Recommended books about nature
I would like to thank the readers who, in response to my request in a recent column, shared their favorite books about nature. I’m highlighting a few of them here, and will include more in a future column.
In addition to classics such as “Growing California Native Plants,” by Marjorie G. Schmidt (UC Press), my bookshelf continues to grow with newer titles. Elaine Jackson loves the second edition of this book, written by local native-plant expert Katherine L. Greenberg, who expanded on Schmidt’s volume, which was published more than 35 years ago, when there was not a lot of information on growing native plants in home gardens.
Greenberg draws upon her own expertise on growing many of my favorite native plants described in the first edition. Elaine also praises some of our local nurseries that specialize in native plants: Native Here, Watershed, Oaktown and East Bay Wilds.
Julia from Palo Alto loves “Wild Grace: Nature as a Spiritual Path,” by Eric Alan (White Cloud Press), because it integrates photographs and prose that celebrate our beautiful natural world. It is one of those books you can pick up any time you need a reminder to slow down and embrace the beauty surrounding you.
Barbara Sacks of Hayward loves “Secrets of the Oak Woodlands: Plants & Animals Among California’s Oaks,” by Kate Marianchild (Heyday Press). Sacks was introduced to Marianchild and her work when the author spoke at a Mount Diablo Interpretive Association meeting a couple of years ago. She bought the book and read it immediately. Each chapter is a wonderful adventure exploring our oak woodland habitat.
I, too, read and loved “Secrets of the Oak Woodlands” because of Marianchild’s way of addressing the interconnectedness of plants, insects, birds and other wildlife in this habitat.
For instance, the author points our that mistletoe is a hemiparasitic plant (meaning it both uses photosynthesis for nourishment and also obtains food from its host). Mistletoe is often considered a pest, but if the plant is healthy and thriving it is not. And in oak woodlands, it supports a variety of other living things, including western bluebirds and golden-crowned sparrows, which rely on it for food and nesting. According to Marianchild, five out of six white-tailed kite nests have been found in mistletoe in Mendocino County.
Currently I am reading “Nature, Love, Medicine: Essays on Wildness and Wellness,” edited by Thomas Lowe Fleischner (Torrey House Press). It is perfect for this busy time of year since it offers short, thought-provoking pieces about why the writers fell in love with the outdoors, as well as lovely accounts of how being in nature has helped many in the healing process of injuries or hurtful life experiences.
If you are looking for good children’s literature, check out the Brain Pickings website (www.brainpickings.org), which lists its choice of the seven loveliest books of 2017.
My final pick today is a tribute to the words eliminated from the Oxford Junior Dictionary. Who would have thought “acorn” and “buttercup” would have been dropped to make room for “attachment” and “blog”? “The Lost Words,” by Robert Macfarlane (Penguin Press), uses acrostic poetry to pay tribute to the words from nature that have lost their places to contemporary terms. Jackie Morris’ exquisite woodblock illustrations complement these words, which should have a place in every child’s vocabulary.