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Wild Life: 50 Projects to Rewild Your Life From the Home to Outdoors
Wild Life is an achingly beautiful gift book that introduces the concept of rewilding. No matter whether you live - in the mountains, by the coast, along the banks of a river or in the inner-city - this book is your passport to disconnect from one world and reconnect with another; to put down your devices and pick up where your wild self left off. Featuring stunning photography and illustrations that evoke the magic and healing effects of nature, Wild Life offers 50 accessible projects that will bring rewilding into your life. You'll press wildflowers, rewild your garden and create a series of micro adventures in your hometown or city. You'll use the sky to find north and the trees to find your way while out camping and hiking. You'll close your eyes and listen to the birds, kick off your shoes and forage for seaweed.
You'll reconnect with your roots, and somewhere along the way, find yourself again.
You'll reconnect with your roots, and somewhere along the way, find yourself again.
224 pages, Hardcover
Published January 10, 2023
6 people are currently reading
119 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 5, 2025
It’s not often that I actually read a “coffee table book” cover to cover but so glad I did for this one! The author didn’t need to convince me of the value in living a “wild” life lived more closely in step with creation. But it was so fun to read through practical ideas of how to further incorporate this value into my daily life!
July 28, 2024
Cute, but very simple.
July 13, 2025
Flip thru just ‘cause, pretty basic.
Liked: bug hotel, page layout & book binding
Liked: bug hotel, page layout & book binding
February 17, 2023
It was an okay book. More like a cute coffee table book than anything else.
The things included are less "projects to rewild your life" and more "random things you can do to connect with nature and yourself". Which isn't completely unaligned with the book's title, but also isn't exactly as advertised, either. Because if you say "50 projects" then I expect 50 legitimate hands on crafts and tasks you can actually do. But mostly it was just things like "go walk in nature" with the occasional "Mindful Japanese Flower Design" and "Meditate"- mostly stock standard stuff you can get out of any other book ... Except in the tiniest text set in the most disability unfriendly format possible, so screw them for that , actually. It was pretty inexcusable how abelist and unfriendly the format of the book was in this day and age.
My primary problem with the book is that is suffers with the same major problem as all other Rewilding texts tend to: The Myth of the Uncultivated Landscape -- or, the perpetually white and very western idea that there is even a "natural and uncultivated" state for nature to go back to in the first place, as if Humanity has not inherently developed alongside and cultivated the natural landscape around them for its entire history. Which is always ironic in texts which seek to advise us on how to "return to amore integrated state" that aligns us better with nature and "remind us of our natural connections". But this has never been the case.
As we've noted multiple times, those who experienced the Great Canyon or YellowStone, and so on, were never truly mesmerized by "the majesty of the natural uncultivated landscape of nature". They were captivated by the beauty of centuries-tended, ancestral food gardens of the indigenous peoples of those areas. And until we finally acknowledge that there is little truth to the myth of "the uncultivated landscape", we can never truly "rewild" anything- nature, or ourselves. And any attempts to pretend otherwise- especially while trying to play lipservice to indigenous activism, and so on in the process- is ultimately a half-empty effort (if not, at worse, a complete farce).
That being said, the book wasn't horrible. It was just okay; most of the time it felt like there was more unnecessary photography than legitimate substance to the book, everything was just so ... Basic and very white. Hence the final observation that it's more a cute coffee table book than a legitimate one ... Just a cute coffee table book that lacks a bit of self awareness. That's really all.
The things included are less "projects to rewild your life" and more "random things you can do to connect with nature and yourself". Which isn't completely unaligned with the book's title, but also isn't exactly as advertised, either. Because if you say "50 projects" then I expect 50 legitimate hands on crafts and tasks you can actually do. But mostly it was just things like "go walk in nature" with the occasional "Mindful Japanese Flower Design" and "Meditate"- mostly stock standard stuff you can get out of any other book ... Except in the tiniest text set in the most disability unfriendly format possible, so screw them for that , actually. It was pretty inexcusable how abelist and unfriendly the format of the book was in this day and age.
My primary problem with the book is that is suffers with the same major problem as all other Rewilding texts tend to: The Myth of the Uncultivated Landscape -- or, the perpetually white and very western idea that there is even a "natural and uncultivated" state for nature to go back to in the first place, as if Humanity has not inherently developed alongside and cultivated the natural landscape around them for its entire history. Which is always ironic in texts which seek to advise us on how to "return to amore integrated state" that aligns us better with nature and "remind us of our natural connections". But this has never been the case.
As we've noted multiple times, those who experienced the Great Canyon or YellowStone, and so on, were never truly mesmerized by "the majesty of the natural uncultivated landscape of nature". They were captivated by the beauty of centuries-tended, ancestral food gardens of the indigenous peoples of those areas. And until we finally acknowledge that there is little truth to the myth of "the uncultivated landscape", we can never truly "rewild" anything- nature, or ourselves. And any attempts to pretend otherwise- especially while trying to play lipservice to indigenous activism, and so on in the process- is ultimately a half-empty effort (if not, at worse, a complete farce).
That being said, the book wasn't horrible. It was just okay; most of the time it felt like there was more unnecessary photography than legitimate substance to the book, everything was just so ... Basic and very white. Hence the final observation that it's more a cute coffee table book than a legitimate one ... Just a cute coffee table book that lacks a bit of self awareness. That's really all.
December 23, 2025
This is more of a coffee book table than something that you can sit down and work through (contradictory to the subtitle “50 projects…”). Though lacking depth, some of the projects are cute.
My main concern is that this book uses the language of neuroscience and medicine to prove a tangible benefit of the projects, without concern for citing sources. This is sometimes harmless (as with the section on circadian rhythm), sometimes humorous (consistently referring to dopamine as just a “feel good chemical” that seems to be constantly at odds with the idyllic wild life), and often troubling- as it is in the “walk barefoot” section when it’s claimed that grounding is scientifically backed while making vague reference to “research” without giving names.
And the thing is that the book would be better without these references to research! I don’t need a study saying that electron transfer from the earth to my feet cures cardiovascular disease (???) to know that walking barefoot can feel good. But not citing papers when mentioned tells me that either (a) you are purposefully hiding your sources or (b) you can’t be bothered to properly research the claims you’re making. Either way I am concerned.
Anyways. I will still be doing some of the projects, particularly leaf printing and nature journaling.
My main concern is that this book uses the language of neuroscience and medicine to prove a tangible benefit of the projects, without concern for citing sources. This is sometimes harmless (as with the section on circadian rhythm), sometimes humorous (consistently referring to dopamine as just a “feel good chemical” that seems to be constantly at odds with the idyllic wild life), and often troubling- as it is in the “walk barefoot” section when it’s claimed that grounding is scientifically backed while making vague reference to “research” without giving names.
And the thing is that the book would be better without these references to research! I don’t need a study saying that electron transfer from the earth to my feet cures cardiovascular disease (???) to know that walking barefoot can feel good. But not citing papers when mentioned tells me that either (a) you are purposefully hiding your sources or (b) you can’t be bothered to properly research the claims you’re making. Either way I am concerned.
Anyways. I will still be doing some of the projects, particularly leaf printing and nature journaling.
November 22, 2024
I didn't feel super strongly about this book, nor do I feel I learned anything significantly new, although I did enjoy reading about grounding and connecting with the earth. Probably wouldn't read again unless I was referencing it for basket-making or bug hotel-crafting, but it wasn't a bad read.
3
3
February 8, 2023
So beautiful.
August 4, 2023
Neat, inspiring book. Quick and easy read that pushes you to explore the outdoors!
February 10, 2024
A lovely coffee table book. Delightful reminders of ways to engage with the wild world around us.
January 9, 2026
Lovely photos and simple ideas to remind you to slow down and enjoy the simple life, nature in all its forms and the beauty of observation ☁️🦜🌱🏕️
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews