Do you like reading to your kids? It’s a simple question and I hope all parents say yes to this very simple one. My dad was not much of a story reader, but he was a story teller when I was a kiddo. As I got older I read books like White Fang, Tales of Fishes, Zane Grey on Fishing, Moby Dick and the Old Man And The Sea. Sometimes you just need to take this love of the outdoors, sit your kids down and read to them. They will travel with you in these storyies you choose and truly get more out of life than Super Mario and other computer games.
This past fall I received a book in the mail called “Fish, Frogs, and Fireflies: Growing up with Nature” from Robert U. Montgomery. This book is made up of 42 short storyies that will bring you back to your childhood, remind you of those adventures on nearby streams, your hikes to nowhere, and life lessons you learned on your own through trial and error.
Some of these stories take 5 – 10 minutes to read, others a bit longer. They are perfect for you to sit your child down and escape with them to nature. You will not only be reading to them, you will start connecting your childhood adventures to your child’s and start story telling yourself.
Robert didn’t write all these stories, but called on 13 well known outdoor enthusiasts to share their adventures in nature. Teeg Stouffer, Andy McDaniels, Brenda DeGree, Capt. Ron Presley and Steve Chaconas are just a few of the story tellers. They did a fabulous job setting my family up for evening stories before bed.
Stories to look forward to (all are perfect though) are Dinosaur Hunter, The Fishing Triangle, Turtles and Rats, and lastly The River. I can easily mention all the titles, but you get the idea.
You will connect with these stories, connect more with your children, you will begin to think of new joint adventures and as we are doing in my home start planning the next one.
I am starting to read this book the 2nd time through now. It spring and soon summer and adventures are coming our way.
….William Schwarz, ODU
About the author: Since he opened the backdoor on his own at age four and stepped outside, Robert U. Montgomery has had a lifelong love affair with nature. His degree in journalism from the University of Missouri helped him build a career writing about its many facets, including fishing and environmental issues. He is author of Why We Fish (NorLightsPress), Better Bass Fishing (Countryman Press) and founder of Activist Angler, a website devoted to promoting and protecting recreational fishing. He is a long-time Senior Writer specializing in conservation for B.A.S.S. Publications, and a Contributing Writer for Fishing Tackle Retailer Magazine. In addition, the Missouri native is winner of the prestigious Homer Circle Fishing Communicator Award. He serves on the Board of Directors of Recycled Fish, a national conservation organization, and on the Conservation Pro Staff of Vanishing Paradise, a National Wildlife Federation initiative to restore Louisiana’s fish and waterfowl habitat by reconnecting the Mississippi River to the state’s wetlands. He has fished and photographed wildlife in Africa, South America, Central America, as well as North America Montgomery lives on a small lake in the eastern Ozarks with his dog, Pippa.