Coyote's Guide to Connecting with Nature, 2nd ed.

Coyote's Guide to Connecting with Nature, 2nd ed. by J. R. Young, E. Haas, and E. McGown (2010) Owlink Media Corporation

Have you ever seen a Great Blue Heron catch a fish? This the opening sentence for one activity in Part Two of this multifaceted book that takes the reader on many journeys through the past and into visions for the future. The Coyote is the persona for the mentoring approach used by the authors to develop the approach to bring nature to children of all ages.

The authors designed the two parts of the book to complement each other. Part One, the Mentor's Manual, offers the principles of Coyote Mentoring through stories, discussion, and numerous resources. Their premise is that learning best happens in layers of understanding with concepts of human development and other basic foundation knowledge invisible to the participants but well known through awareness of the mentor.

There is a depth to the principles and concepts presented with the authors using storytelling as a primary means to lead the reader to understand meanings in a more subtle manner; rather than just stating the foundational beliefs, they provide word pictures and personal adventures to underscore the hidden value in what they want the reader to discover. They offer information in such a way that a reader may skip from one section to another and not lose the message. Overall they present what they are calling regenerative, nature based education. For the casual reader, it can inspire creative thinking and a gentle reminder to connect to the natural...