Balanced and Barefoot by Angela J. Hanscom

A necessary read for those who may be nervous that children may be hurt being outdoors. This book is necessary to help re-frame mindsets that benefits outweigh the risks of injury in unstructured play in schools and neighborhoods. 

Beyond Ecophobia by David Sobel

Expanded version of one of Orion's most popular articles and includes descriptions of developmentally appropriate environmental education activities and related children's books. 

Children Learning Outside the Classroom by Sue Waite

Covers a general overview of the rationale and justification of taking children outdoors to learn standards based curriculum. 

Cultivating Outdoor Classrooms: Designing and Implementing Child-Centered Learning Environments by Eric Nelson

This book is filled with guidance to help you plan, design, and create an outdoor learning program that is a rich, thoughtfully equipped, natural extension of your indoor curriculum.

Forest Schooled: The Book by Caylin Gans

Collection of stories and experiences as Caylin embarks on her forest school journey. Laced with research and theory in an approachable book. 

Guidelines for Excellence: K-12 Learning by NAAEE

Suggested benchmarks for environmental education in 4th, 8th, and 12th grade. Available for free download or purchase. 

Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv

As the book that coined the term "nature deficit disorder". Louv offers research and suggestions on how to reconnect children to nature. 

The Nature Fix by Florence Williams

Learn about the science behind the power of nature. How does nature boost our mood, creativity, and overall health? 

Outdoor Education: Methods and Strategies by Ken Gilbertson, Alan Ewert, Pirkko Siklander, Timothy Bates

"Divided into three parts. Part I defines what outdoor education is... It also explores theories that support outdoor education, including developmental stages, learning stages, and constructivism. Part II guides the reader to understand the backgrounds and abilities of participants, create a successful learning environment, teach effectively in a variety of settings, and design lesson plans. Part III examines the uses of physical, cognitive, and affective methods for teaching, and it includes sample lesson plans that illustrate the methods presented" 

Outdoor Learning Across the Curriculum by Simon Beames, Peter Higgins, Robbie Nicol, and Heidi Smith

Deeply explains how well-constructed outdoor learning experiences can benefit children and young people's academic development and health and well-being. 

A Pedagogy of Place: Outdoor Learning for a Changing World by Brian Wattchow and Mike Brown

Conversation on the traditional approaches to outdoor education and the need to shift approaches as social and ecological changes continue to happen in our world. 

Place-Based Education by David Sobel

Comprehensive review of PBE - including academic research, practical examples, and step-by-step examples in using the local environment / community in place-based education. 

Smart by Nature by Michael K. Stone and Center for Ecoliteracy

Shows how schools and districts across the country are orienting their activities around environmental responsibility. 

As Long as Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice from Colonization to Standing Rock by Dina Gilio-Whitaker

As Long As Grass Grows gives readers an accessible history of Indigenous resistance to government and corporate incursions on their lands and offers new approaches to environmental justice activism and policy.

Black Faces, White Spaces by Carolyn Finney

Carolyn Finney helps to analyze environmental history, cultural studies, and geography to help us understand that environmental issues are equity issues. 

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

A series of reflections about how plants and nature can be and have been our original teachers.  

The Colors of Nature: Culture, Identity, and the Natural World by Lauret SAvoy and Alison Hawthrone Deming

"An anthology of nature writing by people of color, providing deeply personal connections to—or disconnects from—nature." —NPR 

The Intersectional Environmentalist by Leah Thomas

The Intersectional Environmentalist examines the inextricable link between environmentalism, racism, and privilege, and promotes awareness of the fundamental truth that we cannot save the planet without uplifting the voices of its people -- especially those most often unheard.

Learning from Doodoom Aki (Mother Earth) through Children's Land-Based Play by Dr. Hopi Lovell Martin

 Learn to consider child development and education more wholistically following an Anishinaabe Seasonal Pedagogy that has relevance to how learning happens for all Peoples and Nations. 

Natural Curiosity 2nd Edition: A Resource for Educators

Brings awareness of Indigenous perspectives and their importance to environmental education. 

Naturally Inclusive: Engaging Children of All Abilities Outdoors by Ruth Wilson

Dr. Ruth Wilson explores the great potential of connecting young children with special needs to the natural world. Drawing on her knowledge of research and her decades of work with children in nature, she weaves together advice, real-life examples, and testimonies from educators and families on the healing, nurturing power of nature in the lives of young children with diverse abilities.

Rooted in the Earth: Reclaiming the African American Environmental Heritage by Dianne D. Glave

By tracing the history of African Americans’ relationship with the natural world, exploring Black environmentalism, and telling the stories of Black naturalists, environmental historian Dianne D. Glave flips stereotypes about the African American experience in the outdoors.

Seeing Ourselves in Nature Edited by Jessica Hong

Jessica Fong asks how Black and Brown educators create space for predominantly Black and Brown children and families to reconnect to nature. Recognizing the scarcity of stories from people of the global majority in the predominately white literature surrounding nature education, Fong sought out thirteen other educators of color to share their rich and profound experiences with young children in nature.

The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer

As Indigenous scientist and author Robin Wall Kimmerer harvests serviceberries alongside the birds, she considers the ethic of reciprocity that lies at the heart of the gift economy. 

Toxic Communities: Environmental Racism, Industrial Pollution, and Residential Mobility by Dorceta E. Taylor

Sociologist Dorceta Taylor looks at a legacy of segregation, exclusionary zoning, big-business shortcuts, and urban renewal to enhance our understanding of environmental racism.

Trace: Memory, History, Race, and the American Landscape by Lauret E. Savoy

A provocative and powerful mosaic that ranges across a continent and across time, from twisted terrain within the San Andreas Fault zone to a South Carolina plantation, from national parks to burial grounds, from “Indian Territory” and the U.S.–Mexico Border to the U.S. capital, Trace grapples with a searing national history to reveal the often unvoiced presence of the past.

All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine K. Wilkinson

All We Can Save illuminates the expertise and insights of dozens of diverse women leading on climate in the United States—scientists, journalists, farmers, lawyers, teachers, activists, innovators, wonks, and designers, across generations, geographies, and race—and aims to advance a more representative, nuanced, and solution-oriented public conversation on the climate crisis. 

Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane

Bing Professor in Environmental Science Rodolfo Dirzo said the author, “who has written about mountains, trails, and the old ways of humans on Earth, now examines a challenging question: What rights should nature have?” 

What if We Get it Right? Visions of Climate Futures by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson

This provocative and joyous book maps an inspiring landscape of possible climate futures through essays, conversations, data, poetry, and art.