann
Schoolhouse of Wonder supporters may also be interested in the work of the following organizations
National
Regional
Local
Kids Resources
Books for all Ages
The following books by Bob Repoley and Barbara English can be found at Outdoor-Nature-Child.com:
- Kamana for Kids Book One: Awareness*
- Kaman for Kids Book Two: Hazards
- The Young Naturalist
- The Naming
- Uncle Buck
- The Lost Child
Books for 9 and up:
- The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter
- My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
Books for 8 and below:
- The Other Way to Listen by Byrd Baylor
- Before You Came This Way by Byrd Baylor