About the Author

RICK VAN NOY is a professor of English at Radford University. He is the author of Surveying the Interior: Literary Cartographers and the Sense of Place, A Natural Sense of Wonder: Connecting Kids with Nature through the Seasons (Georgia), and Sudden Spring: Stories of Adaptation in a Climate-Changed South (Georgia).

Reviews

A Natural Sense of Wonder is a wonderful, timely, and much needed lyrical reminder of the fundamental importance of children's ongoing experience of nature as the basis of creativity, problem-solving, critical thinking, and so much more that ultimately makes us human. People evolved in close association with the natural world and consequently became genetically encoded to maintain this association as the wellspring of their physical, mental, and even moral and spiritual condition. This is, of course, most true and and relevant in children's maturation and development. Van Noy's book is a profoundly moving, powerful, and eloquent reminder of this basic truth with which our modern society, estranged from nature, has lost touch to its ultimate detriment.--Stephen R. Kellert "author of Children and Nature: Psychological, Sociocultural, and Evolutionary Investigations"

'Here's something!' says Van Noy's daughter when she spots a snail trail on their sidewalk, and her father pays attention. A Natural Sense of Wonder is filled with explorations of such 'ordinary enchantments' too often lost in the swirl of our hyper-scheduled lives. Van Noy treats his children and his readers with warmth and respect, seamlessly squeezing a good deal of natural history, etymology, and literary savvy into his stories of snot-otters and snake whisperers. He is a 'full participant' in his family's home territory on Virginia's New River, and we can ask for no better reminder that 'every moment is a now' in our own home landscapes.--Stephen Trimble "coauthor of The Geography of Childhood: Why Children Need Wild Places"

All parents, take note! In this enthusiastic and poetic drift of essays, Van Noy sets out to unveil the natural world for his children and finds himself on his own voyage of discovery. Walking in the footsteps of Rachel Carson, who believed that nature provided young people an 'inner resource of strength' to last a lifetime, Van Noy seeks to imbue children with wonder. This book, which moves at the delightful pace of a summer's day, is filled with the passion of a good naturalist and the sensibilities of a loving parent. Its motherlode chapter, 'Dirt World, ' which offers advice on how to get children outdoors, is worth the price of the book.--Janisse Ray "author of Ecology of a Cracker Childhood"

An intelligent, literary and insightful book.--Justin Askins "Roanoke Times"

Fans of Richard Louv's Last Child in the Woods (2005) will find much to enjoy here, although Van Noy's unique combination of parenting memoir and naturalist treatise makes him a more readable and prescient author than most on this subject . . . Van Noy is forging new ground by combining environmentalism and parenting in a fresh and engaging manner. His collection can serve as a blueprint for future works on bringing nature back into the lives of children.--Colleen Mondor "Booklist"

The question of how parents should appropriately connect their children with nature is accessibly and gently articulated here. This is a great book for a wide range of parents and is full of the realities of parenting in a postmodern age. Whereas Richard Louv's Last Child in the Woods is issues oriented and broadly sociological, A Natural Sense of Wonder is hands on.--David Sobel "Beyond Ecophobia"

Van Noy manages to avoid sounding pedantic when writing about his family's wholesome lifestyle. Instead, his prose is accessible and poetic. . . . A Natural Sense of Wonder is an easy read with a lasting message that may inspire even the most ardent video-gamers to take a walk in the woods.--Andi Diehm "ForeWord"

Named one of the ten best books for teachers. Best call for nature: A Natural Sense of Wonder, by Rick Van Noy. Through his experiences raising his own two children, Van Noy offers hands-on ideas for connecting kids with nature through the seasons.--Scholastic Magazine