Name: CHEC Rocky Mountain Homeschool Conference
Start: 2025-06-12T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-06-14T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Denver, CO

Tagged: handbook of nature study

This topic has 13 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 8 months ago by MelissaB.

Viewing 14 posts - 1 through 14 (of 14 total)

Author
Posts
April 1, 2012 at 11:57 pm
mymommy1
Participant
I’m just getting around to buying this for our family. Some of the review on Amazon of the black covered paperback with a butterfly mentioned the pictures being of poor quality. Do you agree? Is there a version or printing that is better? Thanks!
April 2, 2012 at 12:56 am
Helen
Participant
Yes, it’s not good. I sort of regret purchasing mine because the pictures are very grainy, no use at all for my children to look at. But……. the words ARE of value and I will soon be using it as a resource for 2 nature studies we will be doing.
What choice do we have? It’s extrememly hard to find an original copy.
April 2, 2012 at 1:50 am
delightx7
Participant
I just got mine and was disappointed in the quality of the pictures, but was immediately drawn in by the writing style. I’ve been homeschooling for 10 years or so and had no idea what was missing!! I think we will search the internet for whatever pictures we want to see to go along with our reading in the book. It is still worth owning IMHO.

Robin
April 2, 2012 at 1:59 am
Helen
Participant
I agree. And what a good idea to find the necessary pictures as we need them.
April 2, 2012 at 2:06 am
missceegee
Participant
I use it more as a resource for myself than anything. We have wonderful, full-color field guides for the kids. They also use enature.com

April 2, 2012 at 3:29 am
Sara B.
Participant
I agree with missceegee. I use it for me, and so do the other moms in my co-op. We use field guides and the internet for the pictures.
April 2, 2012 at 5:39 pm
mymommy1
Participant
Thanks for the information. I’ll at least look for an older copy, and if not, get the new one.
April 2, 2012 at 9:00 pm
greenebalts
Participant
I found what I thought was the perfect hardcover older edition of the Handbook of Nature Study. However, once I got it home and started using it, I realized it was missing approx. 150 pages. It appeared as though it was bound without them. Needless to say, I was very disappointed. Normally, I LOVE old books and always look for original copies. However, I would proceed with caution on this one. Maybe it was an isolated incident, but just thought I would mention it in case. I no longer have the book and am looking for another edition with all the pages.

Blessings,
Melissa
April 3, 2012 at 2:21 am
lgeurink
Member
I have an older edition. You do have to be careful when purchasing online because there are some printings without all the chapters. I use it mainly for reference and to read short passages from but we use the internet for pictures unless we are actually with the natural thing in front of us. For me, the older the better. It smells like a book should smell, it has an old library pocket with hand written check out dates, and I find it beautiful. I would not consider the pictures grainy at all but they are in black and white and maybe a small few are not crisp. I have a 24th edition which includes all lessons. I consider it one of my book treasures. All that being said, a new edition would be accurate, have everything you need, and serve your purspose. It would be more of a tragedy to not own the book at all than to own a new edition.
April 3, 2012 at 7:00 pm
mymommy1
Participant
Thanks for the information about the older copies. I found a 24th edition.
lgeurink- You said all the lessons are there. Is the other material the same as far as you can tell?

April 5, 2012 at 2:47 am
Barb-Harmony Art Mom
Member
Here is the link that I use with all my Outdoor Hour Challenges:
http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Nature-Study-Botsford-Comstock/dp/0801493846/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1333594014&sr=1-1
It is the black paperback with the butterfly on the front. I have found it to be the best edition to use for everyday.
I did purchase a hardcover older edition but it is too precious to use for everyday study. 🙂

April 5, 2012 at 5:24 pm
mymommy1
Participant
Thanks. I ended up getting that one. Barb- I plan to use your guides. Love your site.
September 17, 2016 at 10:51 am
karivaz
Participant
The preface to my Handbook of Nature Study states that in the 1986 reissue (and subsequent ones, I imagine), “the suggested readings and the bibliography have been deleted because many of the books are out of print or unavailable to most readers.” My first thought was “Oh no!”
I used to use a 1947 edition in which the bibliography and suggested readings were not yet deleted. (I will get it back in a few months probably–long story). But at the time, I was able to find several of the readings in the public domain or inexpensively on Amazon Kindle. Some of Comstock’s suggested readings have become favorites in our home, such as “By the Roadside” by Fannie Wych Dunn, available for $1.99 on Kindle.
I will be looking up more readings when I get my 1947 back, but she has a LOT, and many ARE hard to find. I am interested to know if anyone else has found other good books that were referenced in the older Handbook editions!
Thanks!
September 17, 2016 at 1:10 pm
MelissaB
Participant
Great information, thank you for alerting us to this!