Journey to the Heart of Nature.

The great and muddled movie mogul Sam Goldwyn once remarked: "The most important thing in life is sincerity. If you can fake that, you've got it made."

A few weeks ago I was thinking about these words and how they applied to my floundering Outdoor Education program. For eight weeks last summer we had tried every trick we could imagine to inspire our older campers about the supposedly-great outdoors. We tried giving out certificates; we tried Nature videotapes; we extended curfew for astronomy hikes; we moved our most charismatic staff into the nature program. We repackaged the program with jazzy names (Water Detectives; Fun in the Dark; The Exciting World of Slime Mold); and we promoted the program with Broadwayesque musical spiels. Nothing worked. The swansongs When's lunch?, Do we have to?, and Nature is boring! echoed throughout our peaceful woods and fields.

During the winter I grasped my mistakes. No more scheming, meretricious advertising, expensive equipment. What I needed to do to make the outdoor education program work was something simple and genuine, something that had a lot to do with that great thing called sincerity. And that's when the new book by Cornell and Deranja fell into my hands.

Journey to the Heart of Nature is a workbook of stories, anecdotes, and activities, all aimed at inspiring a love of nature in children ages 12 through 17. The text is enhanced with numerous illustrations that help to transmit the glowing spirit of the book. In addition to their own insights and experiences, the authors have sparked the book with extraordinary sayings, such as this gem from Emerson's journal - "This world is so beautiful I can hardly believe it exists." I was delighted to find an adaptation for children of one of the neglected modern classics, Jean Giono's The Man Who Planted Trees.

You don't need to be John Muir to lead children with these simple but effective activities. Open the book, ponder the lesson plan, then go. A helpful Leader's Guide at the end provides additional ideas for working effectively with youth.

A beautiful sensitivity flows through the book. The term Deep Ecology jumps to mind: the idea that all living things are friendly and sacred, and have a value and beauty and a right to live in their own right, not merely because they can enhance human productivity or enjoyment.

Journey teaches appreciation and awareness. All the spiritual aspects of ecology are included along the way: the connectedness of all living things, the beauty of the earth, the arts of listening and seeing and empathizing, and the joy we can learn to experience in the simplest natural things. Many activities require children to be alone at their special place; camp directors must find a way to balance the important need for supervision with the important need for trusting our children to be alone in the outdoors.

Classic theory, easy-to-use activities, and a profound grasp of what teaching nature is really all about - all these qualities make Journey to the Heart of Nature a complete and self-contained course on loving and understanding our earth, our sky, and everything in between. For summer camp directors who want to teach something that makes a difference, Journey might prove to be the magic door for renewing the entire outdoor education program. I can't wait to try it out.

Cornell, J. & Deranja, M. (1994). Journey to the Heart of Nature. Nevada City, CA: Dawn Publications. $9.95 ACA Bookstore, 1-800-428-CAMP.

Michael Pastore is the author of numerous works of fiction and nonfiction, including Zen in the Art of Child Maintenance and Dynamite Counselors Don't Explode!. He has lectured in the USA and Canada about the art of working lovingly with children. Currently, he is a member of Camping Magazine's editorial advisory board and the director of the Windham-Tolland 4-H Camp in Pomfret Center, Conn.