Journey to the Heart of Nature
Joseph Cornell with Michael Deranja
This is a special book for young people or adults who want a powerful relationship with nature. It is a guide for a series of four encounters with a self-selected nature spot, plus stories and other background material.
Journey to the Heart of Nature guides the reader on an in-depth exploration of a personally selected part of nature. Stories from the lives of John Muir, Jim Corbett, J. Allen Boone and many other adventurers provide a springboard for a wide variety of fascinating activities. Written specifically for young adults, this book also offers special opportunities for adults, either for personal use or as an ideal means of sharing a remarkable adventure with older children.
JTH Paper $9.95 ISBN 1-883220-06-8
Ages 10 and up 128 pages 8½" x 11"
``It takes the reader on an intimate discovery of a personally-selected place in nature which he explores through sketching, questioning, mapping, writing poetry and other activities that produce a deep appreciation for his chosen area and the wildlife that lives there. Magnificent!" The Boston Parents' Paper
``This flexible workbook, designed for young adults ages 12-17, lends itself to camp-outs, field trips, wilderness areas, parks and even backyards. Learn how to listen and create a ``sound map", how to attract animals to your area, and how to live in harmony with nature. NAPRA Trade Journal
``In Journey to the Heart of Nature A Guided Adventure invites readers to embark on an exploration of their own special, self-selected part of nature. A variety of engaging nature stories and the carefully designed sequence of activities provide a springboard for launching the reader on his or their own adventure. As the journey unfolds over a series of five visits, the readers examines, sketches, questions, maps, interviews, writes poems, and performs many other tasks that produce a never-to-be-forgotten appreciation for their chosen area and the wildlife that live there. Written specially for young adults, Journey to the Heart of Nature also offers special opportunities for readers of other age groups." Reviewer's Bookwatch
Review from Camping Magazine by Michael Pastore:
The great and muddled movie mogul Sam Goldwyn once remarked: ``The most important thing in life is sincerity. If you can fake that, you've got it made."
A few weeks ago I was thinking about these words and how they applied to my floundering Outdoor Education program. For eight weeks last summer we had tried every trick we could imagine to inspire our older campers about the supposedly great outdoors. We tried giving out certificates; we tried Nature videotapes; we extended curfew for astronomy hikes; we moved our most charismatic staff into the nature program. We repackaged the program with jazzy names (Water Detectives, Fun in the Dark; The Exciting World of Slime Mold); and we pronoted the program with Broadwayesque musical spiels. Nothing worked. The swansongs When's lunch?, Do we have to?, and Nature is boring! Echoed throughout our peaceful woods and fields.
During the winter I grasped my mistakes. No more scheming, meretricious advertising, expensive equipment. What I needed to do to make the outdoor education program work was something simple and genuine, something that had a lot to do with that great thing called sincerity. And that's when a new book by Cornell and Deranja fell into my hands.
Journey to the Heart of Nature is a workbook of stories, anecdotes, and activities, all aimed at inspiring love of nature in children ages 12 through 17. The text is enhanced with numerous illustrations that help to transmit the glowing spirit of the book. In addition to their own insights and experiences, the authors have sparked the book with extraordinary sayings, such as this gem from Emerson's journal``This world is so beautiful I can hardly believe it exists." I was delighted to find an adaptation for children of one of the modern classics, Jean Giono's The Man Who Planted Trees.
You don't need to be John Muir to lead children with these simple but effective activites. Open the book, ponder the lesson plan, then go. A helpful Leader's Guide at the end provides additional ideas for working effectively with youth.
A beautiful sensitivity flow through the book. The term Deep Ecology jumps to mind: the idea that all living things are friendly and sacred, and have a value and beauty and a right to live in their own right, not merely because they can enhance human productivity or enjoyment.
Journey teaches appreciation and awareness. All the spiritual aspects of ecology are included along the way: the connected ness of all living things, the beauty of the earth, the arts of listening and seeing and empathizing, and the joy we can learn to experience in the simplest natural things. Many activites require children to be alone at their special place; camp directors must find a way to balance the important need for supervision with the important need for trusting our children to be alone in the outdoors.
Classic theory, easy-to-use activites, and a profound grasp of what reaching nature is really all aboutall these qualities make Journey to the Heart of Nature a complete and self-contained course on loving and understanding our earth, our sky, and everything in between. For summer camp directors who want to teach something that makes a difference, Journey might prove to be the magic door for renewing the entire outdoor education program. I can't wait to try it out.
