ReWild: The Art of Returning to Nature

RE Wild is a brilliant book as you would expect from Professional Naturalist & Biologist Nick Baker ,everyone interested in the natural World should own this book ,I thoroughly recommend it.

I’m a huge fan of Nick Baker and this book does not disappoint. A must for anyone reconnecting with their wild side.

Fabulous book well written and totally enjoyable Nick Baker is a great guy and certainly knows his stuff 😊

I found this a very informative and masterly introduction in how to use your senses to appreciate the natural world. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to connect with nature and benefit from doing so.

If you’re one for judging a book by its cover then you will be drawn to this one as I was. I have no wildlife expertise but can often be found out in the local forest watching a family of badgers or foxes and have learnt a few skills required to do so. ReWild looks to develop these skills and to recapture our senses which have been lost to the modern world.The book I would say is aimed more at the novice and beginner wildlife watcher – even to me it seemed a bit self explanatory but I definitely did learn a thing or two in terms of the science and anatomy. The book focuses on the five main senses and interspersed with Baker’s anecdotes and the science behind each and how they can be improved e.g. our night vision or hearing. I can easily see the book capturing the imagination of an older child – many of the anecdotes coming from Baker take place around the ages of 8-10 although you may want to keep an eye on them around mushrooms and fungi as they may want to pop a few in their mouth or even lick a slug.There is a mention of a book by Chris Ferris (Darkness is Light Enough) although a bit disappointed the location given is incorrect – it’s a fantastic book and a must read. Something I think most novices and beginners will get from both of these books is you don’t have to travel to the likes of Bolivia and Costa Rica. You can make the most of these experiences on your doorstep. While I don’t want to spoil the ending, it seems a bit out of sync with the rest of the book but has a very important message to it. Rewilding isn’t just about bringing back wolves and bears but has something inherent in all of us. The book is a very quick read and for those looking to develop their rambles into wildlife and bird watching abilities then I do recommend it.

In 1281 in the time of Edward I England lost its last wolves when Peter Corbet was commissioned to kill them all. It took nine years. Author Robert Winder declares that after this time England was no longer wild but turned into “the biggest sheep farm in the world.”Nick Baker seeks his own definition of “wild,” and how to reconnect with that state in our modern lives by rediscovering our senses.I found the author’s most significant statement in the book to be “I write about things a nipper in the 1950s would have taken as a given.” As I was one of those nippers who thought it perfectly normal to be off and out every day, catching tadpoles, climbing haystacks, parents oblivious to what we were up to - like sister falling off a pigsty and breaking her arm – and no phones to track us, perhaps I’m not the target audience for a book attempting to get people to connect with nature. It’s no big deal to me to watch badgers, foxes and other wildlife, but I appreciate that in our increasingly urban and artificial lives people are increasingly disconnected. Perhaps the biggest hesitation to walking around here in the dark (especially barefoot) would be dog and cat mess. It's bad enough putting the bins out in the winter...My father in his turn reminisces about wildlife that is no longer seen at all or survives in tiny numbers compared to when he was a boy. I recently watched a programme where a clueless woman thought it acceptable to have a huge dog as a “pet” in a tiny flat. One despairs.If one of those disconnected or clueless people did pick this book up and gleaned something from it, then all well and good. I found it often irksome as the author seems not to have met anyone else who can walk quietly and appreciate their surroundings without flying to meet primitive tribes in remote corners of the globe. Hello, we’re here – some of us are just a lot older than you, we are connected, we just don't lick slugs or unidentified mushrooms.A lot of the book I do support, such as Baker’s championing efforts to protect what is left of the natural world and his recognition of “nature-deficit disorder.” It that gets one person to stop yammering on their phone for ten minutes, it's worthwhile.

An interesting book, an alternate view on returning to nature, to appreciate what is around us in the everyday.All too often we are absorbed by the modern world of technology, earphones in, headphones on, screens ablaze as we walk round towns and villages.Nick Baker thoughtfully and insightfully, takes us back to a time when we had that first interest in the bugs and birds, the animals and creatures of the wild.As an amateur but keen photographer, I have noticed my senses are heightened when walking, trying to identify the bird song, where in the bushes, trees and hedgerows they are, to try and get a photo of them, likewise the larger animals, the foxes, deer, weasels and stoatsDividing his book into 18 chapters, he breaks down the rewilding into more easily manageable and understandable sections. My two particular favourite and relevant sections are Chapter 5, Learning to See, Not Just Look, and Chapter 6, The Blind Birdwatcher, both literally opening your eyes to what is around you, and how to see it.As a book to help re-awaken your senses whilst out in the countryside, I think this is a very interesting book - Baker uses previous experiences to remind us how to see what's all about us...

I don't think anyone will read this book and not try silent walking - I tried all the techniques described and soon found I could do it - great for when trying to Rewild!Nick Baker has written a well rounded book - well written with a blend of science (human biology) and how we humans can learn to become at one with nature again.I was lucky to be reading this book surrounded by nature in the Scottish Highlands - I enjoyed how to retune in to my senses - I did find night walking a tad weird (as I'm terrified of frogs and there were quite a few of them about!) - it really is amazing how quickly your eyes adjust to the darkness. Nick does go into quite a bit of detail as to how our bodies adapt and initially I found I wanted a shorter synopsis - but rereading after a night walk I found the level of detail insightful.Highly recommended book for all nature lovers but would be very insightful to photographers.

Naturalist Nick Baker, host of many programmes for the BBC, such as Springwatch and Weird Creatures, has written a book encouraging us to put down our phones and get out there -- amongst the greenery and the wildlife -- to really take in our surroundings and become more at one with nature, using all of our senses. This fun, and educational book (yes, the two CAN appear in the same sentence!) highlights how we can rediscover nature in ways we've never dreamed of. I was pleasantly surprised at how much information Nick Baker provided in this book, in an effort to share the 'wild' as a priceless treasure we can ALL own. I enjoyed this informative book, which came across more like a cleverly written collection of first person stories of the author's own experiences with nature, rather than a text book of information. Nick Baker has an encouraging, and inspiring writing style. I love how he challenges us to understand rewilding from a very basic level starting from exploring and rewilding in our own gardens and parks. I already leave a patch of lawn unmowed to attract more insects, flowers and birds, and if we each take small steps like this, we can pave the way to make simple changes as individuals, that can have a profound affect on our environment in the wider, wilder world. A great book to share with budding naturalists, and can also be used as a natural therapy and antidote to the technology filled lives we lead. Who knows, this may even reignite your own passion for nature!

Very far from a Bear Grylls style adventure guide, Nick Baker carefully and thoughtfully explains how to really appreciate the great outdoors, using each of our senses to its fullest and explaining from his own myriad of examples. From learning how to sniff if a fox has been in the area, to sneaking up to a rabbit without snapping a twig, Rewild is full of the most compulsive and exciting, gentle adventures. The biggest analogy I can draw is with the current focus on "mindfulness" with Nick's book teaching us to be entirely aware of everything going on around us in the wild, appreciating every tiny nuance of our surroundings. The book takes us on a personal journey into the wonders of our own back gardens, woods or countryside - quite a private experience best enjoyed alone. The approach it encourages - calmness, curiosity and attention to our surroundings, will benefit any reader with countrymouse or townmouse.

Sub-titled, “The art of returning to nature,” this is an inspiring read about discovering (or rediscovering) nature. I read this during my children’s summer holidays when, aware that we all live our lives with too much screen time, I have been making a conscious effort to get my family outdoors. I think that this book is aimed for readers like myself, who are somewhat out of their comfort zone. This is part memoir, as well a plea for us to recommend with the natural world, so it is an interesting account of the author’s love for nature, as well as packed with ideas to help the reader enjoy the natural world.I liked the way that this book – while the author obviously talks about the wild – concentrates on nature on our doorstep. From examining snails, trees and birds, this is achievable for anyone to read and then get out to explore nature. This will exhort you to use your senses and examine the world about you. I have found this book inspired us to take some nature walks and I am happy to recommend it as an enjoyable and interesting read.

I thought I would like this book more than I did. However, Nick Baker's journey into 'the art of returning to nature' for me, finds itself caught between attempting to be profound and yet at the same time, accessible to a wider general readership. In effect, it rather neutralises the message and essence of the book. Which is more or less a call to be more in tune with the natural world and conversant with the issues affecting its flora and fauna.For anyone with an understanding of ecology though, it might seem a tad superficial but that returns to my previous point about trying to appeal to the general reader.I imagine a young adult who has a 'green bent' will find much of interest therein though.

Nick Baker has presented Springwatch and regularly takes groups of school children or other locals out on nature walks. His style here is of the slightly breathless but garrulous TV presenter, and the editor in me sometimes just wanted him to say once what he said three times. But there is no doubting his enthusiasm and experience.His message here boils down to looking up from your phone screen, stepping outside and tuning into nature, a form of detoxification, using all your senses and returning to what is more natural.I had to have two goes at this book. The first time I started reading it, as it described the challenges of encountering a wild bear, and of reintroducing wolves and lynxes to the north American ecosystem, I became painfully aware that I could not even cope with a mouse. The message of rewilding ought to be music to my ears. My urban back garden is pretty wild. I have a resident squirrel, a fox, a great spotted woodpecker on my bird feeder, and wood mice in my compost bin. That was fine – until the wood mouse came into my house to nest, and woke me up two nights in a row running around inside my bedroom armchair. A fortnight later – since the wood mouse was determined to stay – there was a dead wood mouse. At this point I had a great deal of sympathy with the US farmers that shoot wild cats for bothering their cattle.Second time around – me in my house, wildlife firmly outside – I was more in tune with the message. After all, I am someone who grew up spending my summers flat on my tummy bird watching, or getting close to the local rabbit and hedgehog population. Nick Baker is teaching here much of what I learned as a child – but with a little more adult sophistication.“I believe re-wilding is a big word that can change our relationship with the world.” He wants us to start by noticing other species, and by leaving messy corners in our world for the wildlife to take over – even if it is just a burrowing bee. Essentially, he is selling and persuading, in a world where even ‘rewilding’ has become a commodity.There is some practical guidance here, but essentially he is trying to make you fall in love with the practice of getting back close to nature – through the senses.To start, he makes us think about seeing in the dark, the time it takes for the rod cells in the back of our eyes to adjust as we walk from light to dark, the pleasures of walking in moonlight. This is interesting on how long it takes – three quarters of an hour for your eyes to fully adjust to the darkness, and even momentary exposure to light can cause your eyes to re-set back.Then sound – and the way to move through the undergrowth without making causing a disturbance, the slow track from heel to ball of foot, testing the ground and whether a dry stick will crack beneath your step.Then smell – learning different smells, the smell of foxes, the way elderbushes smell of wee and deter flies, which is why you find them planted outside your back toilet in London gardens.Touch – taking children walking barefoot along a muddy path; identifying trees from the texture of bark felt blindfolded.Even taste – what slug slime tastes like and the reason revealed why nothing seems to eat slugs or ladybirds, or cane frog tadpoles.He wants us to find refuge and comfort in the natural world as he did as a child when disaster struck his family in a car accident. Along the way, he wants to tell you how his child self got so close to the local badgers that one wiped its bum on him, and how he tracked the local rabbits by walking under cover of a large cardboard box with a window cut in it. Which was good until the wind literally blew his cover, but fine too because he stayed so still the rabbits didn’t move. Along the way too, he tells us how he took his girlfriend badger watching – and it was all OK until the badger tried to scratch its left ear with its back left foot and his girlfriend had a giggling fit!This would be better at half the length, but he speaks with the experience of someone who may times has introduced nature to people who have never really looked closely at what is in front of their noses, and it is a very good story along the way.

I'd not read anything by Nick Baker before but I have mostly enjoyed reading this. He has a way of writing that is atmospheric and lets you almost see and feel what he is describing. The inside cover describes ReWild as "mixing memoir with practical advice" and it does do that, but it also sometimes feels like a personal manifesto, a challenge, there's science - I now have a much better understanding of how my eyes work, natural history and travelogue. Parts of it are also quite funny, parts of it are very personal.He is passionate about the subject, which clearly comes through in the writing, and is mostly inspiring, sometimes a little intimidating - some of Chapter 1 is very downbeat but I think it's worth sticking with.Who is this aimed at? Probably not people who are already experienced at night-walking, foraging and tracking wildlife. Maybe people who want to know just that little bit more, who want to connect with nature and who, at the moment, don't really know how to do that. I like to take a walk through my local woods, but now I find myself trying to actively see and listen, trying to be more aware and I'm trying to share this with my children. I won't however, be doing any foraging and I won't be encouraging my children to pick and eat anything either.It's obvious he has a love of the English language - " a blood-red rhamphotheca pops up against the verdant-green sward " - definitely more poetic, more descriptive than - the red beak pops up against the grass. However, a few times I did find myself thinking, I don't know what you were on about in that last paragraph. I don't think this should put you off reading the book, but it's something you may want to know about his style of writing.Overall, I've enjoyed reading this. I have found it an inspiring read, I don't think everybody will, I don't think the style will appeal to everybody and in places it is quite a personal. I would recommend you read the Look Inside excerpt, even though it's short it will give you a good idea of what Nick Baker's writing style is like and if you could appreciate it.

In approaching this book I have to confess to being very receptive to the message that the author conveys to his readers and as such am looking for new ways of saying what needs to be said about the subject. As a therapist and educator I hope to speak to my customers about the isolation from nature that currently blights our potential to thrive or even survive. The author offers the opportunity to see this message written in a manner which should I think appeal to a diverse audience and hopefully inspire enthusiasm for the subject in many who might otherwise not have been reached. Naturally that requires that people need to access the book who would otherwise not have done so, and so it still sits with the existing enthusiasts like me to suggest it as reading material, which is okay as that is probably the easy part.One small criticism which echoes the words another reviewer is the slight warning bell that goes off for me when anyone recommends trying any brightly coloured berry without some sound prior knowledge of whether it is actually safe to eat - the fruits of the Yew look appealing but are pretty deadly! So an appeal for some caution in promoting such ideas too freely.