"Nature writing at its best""In this first widely available collection of essays, readers have the chance to experience the blend of scientific expertise and deep affection for nature that have long made Patti Smith regionally famous. To enter the pages of this book is to go deeper into the woods than most of us could go without her guidance -- not because the woods are inaccessible, but because Smith leads us into a new way of experiencing them. Not only do her careful observations of beavers, porcupines, and other creatures offer both beginners and experts a wealth of information -- the way that she experiences nature demonstrates an approach that can improve anybody's understanding and enjoyment of the world around them. In each successively absorbing chapter we are drawn deeper into the natural world and into Smith's world, until, when at last we lay the book aside, we look upon nature with new eyes, as something that can be at once more familiar and more wonderful. The illustrations and the prose are nothing short of masterful, and with this first collection Smith emerges fully formed and ready to join the pantheon of great American nature writers."--Matthew D. Hoffman "Amazon "

"Nature writing at its best"
"In this first widely available collection of essays, readers have the chance to experience the blend of scientific expertise and deep affection for nature that have long made Patti Smith regionally famous. To enter the pages of this book is to go deeper into the woods than most of us could go without her guidance -- not because the woods are inaccessible, but because Smith leads us into a new way of experiencing them. Not only do her careful observations of beavers, porcupines, and other creatures offer both beginners and experts a wealth of information -- the way that she experiences nature demonstrates an approach that can improve anybody's understanding and enjoyment of the world around them. In each successively absorbing chapter we are drawn deeper into the natural world and into Smith's world, until, when at last we lay the book aside, we look upon nature with new eyes, as something that can be at once more familiar and more wonderful. The illustrations and the prose are nothing short of masterful, and with this first collection Smith emerges fully formed and ready to join the pantheon of great American nature writers."

-Nature writing at its best-
-In this first widely available collection of essays, readers have the chance to experience the blend of scientific expertise and deep affection for nature that have long made Patti Smith regionally famous. To enter the pages of this book is to go deeper into the woods than most of us could go without her guidance -- not because the woods are inaccessible, but because Smith leads us into a new way of experiencing them. Not only do her careful observations of beavers, porcupines, and other creatures offer both beginners and experts a wealth of information -- the way that she experiences nature demonstrates an approach that can improve anybody's understanding and enjoyment of the world around them. In each successively absorbing chapter we are drawn deeper into the natural world and into Smith's world, until, when at last we lay the book aside, we look upon nature with new eyes, as something that can be at once more familiar and more wonderful. The illustrations and the prose are nothing short of masterful, and with this first collection Smith emerges fully formed and ready to join the pantheon of great American nature writers.-