Selected Bibliography

The following books may be of interest to users of this site. We provide brief comments on each to help users select works of particular interest. For more information, you may wish to consult Amazon.com for editions available and more complete reviews.

• Louv, Richard, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2006.

  In the day of instant messaging and Game Boy children today are not experiencing free and unstructured play in the outdoors. Louv contends that in the past few decades the way children learn about and experience nature has radically changed. In school they learn about the global threats to the environment but few have physical contact and an intimacy with nature or the natural environment where they live.

  "This book explores the increasing divide between the young and the natural world, and the environmental, social, psychological, and spiritual implications of that change. It also describes the accumulating research that reveals the necessity of contact with nature for healthy child - adult- development." The book's jacket states, "...nature is a potent therapy for depression, obesity, and ADD. Environmental-based education dramatically improves standardized test scores and grade point averages and develops skills in problem solving, critical thinking, and decision making. Even creativity is stimulated by childhood experiences in nature." This book cites multiple reasons for this estrangement, addressing each and suggests many ideas for change.

• MoraMarco, Jacques and Rick Benzel, The Way of Walking: Eastern Strategies for Vitality, Longevity and Peace of Mind, Contemporary Books, Chicago, 2000.

  (This book is out of print. Used copies are still available through Amazon.com and two copies have been placed in the Seymour Library.)

  This mind/body system of fitness combines Eastern views (from Indian yoga and Chinese qigong and tai chi) of physical and mental health with walking. It's a practical guide that combines various breathing patterns with walking to help you increase vitality and emotional balance. Use the techniques in this book to restore your body, mind and spirit.

  The introduction begins: "The Way of Walking" is not like other walking exercise methods. Our philosophy of walking and health is completely different from the recommendations that most American health gurus and celebrities promote. Whereas other methods teach mainly high-performance and high-impact routines with heavy emphasis on power walking, speed walking, race walking, and aerobic fitness routines, we advocate a slower, more harmonious, and natural vision of fitness and exercise rooted in ancient Chinese philosophy, medicine, and martial arts.