In nature, a child finds freedom, fantasy, and privacy: a place distant from the adult world, a separate peace.

The dugout in the weeds or leaves beneath a backyard willow, the rivulet of a seasonal creek, even the ditch between the front yard and the road-all of these places are entire universes to a young child.

Time in nature is not leisure time; it's an essential investment in our chidlren's health (and also, by the way, in our own).

The future will belong to the nature-smart.

There is a real world, beyond the glass, for children who look, for those whose parents encourage them to truly see.

If a child never sees the stars, never has meaningful encounters with other species, never experiences the richness of nature, what happens to that child?

Here is the beginning of understanding: most parents are doing their best, and most children are doing their best, and they're doing pretty well, all things considered.