Forest School for Grown-Ups is a useful and accessible collection of tutorials and tips on wildcrafting and self sufficiency in the wilds written and curated by Richard Irvine. Due out 10th May 2022 from Chronicle Books, it's 160 pages and will be available in hardcover format.

This is a fun and information rich guide for adults (and older kids) which contains tips and tutorials for engaging and learning activities outdoors. The chapters are grouped thematically: survival, foraging, navigation, forest skills, projects, meditative/emotion, and play and creativity boosting. The activities are appropriate for a wide age range and the number of suggested participants as well as safety considerations are provided by the authors along with alternatives and related activities.

Many of the activities are appropriate for all ages. Tutorials are presented with info on setting, learning goals, tools and supplies, and optional activities. The step by step instructions which follow are well written and specific. I really liked that the authors had a mostly hands-off style of engagement, suggesting to facilitators that they provide the minimum of intervention and only then in regard to safety.

The graphics and illustrations are woodsy and really suit the style of the book. The text and layout are high contrast and easy to read with simple line drawn illustrations and well rendered stock photography throughout.

Although it's aimed at kids, there is a quite surprising amount of bushcraft and practical survival advice contained here. There are also a lot of fun activities (rendering the pigments in leaves, making spore prints, navigating, and acquiring food for example) which hide lots of practical skills.

Five stars. This is a -very- well written and presented book. It would make a superlative choice for public or school library acquisition, makers' groups, youth activity groups, smallholders, and similar.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

My local botanical garden boasts a beautiful forest. It serves as a place of peace and refuge for me. So, I was very pleased to receive an ARC on the wisdom to be found in the woods.

This title includes much that is of interest. For example, a year in the forest is described. There are then chapters on survival skills, foods, navigation, woodland skills, forest projects and more. Throughout, there are lovely line drawings and photos. There is so much packed into this 200 plus page book.

If you love the outdoors, give this title a look. It will teach you a great deal. I may never do some of these projects, like felling a tree, but it was fascinating to learn about them.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for this title. All opinions are my own.

Forest School for Grown-Ups is a great book for learning all things nature and survival. It is filled with so much wonderful information. The book goes into great detail about each topic and is easy to understand.

Thank you NetGalley and Chronicle Books for this ARC!

The perfect companion for those who are most at home in the woods, with surprisingly in-depth explanation of why that tree looks so funky and lovely, old-world illustration. .

Thanks to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I love the concept of this book. My favorite was the first chapter which described what’s happening in nature and offered good ideas of things to look out for based on the season. I kind of wish the whole book was more of that! The other subject matter was less relevant to me, like the survival tips, but obviously that’s still great info to have. If you like nature and want to get out in it more, and especially if you never had any basic outdoors training as a child, this is worth a read.

Forest School for Grown-ups is a fun combination of useful, practical instruction and whimsical stories.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

If you're looking to go out into nature and learn more, this is the book for you. It's not just for forests but it has so much rich information!

Thank you to Chronicle Books ​and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book.
What an absolutely wonderful book. Irvine provides a variety of useful tips and intriguing folklore. The illustrations are lovely. Extremely useful whether someone is a first-timer or a veteran forest enthusiast. I'll definitely purchase a tangible copy for our home.

This book has a lot of information to provide! While there are cute illustrations almost every page is filled from top to bottom with a wealth of information. A great book to learn a lot but it is definitely not a book to be finished in one sitting.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

I found this to just be an okay book. While there are some good tidbits of information, overall this book feels a bit incoherent and not sure of its purpose. There's certainly some good information contained within, though.

Some of the information included is very (almost too) basic, while some of it seems to be a bit more challenging for someone venturing out into the woods for the first time. And the geographical hopscotch is a bit confusing. I do think the authors should have either divided things geographically (where appropriate) or been more general. I'm not a fan of the stylized photos that have been processed to look like drawings. I think straight photos would be more useful in a book such as this.

I like the inclusion of myths/lore throughout, as it adds a bit of context to the way humans and nature have interacted over the millennia and how humans tried to make sense of the things they encountered in the wild.

As someone not very wise to the ways of the wild I was *thrilled* to read this book!
Divided into 8 sections It starts off going over the seasons and what to expect from them. Definitely don't skip
this part - there's lots of nuggets of useful information in it.
Even the basic survival skills - such as making fire - was more than I already knew how to do.
This section also covers how to find shelter, filter water and reading the weather amongst
other helpful tips to learn should you ever encounter yourself lost in the woods.
Part 3 covers how to find food in the forest - such as safe to eat plants, setting up live traps - there's even pages on how to make coffee, tea and chai from forest flora.
Part 4 covers navigation - how to read a map and compass and to tell which way is north using the sun or stars
to guide you.
In part 5 you will learn about trees and their many uses - how to whittle, carve and make baskets.
Part 6 is full of projects you can do - like build a simple stool and much, much more.
In part 7 the author talks about our connection to the forest, or how we can connect if we're at a loss of where to start.
The 8th, and final section, is about things you can do for fun while out in the woods - fossil hunting,
geocatching, forest games- even dye making.
I will definitely be purchasing this gem and keeping it handy to refer back to.

As suspected, this is a great book to take on my frequent and isolated camping adventures. The book includes a wide range of topics to from survival to crafting, identifying plants, mushrooms, tracks and scat, making rope swings, baskets, shelters and traps…..you name it. Thank you #netgalley for allowing me to read and review #ForestSchoolForGrown-Ups. I look forward to trying some of these ideas out this camping season

I received a complimentary eBook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

An easy to follow guide on things like starting fires, fishing and other outdoorsy thing you would like to know. While I find it informative there were some parts that felt irrelevant to me as a reader who is wanting to learn more about the outdoors and how to navigate the outdoor experience.such as talking about fictional creatures as opposed to the actual woodland creatures. It was informative and a bit on the cutesy side but I would not particularly aim this towards adults - it felt more appropriate for maybe the younger group of teens.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC! This book was a fascinating dive into forest ecology. I learned a lot about ecology, and also about observing the world around me. The activities presented were interesting and didn't feel too much like science camp for middle schoolers - rather it encouraged the adult reminder that we can still explore no matter the age. The split between what the forest teaches us, and then the next sections was a great choice. The first section honed in on being in the forest and how to experience and appreciate it, while the remaining section focuses on how to use the forest as a resource, and the final section brought it all back to the self and the forest. I like this approach as it doesn't frame the forest as something to exploit first, but instead to appreciate. I loved the little asides that spoke more about folklore and people's interactions with the forest than direct science.

Interesting forest facts, useful tools /survival information and fascinating information of mythical forest beings and other forest folk. Great resource for many traditional outdoor tools, crafts and information.

The perfect book for fans of nature and those who want to become fans!
My kids and I have participated in Free Forest School. I am a big fan of the principles and core values upheld in forest school. When I saw this book was forest school for adults, I knew I HAD to read it. I was not disappointed.
This book is a treasure trove of information on things like wilderness survival, forest lore and extending your connection to nature. It is a must own book for people who spend time outdoors in any capacity. I found this book to be helpful, well organized and interesting to read. I will definitely be purchasing it for myself and most likely for a friend or two!

I wish more of the figures in this book depicted women. I wish any of the figures in the book depicted people of color. They are small criticisms, maybe, but forest skill-building has long been available to white boys and men. For a book that claims to seek a broadening of forest school, these small criticisms seem noteworthy. Thanks for access to the ARC.

Fans of Forest School will love this book.
I recommend for anyone interested in natural living. bush craft. or just wanting to get back to nature in a gentle and fun way.

Beautifully illustrated and a wonderful guide to the outdoors. I loved all the fun facts about animals and things that you can make from the beautiful world around us. The digital version was beautiful so I imagine the physical book will be even more amazing.

Forest School for Grown-ups is an entertaining blend of helpful advice and whimsical stories. I appreciated the lore that this book included.