Back to top

Naturalist-in-Residence Inspired Book List

Nature is for everyone! Join Madison Public Library's first Naturalist-in-Residence for a series of nature experiences this Fall aimed at inspiring wonder and stewardship of the world around us, as well as recognizing our place within it.

The Climate Crisis and Environmental Justice

Cover of All We Can Save: Truth, Co
Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine
Keeble Wilkinson (editors)

Provocative and illuminating essays from women at the forefront of the climate movement who are harnessing truth, courage, and solutions to lead humanity forward.

Cover of As Long as Grass Grows: Th
Dina
Gilio-Whitaker

The story of Native peoples' resistance to environmental injustice and land incursions, and a call for environmentalists to learn from the Indigenous community's rich history of activism.

Cover of Fire and Flood: A People's
Eugene
Linden

From a writer and expert who has been at the center of the fight for more than thirty years, a brilliant, big-picture reckoning with our shocking failure to address climate change. Fire and Flood focuses on the malign power of key business interests, arguing that those same interests could flip the story very quickly--if they can get ahead of a looming economic catastrophe.

Cover of Restoring the Kinship Worl
Wahinkpe Topa (Four Arrows) and
Darcia Narvaez

Selected speeches from Indigenous leaders around the world--necessary wisdom for our times, nourishment for our collective, and a path away from extinction toward a sustainable, interconnected future.

Cover of Rooted in the Earth: Recla
Dianne D.
Glave

With a basis in environmental history, this groundbreaking study challenges the idea that a meaningful attachment to nature and the outdoors is contrary to the black experience by emphasizing the tradition of black environmentalism and using storytelling techniques to dramatize the work of black naturalists. This account corrects the record and urges interested urban dwellers to get back to the land.

Nature Connections, Nature Reflections

Cover of Black Nature: Four Centuri
Camile
Dungy (editor)

A selection of 180 poems from 93 poets that provide unique perspectives on American social and literary history to broaden our concept of nature poetry and African American poetics.
 

Cover of The Book Of Nature Connect
Jacob
Rodenburg

The Book of Nature Connection is packed with fun activities for using all our senses to engage with nature in a deep and nourishing way.

Cover of Entangled Life: How Fungi
Merlin
Sheldrake

The brilliant young biologist Merlin Sheldrake shows us the world from a fungal point of view, providing an exhilarating change of perspective. 

Cover of The Forager Chef’s Book
Alan
Bergo

From root to flower-and featuring 180 recipes and over 230 of the author's own beautiful photographs-explore the edible plants we find all around us with the Forager Chef Alan Bergo as he breaks new culinary ground.

Cover of Forest Walking: Discoverin
Peter Wohlleben and
Jane Billinghurst

Forest Walking teaches you how to engage with the forest by decoding nature's signs and awakening to the ancient past and thrilling present of the ecosystem around you.

Cover of How To Forage For Mushroom
Frank
Hyman

With the surging interest in foraging for mushrooms, those new to the art need a reliable guide to distinguishing the safe fungi from the toxic. Hyman offers his expert mushroom foraging advice, distilling down the most important information for the reader in colorful, folksy language that's easy to remember when in the field.

Cover of Queer Nature: a Poetry Ant
Michael
Walsh (editor)

This anthology amplifies and centers LGBTQIA+ voices and perspectives in a collection of contemporary nature poetry spanning three centuries.

Cover of Return to Nature: The New
Emma
Loewe

Discover the new science and ancient wisdom on why nature makes us healthier and happier in body and soul in a guidebook organized by eight landscapes. 

Cover of This Is a Book for People
Danielle
Belleny
Stephanie Singleton

Full of bird watching basics, fun facts, and illustrated species profiles, this is a joyful celebration of our feathered friends!

Cover of The Unlikely Thru-Hiker: A
Derik
Lugo

This is the story of a young black man setting off from the city with an extremely overweight pack and a willfully can-do attitude. What follows are lessons on preparation, humility, race relations, and nature's wild unpredictability.

Cover of The Wild Year: A Field Gui
Kristyna
Baczynski

Artist Kristyna Baczynski blends writing, research, and illustrations that celebrate more than ninety plant specimens, drawn in detail for identification, along with historical, scientific, and folkloric information highlighting the unique backstory and beauty of these everyday natural wonders. 

Cover of Writing Wild: Women Poets,
Kathryn
Aalto

Kathryn Aalto explores the lasting impact of 25 women writers whose pens have left an indelible mark on the world of nature writing.

Cover of World of Wonders: In Prais
Aimee
Nezhukamatahil

From beloved, award-winning poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil comes a debut work of nonfiction--a collection of essays about the natural world, and the way its inhabitants can teach, support, and inspire us.