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Tom Brown's Field Guide to Nature and Survival for Children

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Whether your outdoor experience includes day trips to local parks or long wilderness treks, Tom Brown, Jr. can help children and adults fully appreciate the boundless beauty of our most precious natural resources. The ideal handbook for teachers, parents, counselors and children, it can make every trip to a park or forest a safe and educational wilderness adventure.

• Observing and identifying animals and plants
• Lost-proofing children
• Stalking and tracking
• Finding water and food in nature
• Safety and first aid


TOM BROWN'S FIELD GUIDES: America's most popular nature reference books, Tom Brown's bestselling field guides are specially designed for both beginners and experienced explorers. Fully illustrated and comprehensive, each volume includes practical information, time-tested nature skills, and exciting new ways to rediscover the earth around us.

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

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About the author

Tom Brown Jr.

30 books217 followers
Tom Brown Jr. was an American naturalist, tracker, survivalist, and author from New Jersey, where he ran the Tom Brown Jr. Tracker School.
In his books, Brown wrote that, from the age of seven, he and his childhood friend Rick were trained in tracking and wilderness survival by Rick's grandfather, "Stalking Wolf" (whom Brown stated was Lipan Apache). Brown wrote that Stalking Wolf died when Brown was 17, and that Rick was killed in an accident in Europe shortly thereafter.
Brown spent the next ten years working odd jobs to support his wilderness adventures. He then set out to find other people in New Jersey who were interested in his experiences. Initially Brown met with little success, but was eventually called on to help locate a crime suspect. Though the case won him national attention, he and authorities in the Ramsey, N.J. area were subsequently sued for 5 million dollars for charging the wrong person. Despite this controversy, he was able to build on this exposure to develop a profession as a full-time tracker, advertising his services for locating lost persons, dangerous animals, and fugitives from the law. According to People magazine, "He stalks men and animals, mostly in New Jersey."

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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
Profile Image for Kate Seader.
100 reviews8 followers
July 10, 2018
If you are looking for a simple How To guide then this is not the book for you. Weaving together a philosophy of our connection with nature and how we can survive as a part of it, this book emphasizes the need for basic skills and practices to be part of our everyday. From awareness and fox walking, to debris shelters and primitive fires, this is a guide that is meant to be the beginning of a skill set not the solution.
Profile Image for Jamie Goss.
148 reviews
May 14, 2022
I mostly enjoyed it. It wasn’t terribly helpful for me because (a) most of it doesn’t apply to those of us living in the desert; and (b) I don’t have much nature/survival knowledge myself. But it was a worthy read to at least get me interested and start on a path to teaching my kids (and myself) more about nature survival skills.
Profile Image for Aijun Molloy.
16 reviews1 follower
May 24, 2008
This is a great book - best ive come across in a long time-
He talks about how to not let your kid become a robot-
helps teach kids- senses- awareness- tracking- LOSTPROOFING!
and basic skills like building a shelter- fire ....

excellent book!
i want to send my kid to his school!!!!
Profile Image for Michele  Sorensen.
29 reviews
January 13, 2017
Used these practices to teach my own children, and now my grandchildren. Tom Brown is a master. Can't forget when I hike to have "no deadline, no destination," for maximum enjoyment!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews

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