The World Comes to Your Livingroom

It’s curious that I continue to see references to and receive e-mails from people who use Holling’s works in home-schooling their children. Theirs is more than just a bucolic trip through a naturalistic world; they focus on the wealth of information Holling’s books that include: science, history, geography, writing, and more.  And their children are richer for the exposure.

Kim, a Chicago native and creator of the blogsite, 730 Sage Street (https://www.730sagestreet.com/holling-c-holling-books-teach-geography-literature-nature-studies)/, says, “Holling C. Holling books are like a banana split of books: literature, geography, history, nature study, travelogue, and all topped with great illustrations. For homeschoolers, his books can be a spine for many subjects, or the basis for a unit study. Even if you do nothing else, you should read [Holling’s books], because your family will enjoy them.”  

Kim begins, “We started with Pagoo, the story of a hermit crab, because we had a bit of a hermit crab obsession going on.  I really didn’t have an idea of how good the book would be.  Pagoo follows the life of a hermit crab from birth through adulthood in a tide pool.  Readers will learn so much about marine life in this book.

“Similarly, Minn of the Mississippi follows the life of a snapping turtle as she travels down the entire length of the Mississippi River.  The book delves into the geology and history of the river as well as the animals that inhabit it.  He also explains how humans interact with and have changed the river.”

She continues that the next three books feature  inanimate objects as the main characters, “which is an interesting change in children’s literature:” Paddle-to-the-Sea, Seabird, and .Tree in the Trail.

.One of her resources is from the Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW), Geography Based Writing Lessons.  She hails it as a source for writing assignments. “We were very happy with it; it solidified the skills learned with IEW Level A, without being boring,” she reports.

Holling’s books can be a “launchpad for science and nature studies.”  They can also revive a world that’s becoming more distant as we thrash our way into the modern age.