April 2010

Reading Recommendations · Earth Day: Simplicity and Appreciation

April 22nd marks the 40th anniversary of Earth Day! To celebrate, we�ve compiled a wonderful list of inspirational books and videos on simplifying your life and appreciating the beauty of nature.

The simplicity movement

Less is More: Embracing Simplicity for a Healthy Planet, a Caring Economy and Lasting Happiness

Cecile Andrews

Give It Up!: My Year of Learning to Live Better with Less

Mary Carlomagno

Voluntary Simplicity: Toward a Way of Life That is Outwardly Simple, Inwardly Rich

Duane Elgin

The Style Strategy: A Less-is-More Approach to Staying Chic and Shopping Smart

Nina Garcia

The Way of the Small: Why Less is Truly More

Michael Gellert

The Power of Pause: Becoming More by Doing Less

Terry Hershey

Put Your Life on a Diet: Lessons Learned from Living in 140 Square Feet

Gregory P. Johnson

Journeys of Simplicity: Traveling Light with Thomas Merton, Basho, Edward Abbey, Annie Dillard & Others

Less: Accomplishing More by Doing Less

Marc Lesser

Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids

Kim John Payne

Slow Food Nation: Why Our Food Should be Good, Clean, and Fair

Carlo Petrini

Slow Food Nation's Come to the Table: The Slow Food Way of Living

Downsizing Your Home with Style: Living Well in a Smaller Space

Lauri Ward

Rightsizing Your Life: Simplifying Your Surroundings While Keeping What Matters Most

Ciji Ware

Nature Appreciation for Adults

Dawn Light: Dancing with Cranes and Other Ways to Start the Day

Diane Ackerman

Crow Planet: Essential Wisdom from the Urban Wilderness

Lyanda Lynn Haupt

The Bill McKibben Reader: Pieces from an Active Life

Bill McKibben

The Anthropology of Turquoise: Meditations on Landscape, Art, and Spirit

Ellen Meloy

Wild Comfort: The Solace of Nature

Kathleen Dean Moore

At Least in the City Someone Would Hear Me Scream: Misadventures in Search of the Simple Life

Wade Rouse

Settled in the Wild: Notes from the Edge of Town

Susan Hand Shetterly

Nature Appreciation for Parents, Grandparents, and Children

The Green Hour: A Daily Dose of Nature for Happier, Healthier, Smarter Kids

Todd Christopher

Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-deficit Disorder

Richard Louv

Toad Cottages & Shooting Stars: Grandma's Bag of Tricks

Sharon Lovejoy

A Natural Sense of Wonder: Connecting Kids with Nature Through the Seasons

Rick Van Noy

I Love Dirt!: 52 Activities to Help You and Your Kids Discover the Wonders of Nature (ages 3-7)

Jennifer Ward

Let's Go Outside!: Outdoor Activities and Projects to Get You and Your Kids Closer to Nature (ages 8-12)

Jennifer Ward

Nature Writing Classics

Walden: Or, Life in the Woods (1854)

Henry David Thoreau

A Sand County Almanac: and Sketches Here and There (1949)

Aldo Leopold

Silent Spring (1962)

Rachel Carson

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (1974)

Annie Dillard

Arctic Dreams: Imagination and Desire in a Northern Landscape (1986)

Barry Lopez

Videos

Simple living with Wanda Urbanska (seasons 1-4)

Affluenza

Escape from Affluenza

Planet Earth. The Complete Series

Earth, The Biography

Need more suggestions? Contact your local library and a reference librarian will be happy to assist you.