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How to Keep a Naturalist's Notebook
A one-of-a-kind, art-filled how-to guide geared to wildlife students and naturalists, based on the author's college course. Pages from actual field notebooks clearly illustrate what works and why. Hints and advice for outdoorspeople with even limited artistic skills. For nature-lovers, birders, and students of wildlife and biology, keeping a field notebook is essential to accurately recording outdoor observations. This unique guide offers instruction on how to do it--what to look for, what information should be recorded and how to organize it, basic drawing skills using line and color, and incorporating maps and charts, as well as advice on equipment to take in the field and using conventional field guides. A colorful book that will teach and inspire.
168 pages, Paperback
First published December 15, 2009
128 people are currently reading
180 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
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October 25, 2020A book that I will want to spend some time with, and do the practice exercises. A good starting point for keeping a notebook.
October 23, 2022
Loved it! So much helpful information, way beyond what I expected. The book was written with the naturalist in mind, but anyone who wants to nature journal or even record things about their garden would find this helpful.
Here’s some examples of the wealth of information the book includes (this just off the top of my head): drawing tutorials (some of the best beginner tutorials I’ve read…approachable, comprehensible, and practical); information on how guidebooks are organized (I have several guide books and this helped a lot!), different methods for organizing recorded observations; how to orient your senses to begin observations; good questions to ask; helpful kinds of information to include in your observations; how to record information so it’s scientifically valuable (if that interests you); writing prompts; brief but valuable writing advice (which I’m excited to try out); guides on mapmaking (whimsical or scientific): and numerous, well chosen examples of journal entries showcasing different aims for record keeping).
Another cool thing in the book was about how the journals of average people helped inform scientific record on various subjects. I love science but, alas, don’t have the time, money or opportunity to go get yet another degree. But you’re telling me I could combine two things I love - observing nature and journaling - for science?!? Um, yes please!
In summary: I loved this book so much, I’ll be buying a physical copy (I read it on kindle). I’ll probably read the whole thing over again. And I’ll definitely refer to multiple sections repeatedly. I can’t wait to get a physical copy in my greedy little hands.
Here’s some examples of the wealth of information the book includes (this just off the top of my head): drawing tutorials (some of the best beginner tutorials I’ve read…approachable, comprehensible, and practical); information on how guidebooks are organized (I have several guide books and this helped a lot!), different methods for organizing recorded observations; how to orient your senses to begin observations; good questions to ask; helpful kinds of information to include in your observations; how to record information so it’s scientifically valuable (if that interests you); writing prompts; brief but valuable writing advice (which I’m excited to try out); guides on mapmaking (whimsical or scientific): and numerous, well chosen examples of journal entries showcasing different aims for record keeping).
Another cool thing in the book was about how the journals of average people helped inform scientific record on various subjects. I love science but, alas, don’t have the time, money or opportunity to go get yet another degree. But you’re telling me I could combine two things I love - observing nature and journaling - for science?!? Um, yes please!
In summary: I loved this book so much, I’ll be buying a physical copy (I read it on kindle). I’ll probably read the whole thing over again. And I’ll definitely refer to multiple sections repeatedly. I can’t wait to get a physical copy in my greedy little hands.
July 24, 2022
A great quck-start guide
Very approachable and intimidating guide to creating a variety of types of nature journal. Totally non-fussy in it's approach. Provides excellent tips on equipment, elementary drawing techniques, observation, field guides, and varied goals for different types of field notes. Interspersed through the books are useful exercises to practice these techniques. The book has an excellent reference list at the back.
Very approachable and intimidating guide to creating a variety of types of nature journal. Totally non-fussy in it's approach. Provides excellent tips on equipment, elementary drawing techniques, observation, field guides, and varied goals for different types of field notes. Interspersed through the books are useful exercises to practice these techniques. The book has an excellent reference list at the back.
November 24, 2010
Are you a backyard birdwatcher curious about the lives and habits of your feathered friends? A hiker who wonders about the world you ramble through? An artist or writer seeking to learn more about nature?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, Susan Leigh Tomlinson's book is for you. This thoughtful and elegantly written guide shows you to how to dip beneath the surface of the natural world through keeping an illustrated field journal. We journal about our lives, why the other species around us as well? Observing and noting nature is a way of getting to know that wider, wilder community, and through it, deepening our understanding of our own species. It's a way of honoring the living world, as Mary Oliver writes in these lines from her poem, "Where Does the Temple End; Where Does It Begin," which Tomlinson uses as an epigraph in the book:
"I look; morning to night I am never done with looking.
Looking I mean not just standing around, but standing around
as though with your arms open."
That kind of looking is exactly what Tomlinson teaches in this guide to exploring nature. She begins with the basics: what kind of notebook or journal to pick, plus pens, pencils, field bag, compass, hand lens, binoculars. Then comes the illustrated part: learning how to sketch or draw. You say you can't draw? Not to worry, Tomlinson can teach you. And along the way, she shows you how to use a field guide, understand scientific names (each of which is a story in just two words), refine your observation skills, ask questions and research what you observe, and polish your writing.
How to Keep a Naturalist's Notebook is illustrated with Tomlinson's lovely sketches, as well as field journal pages from her students, none of whom, she notes for the faint-hearted among us, were actually majoring in either art or science. (So if they can learn to sketch and observe....) My only quibble--and it's a small one--is in the book's design, which is oddly formal, like that of a textbook. Tomlinson did write the book for her students, but the design could still have embraced the informality of her wry sense of humor and the medium she's writing about. The design could have been fun and full of wonder, and thus honored the spirit Tomlinson brings to her relationship with nature--and life.
This review first appeared on Story Circle Book Reviews (http://www.storycirclebookreviews.org/), the largest site for reviews of books for and by women. Copyright Susan J. Tweit
If you answered yes to any of those questions, Susan Leigh Tomlinson's book is for you. This thoughtful and elegantly written guide shows you to how to dip beneath the surface of the natural world through keeping an illustrated field journal. We journal about our lives, why the other species around us as well? Observing and noting nature is a way of getting to know that wider, wilder community, and through it, deepening our understanding of our own species. It's a way of honoring the living world, as Mary Oliver writes in these lines from her poem, "Where Does the Temple End; Where Does It Begin," which Tomlinson uses as an epigraph in the book:
"I look; morning to night I am never done with looking.
Looking I mean not just standing around, but standing around
as though with your arms open."
That kind of looking is exactly what Tomlinson teaches in this guide to exploring nature. She begins with the basics: what kind of notebook or journal to pick, plus pens, pencils, field bag, compass, hand lens, binoculars. Then comes the illustrated part: learning how to sketch or draw. You say you can't draw? Not to worry, Tomlinson can teach you. And along the way, she shows you how to use a field guide, understand scientific names (each of which is a story in just two words), refine your observation skills, ask questions and research what you observe, and polish your writing.
How to Keep a Naturalist's Notebook is illustrated with Tomlinson's lovely sketches, as well as field journal pages from her students, none of whom, she notes for the faint-hearted among us, were actually majoring in either art or science. (So if they can learn to sketch and observe....) My only quibble--and it's a small one--is in the book's design, which is oddly formal, like that of a textbook. Tomlinson did write the book for her students, but the design could still have embraced the informality of her wry sense of humor and the medium she's writing about. The design could have been fun and full of wonder, and thus honored the spirit Tomlinson brings to her relationship with nature--and life.
This review first appeared on Story Circle Book Reviews (http://www.storycirclebookreviews.org/), the largest site for reviews of books for and by women. Copyright Susan J. Tweit
August 26, 2020
Great for the starter naturalist, like me.
As a kid, I was never a big fan of nature except for the beach and river. As an adult, I'm trying to connect more with nature and thought a nature journal would be great because I already am an avid journaler. This was the perfect book to start with. It has basic techniques for how to draw things.
What I didn't love was the seemingly endless talk about "bins" (birder slang for binoculars). Compared to the other topics of the book, I felt like she went too much into detail about the binoculars and too little detail into how to (for example) add color to your drawings. Don't get me wrong, getting a good set of binoculars is a good idea, but for this starter naturalist it was a bit much. I ended up dozing off and losing focus.
As for the Kindle edition, I always appreciate when books have page numbers instead of the awkward Kindle location, and this one has page numbers. Plus, the footnotes pop up instead of taking you to another page. At least for me, it's distracting when a footnote jumps to another page. So, I really appreciated that this book had the pop-up footnotes.
Apart from that, I only found one typo. I didn't even write it down because it simply needed a space. It didn't affect my reading experience at all.
All in all, I give this book 4.5 stars but since I really enjoyed it, I'm rounding it up. I recommend this book to anyone like me, who is interested in starting a nature journal.
As a kid, I was never a big fan of nature except for the beach and river. As an adult, I'm trying to connect more with nature and thought a nature journal would be great because I already am an avid journaler. This was the perfect book to start with. It has basic techniques for how to draw things.
What I didn't love was the seemingly endless talk about "bins" (birder slang for binoculars). Compared to the other topics of the book, I felt like she went too much into detail about the binoculars and too little detail into how to (for example) add color to your drawings. Don't get me wrong, getting a good set of binoculars is a good idea, but for this starter naturalist it was a bit much. I ended up dozing off and losing focus.
As for the Kindle edition, I always appreciate when books have page numbers instead of the awkward Kindle location, and this one has page numbers. Plus, the footnotes pop up instead of taking you to another page. At least for me, it's distracting when a footnote jumps to another page. So, I really appreciated that this book had the pop-up footnotes.
Apart from that, I only found one typo. I didn't even write it down because it simply needed a space. It didn't affect my reading experience at all.
All in all, I give this book 4.5 stars but since I really enjoyed it, I'm rounding it up. I recommend this book to anyone like me, who is interested in starting a nature journal.
April 20, 2015
A nice read with a lot of illustrations to show how exercises can progress. Good information and a primer on techniques ~ I'm looking forward to trying out the practices to see if I can finally start to sketch well enough to maintain a journal while doing naturalist things / volunteering in the parks.
September 20, 2022
Short, concise, to the point, and full of helpful tips and exercises for keeping a naturalists notebook. The two chapters on sketching were super helpful and helped put things into a different perspective for me. I highly recommend this for anyone with an interest in naturalism, either from a personal or academic position.
July 24, 2023
Good Introduction to Nature Journaling!
Ms Tomlinson has provided an excellent introductory guide to building a regular practice of noticing and chronicling the natural world around us—the most important of which is simply slowing down and actually taking the time to notice what’s happening right before our eyes.
Ms Tomlinson has provided an excellent introductory guide to building a regular practice of noticing and chronicling the natural world around us—the most important of which is simply slowing down and actually taking the time to notice what’s happening right before our eyes.
July 20, 2020
Great book
It was straight forward and had a lot of good information to get started and to continue nature journaling. I found some good tips and advice in the book I had not yet thought of.
It was straight forward and had a lot of good information to get started and to continue nature journaling. I found some good tips and advice in the book I had not yet thought of.
May 14, 2022
Really nice and encouraging intro to the subject without being too long! I especially liked the tips on what to focus on for plant and bird identification, and the suggestion to draw a ruler in your notebook rather than lug one around.
June 19, 2017
Great ideas for starting a nature journal, including plenty of encouragement to avoid "perfectionism" and just enjoy the process.
February 21, 2020
Full of helpful tips and information.
November 25, 2021
Excellent guide
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It helped me come up with illustrations for all the nature hikes that I love to take...
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It helped me come up with illustrations for all the nature hikes that I love to take...
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December 25, 2022Writing was decent--not particularly noteworthy. The examples from actual journals, the suggestions for improving sketching, and the recommended practices were very good.
December 31, 2022
Got this book off of Hoopla and it is very informative and would like to take it out again to study. This is great for beginner drawings.
September 10, 2020
Now this is what I'm talking about: you want to learn to keep a nature journal? -- here's the book for you. Lots of can-do attitude, but also the specifics of how to go from zero drawing experience to being a competent field naturalist. Lots of exercises (and I mean lots and lots, I'm still working my way through them.) Lots of examples of notebook pages from her students who are not professionals (not even aspiring professionals). If you wonder how you can learn about the nature around you, this is the place to start.
October 22, 2010
If only I had more time.. started and stopped, as I realized this is not the book for a busy city boy. A country cottage and retirement might be the ticket to picking this book up again... it is after all a manual for observing nature and keeping a notebook of your observations. Good stuff.
October 14, 2012
This is one of my favorite drawing/journaling books. Lots of useful nuggets to help with drawing and recording nature.
December 20, 2013
This was the text for a class given by the author. I learned so much about myself and nature drawing throughout the course. Great explanations.
November 13, 2014
Good practical advice on learning through sketching and documenting the natural world.
March 2, 2016
Very good. Great tips.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews