Staff Share Their Favorite Books about Nature + Culture on #WorldBookDay
Category: Blog, Books, Community Resilience, Culture
By LandPaths Staff
April 23, 2020
In celebration of World Book Day 2020 and the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, we thought it would be fun to share a list of LandPaths’ staffers favorite books about nature, the environment, and/or climate change.
Amanda Ayala, Volunteer and Community Hub Specialist recommends….
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom. Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
This book was life changing for me because it wove together indigenous knowledge and western science with beautiful storytelling. These are teachings to live by. You can read it or listen to the audio book that is read by the author. I loved listening to the audio book!
Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land by Leah Penniman
This book with its liberation framework is a step by step guide to creating your own food garden or farm while growing community with a deep understanding of ancestral roots.
Lee Hackeling, Programs Director recommends….
The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate Discoveries From a Secret World by Peter Wohlleben
This book gave my imagination fuller permission to not only think but verbalize the way we perceive trees, nature, and the world. He confronts the narrative of survival of the fittest, individualism and competition, with compelling evidence of cooperation and community. I also delighted in imagining a forester being transformed by his very job—hours, days, months, years in close contact with trees—from board feet to friends. This anthropomorphic and, at times, charming book is about connection—love and transformation.
Owl Babies by Martin Waddell
I am not totally sure why I love this book SO much. It’s both the story and the illustrations, featuring owls and a nature filled night. Maybe it’s the universal themes of vulnerability and fear, relief. Maybe it is how this book makes love nearly tangible with reassurance in an anxiety producing situation. Maybe it is how this book captures an unexpected emotional depth for its simplicity, making it a pleasure to read, and read again and again. Maybe it is the touch of humor. What I do know, is that I never tired of reading this to our kids, and they never tired of hearing it. So, maybe it is just that it allowed us to be cozy in our own bed-nest together, imagining the whole world was cozy nested too.
Craig Anderson, Executive Director recommends…
Encounters with the Arch Druid by John McPhee.
I love this book as it reminds me of how courage runs deep through the human spirit, that land and protecting it forever for wildness and people is one of our most important jobs, and that a sense of humor in our work is a necessary ingredient.
Guadalupe Casco, Senior Bilingual Field Specialist recommends…..
Decolonize Your Diet: Plant Based Mexican American Recipes for Health and Healing by Luz Calvo & Catriona Rueda Esquibel
The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben
Tending the Wild by Kat Anderson
Omar Gallardo, New Audiences Manager recommends….
How a Mountain Was Made by Greg Sarris
