The Curious Nature Guide: My Review and Impressions

Getting outside and connecting with the natural world has always been a big part of my life, but sometimes I need a little nudge to notice the beauty right outside my door. That's why I picked up The Curious Nature Guide by Clare Walker Leslie.

I'd already explored some of her other work, like The Nature Connection and Keeping a Nature Journal, so I had a feeling this book would be another gem. Spoiler: it definitely was.

Today I want to share my honest experience with this book, who I think it’s perfect for, and a few ways it has influenced my own sketchbook and nature journaling habits. I'll also talk a little bit about how I use it alongside other tools and ideas from my own practice, like nature journaling prompts and nature journaling ideas.

Key Points

• The Curious Nature Guide is incredibly beginner-friendly but also inspires seasoned nature lovers.
• It's less about technique and more about cultivating attention, wonder, and sensory awareness.
• The small, easy exercises fit into real life, even if you’re busy.

My Experience Reading The Curious Nature Guide

When I first opened The Curious Nature Guide, I immediately loved how approachable it felt. The book doesn’t overwhelm you with scientific jargon or super detailed field guides. Instead, it invites you to simply “notice” things — colors of leaves, cloud patterns, sounds of birds — using short exercises you can fit into a lunch break or a weekend walk.

One of the first prompts I tried was sitting in my backyard for five minutes and writing down every sound I could hear. It felt almost silly at first — like, how much can you really hear in a suburban backyard? But within those few minutes, I realized how much background noise I usually tune out: the faint whirr of distant cars, two crows bickering in a pine tree, the dry rattle of leaves against a fence. It made me realize how rarely I slow down enough to really listen.

The layout of the book is beautiful too. It's a mix of the author's own sketches, simple handwritten prompts, and a few stunning photos. It felt personal, almost like I was flipping through a friend's nature journal. If you’ve ever explored The Laws Sketchbook for Nature Journaling, you'll find a similarly intimate feel here, though a little more casual.

I started bringing the book with me whenever I went for a walk or even when I was just sitting on my porch with coffee. It’s lightweight and small enough to toss into a nature journaling bag, which made it easy to integrate into daily life.

Who The Curious Nature Guide is Perfect For

If you’re brand new to nature journaling, this book is a great place to start. It's not a “how to draw” book like The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling, but more a guide to observation. Even if you already have experience drawing animals or sketching plants, the exercises help you deepen your awareness and find fresh inspiration.

I think this book is ideal for:

• Parents: The activities are simple enough to do with young kids, especially if you want to encourage outdoor exploration.
• Adults looking for calm: If you need a mindful, screen-free activity, this book helps you ease into a slower, more sensory-driven practice.
• Artists seeking inspiration: Sometimes my creative well runs dry, and returning to basic observation has helped me reignite my sketchbook practice.
• Nature lovers: Hikers, birders, gardeners — if you love being outside but sometimes find yourself going through the motions, these prompts can help you see things with fresh eyes.

If you’re interested in expanding this kind of practice further, I recommend checking out ideas for creative nature journaling excursions or even participating in International Nature Journaling Week for community inspiration.

Three Favorite Prompts from the Book

One thing I love about The Curious Nature Guide is how immediately actionable it is. You don't need fancy supplies or hours of free time. Here are three of my favorite exercises from the book:

1. Sketch or write about one image of nature each day

This prompt became a mini ritual for me. Some days I drew a leaf or a mushroom I saw on a walk. Other days I just described the light coming through the trees. Keeping it simple took away the pressure of “making good art” and made the practice sustainable. For more ideas, I often pulled from nature journaling examples.

2. Notice cloud types and weather patterns

Before reading this, I barely paid attention to clouds unless they were obviously stormy. But Leslie's gentle encouragement to look at the shapes, colors, and movements of clouds turned the sky into a daily source of fascination. It even led me to sketch a cloud study page in my journal.

3. Walk with your senses

Picking one sense to focus on during a walk — whether sight, sound, or smell — made even familiar routes feel new. One afternoon, I walked my usual neighborhood loop focusing only on smell, and discovered that some trees release a sharp, peppery scent I'd never noticed before.

If you want to deepen your sensory exploration, you might also find watercolor nature journaling a beautiful way to capture color and light in a more fluid way.

How The Curious Nature Guide Changed My Journaling Habits

Before reading this book, I thought I needed big blocks of time to do “serious” nature journaling. Weekend hikes, trips to botanical gardens — that kind of thing. This book helped me see that even a five-minute observation in my backyard or a single leaf picked up during a dog walk could be meaningful.

Now, I treat my nature journal more like a daily sketchbook: a place for quick notes, tiny sketches, or reflections on what I’ve noticed. I don't worry about making beautiful pages every time. Some days it's just a list of bird sounds. Other days it's a messy sketch of a wildflower. This looser, more playful approach has made journaling a consistent part of my routine.

If you’re new to this idea, I highly recommend checking out nature journaling basics and how to teach nature journaling if you want to introduce it to others.

The Design and Feel of the Book

I’m a huge book nerd when it comes to tactile design, and this book really shines here. The cover has a soft matte finish with spot gloss accents that catch the light. The pages inside are printed on a slightly textured paper that feels lovely under your fingertips — especially if you’re flipping through it outdoors.

The visual design, mixing photos, watercolor sketches, and hand-drawn lettering, gives it a warm, inviting feel. It's not stiff or academic. It feels more like a friend gently inviting you to notice the world around you.

If you appreciate this kind of design and enjoy seeing how other artists approach nature journaling, you might also love browsing through The Backyard Bird Chronicles or Drawn to Nature.