From the moment your students lay eyes on the cover—which has woods and a hatchet on it—the skeptical looks will begin. Because let's face it: A lot of us don't spend so much time in nature, so it's hard to really connect with for most of us, Boy Scouts or not. This book, then, is a great way to expose kids to elements of nature, which you can do even more if you do the first activity in the "Activities" section.

That said, getting your students amped up to vicariously head into the wilderness might prove a bit of a challenge. But as the saying goes, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. So start whistling the "Colonel Bogey March" and tell them to start reading. Nature lovers or not, there's something for them in these pages.