One book that is a staple in many homeschoolers’ personal libraries is Anna Botsford Comstock’s Handbook of Nature Study.
Comstock’s Handbook deserves its own review but today I wanted to share a picture book we have thoroughly enjoyed here.
Out of School and Into Nature: The Anna Comstock Story, written by Suzanne Slade and illustrated by Jessica Lanan, is a wonderfully put together introduction to the life of Anna Comstock.
It shares the story of Anna’s childhood love of exploring nature, and how this love matured along with her, into a life’s passion for studying nature.
Anna did not marry right away, but went to college (in a time when this was not the norm) to learn more about plants and insects.
“Such thousands of insects I never saw before.” Anna Comstock
She spent time developing her art skills, drawing insects. Her drawings were even used by a professor in his lectures, as well as by farmers identifying insects that were destroying their crops.
She also used engraved wood prints to produce very detailed images. One thing that I love in this book is the recreation of these wood prints – some can be found in her Handbook of Nature Study.
Anna Comstock wasn’t just a scientist and artist though – one of her passions was getting children out into nature. She worked hard to convince teachers to include nature study – real study with children getting OUT into nature and not just reading about it at their desks – in schools.
“Nature study cultivates in the child a love of the beautiful.” Anna Comstock
I think The Handbook of Nature Study is an essential addition to any homeschool library, and we so enjoyed learning about this remarkable woman who made this work possible.
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This book gave an abbreviated introduction to Comstock’s life – but you can read more at Britannica, and wikipedia includes references and external links to check out.
Two resources worth mentioning that use The Handbook of Nature Study:
The Handbook of Nature Study: The Outdoor Hour
Exploring Nature With Children
Michelle Home Scholar 