Shore Walker by Jim Arnosky (1997, Paperback)

I bought one of these for each of my children because I am planning to do a unit study on the ocean this year. Since journaling and nature are very important to us in keeping with the Charlotte Mason method, these little journals fit the bill perfectly!
Smaller than a regular book, yet large enough to be easy to write & draw on. I appreciate the thicker than paperback, yet still flexible cover. It also looks like it would wipe down nicely- an important point for me since these will be kept as keepsakes.
My children are still fairly young, so I wanted some instruction in nature drawing & journaling both to give them inspiration. The drawings & sketches are very well-done and yet very inobtrusive. They are not overwhelming in detail, and yet I could easily identify what species of plant was drawn. Several hints on things to notice and draw or write are given throughout. Towards the back are beautiful blank pages with a variety of very muted backgrounds- all in shades of blue.
I have looked at several nature notebooks and oftentimes they had so much instruction that there was no room for personal notations. Or, they were to be combined with a blank book which means hauling 2 books! Not an option for me with 4 kids! Other times they were too large or cost prohibitive.

With its great size, balanced content, and nice price tag (mine were $5 off ebay) Shore Walker by Jim Arnosky was the right choice for us!