Today is both World Wildlife Day and World Book Day. So it’s a great opportunity to connect the two. As a bibliophile I have an extensive library of natural history titles – the vast majority of which I have read, and my favourites get re-read and referred to frequently.
What do I recommend? Of course it depends who for and what the desired outcome is. An obvious choice is the various books accompanying TV programmes by David Attenborough, although more adult focused, so perhaps today’s children may respond more to ‘Deadly 60’ and such like by Steve Backshall. There are various titles for the very young and early readers, such as Rumble in the Jungle (Andrae & Wojtowycz).
My personal favourite for linking learning, reading and getting outdoors exploring nature and the environment is The Amateur Naturalist by Gerald Durrell. There was a TV programme with Gerry and his wife Lee as well – but of course this was in the early 1980s. Nick Baker did a revision some 20 years later, ‘The New Amateur Naturalist’, but I still prefer the original – and if I could gift one title to the next generation, then this would be it.
