The Curious Nature Guide by Clare Walker Leslie is a book I return to when I need a reminder that paying attention to nature does not require a major trip, hours of free time, or a beautifully finished journal page.
I already knew Leslie’s work through books such as The Nature Connection and Keeping a Nature Journal, but this one feels lighter and easier to pick up when I simply want a reason to notice what is happening around me.
It is not primarily a drawing manual. The emphasis is observation, curiosity, sensory awareness, and building the habit of looking more closely at ordinary nature.
That distinction is what made the book useful to me.
See The Curious Nature Guide by Clare Walker Leslie
My Quick Verdict
I would recommend The Curious Nature Guide most strongly to someone who wants to become more observant outdoors but does not necessarily want a technical drawing course.
| What the book emphasizes | My take |
|---|---|
| Observation | The main strength of the book |
| Nature journaling | Useful, but informal and flexible |
| Drawing instruction | Not the primary focus |
| Sensory awareness | One of the most useful parts for me |
| Time commitment | Easy to use in short sessions |
| Beginners | Very approachable |
If you want detailed lessons on drawing birds, plants, landscapes, or other natural subjects, I would choose a more technical book. If your bigger problem is that you walk past interesting things without really noticing them, this book makes much more sense.
What Is The Curious Nature Guide About?
The book is essentially an invitation to pay more attention to the natural world through small observations and exercises.
That might mean listening closely for a few minutes, watching clouds, noticing changes in weather, recording one small natural object, or taking a walk while concentrating on one of your senses.
I like that these activities do not require me to identify every species or make a technically impressive drawing.
I can notice something first and decide afterward whether the best way to record it is a sketch, written note, list, diagram, color study, or simply a question.
That is also why it fits naturally beside my broader approach to nature journaling.
The Five-Minute Listening Exercise Changed How Much I Notice
One of the first exercises I tried was extremely simple: sit outside for a few minutes and concentrate on what you can hear.
I did it in my backyard.
At first, I assumed there would not be much to record. Then I started separating sounds that I normally treated as background noise.
I noticed distant cars, crows in a tree, and dry leaves moving against a fence.
Nothing dramatic happened.
That was exactly why the exercise worked for me.
It made me realize how much information is constantly available when I stop treating ordinary surroundings as familiar enough to ignore.
You Do Not Need to Make a Beautiful Nature Journal Page
The book also helped reinforce something I have gradually learned through my own sketchbooks: observation does not need to result in a polished page.
Some days I may draw a leaf.
Another day I might write down several bird sounds.
Another entry could be little more than a cloud shape, a note about the light, and one question I cannot answer yet.
Those small records still make me look more carefully.
If you want more specific subjects to record, my nature journaling prompts provide additional starting points.
Three Exercises I Found Especially Useful
The book contains many small invitations to observe. These are three directions that stayed with me.
1. Record One Small Piece of Nature
I like the idea of recording one thing rather than waiting for an entire landscape or impressive wildlife encounter.
It might be:
- a leaf found during a walk
- a mushroom
- one bird
- light coming through a tree
- a seedpod
- a cloud
- a sound
A tiny subject lowers the amount of time required and gives me one specific thing to notice.
2. Watch the Sky and Weather
I did not used to pay much attention to clouds unless the weather itself seemed important.
Once I started looking at changes in cloud shape, color, direction, and light, the sky became something I could observe almost every day.
It also makes a useful journal subject because the scene changes quickly enough that I have to simplify rather than obsess over detail.
3. Take a Walk Using One Sense
Another exercise I enjoyed was concentrating on one sense during a familiar walk.
On one neighborhood walk, I concentrated on smell and noticed a sharp, peppery scent coming from trees I had passed many times without thinking about them.
I like exercises like this because nothing about the route needs to change.
The change is in the attention I bring to it.
The Book Made Nature Journaling Feel Easier to Fit Into Daily Life
Before using this book, I could fall into the trap of thinking nature journaling required a proper outing.
I imagined a weekend hike, botanical garden, wildlife area, or some other place that felt worthy of a field journal.
The Curious Nature Guide helped me think much smaller.
Five minutes in a backyard can be enough.
A leaf found during a walk can be enough.
The sound of birds outside a window can be enough.
That change made the practice much easier to repeat because I no longer needed to wait for ideal circumstances.
It Is More About Observation Than Drawing Technique
This is probably the most important thing to understand before buying the book.
If you want a detailed system for drawing trees, birds, mammals, perspective, or watercolor, this is not the book I would choose first.
For that kind of instruction, The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling goes much further into drawing and field-journaling technique.
The Curious Nature Guide solves a different problem.
It gives me reasons to stop, look, listen, compare, and become interested in something I might otherwise walk past.
Who I Think The Curious Nature Guide Is Best For
I think the book works especially well for:
- people completely new to nature journaling
- artists who want fresh observational subjects
- nature lovers who want to notice more on familiar walks
- gardeners and birders
- people looking for a quiet, screen-free activity
- parents who want simple outdoor observations to share with children
- experienced nature journalers who have become too focused on producing attractive pages
I particularly like it for someone who says, “I want to nature journal, but I don’t know what I am supposed to record.”
The book gives attention somewhere to go.
Who Might Want a Different Book
I would choose something else first if your main goal is:
- learning realistic drawing techniques
- improving bird anatomy
- learning watercolor
- identifying plants or animals
- following a highly structured nature-journaling curriculum
The book’s accessibility comes partly from not trying to become all of those things.
How It Compares With Clare Walker Leslie’s Other Books
I had already spent time with Clare Walker Leslie’s The Nature Connection and Keeping a Nature Journal before reading this one.
| Book | Where I think it fits |
|---|---|
| The Curious Nature Guide | Simple observation, sensory awareness, and making nature attention part of everyday life |
| The Nature Connection | A broader guided exploration of nature through activities and observation |
| Keeping a Nature Journal | More directly centered on recording observations in a nature journal |
For me, The Curious Nature Guide is the easiest of the three to pick up when I do not want a major project.
It feels more like a collection of invitations to pay attention than a course I need to complete.
The Physical Design Fits the Subject
I also enjoy the visual and physical design of the book.
It mixes photographs, sketches, handwritten elements, and short pieces of text rather than presenting dense pages of instruction.
That makes it easy for me to flip through until something catches my attention, try one idea, and then go outside.
The book is also small enough that I have brought it along on walks and kept it with the supplies in my nature journaling bag.
How I Use the Book Now
I do not use The Curious Nature Guide as a book I need to work through in order.
I am more likely to pick it up when my journaling feels repetitive or I realize I have stopped noticing much during familiar walks.
I can choose one observational idea, spend a few minutes with it, and let that become the entire journal entry.
Sometimes that produces a drawing. Sometimes it produces writing. Sometimes it is just a page of small observations.
That flexibility is probably the part of the book I have carried most directly into my own practice.
Is The Curious Nature Guide Worth Reading?
For me, yes, particularly if you want to become more attentive outdoors without turning nature journaling into another complicated project.
The book did not change my practice by teaching me one major drawing technique.
It changed the scale at which I thought something was worth recording.
A backyard sound, a changing cloud, one leaf, a smell noticed on a familiar walk, or five minutes spent watching what is happening outside can be enough.
That makes nature journaling easier to return to, and I think that is the book’s greatest strength.
See The Curious Nature Guide by Clare Walker Leslie
You can compare it with other titles in my nature journaling books guide.