“I like to play indoors better ’cause that’s where all the electrical outlets are,” reports a fourth grader. But it’s not only computers, television, and video games that are keeping kids inside. It’s also their parents’ fears of traffic, strangers, Lyme disease, and West Nile virus; their schools’ emphasis on more and more homework; their structured schedules; and their lack of access to natural areas. Local governments, neighborhood associations, and even organizations devoted to the outdoors are placing legal and regulatory constraints on many wild spaces, sometimes making natural play a crime.

As children’s connections to nature diminish and the social, psychological, and spiritual implications become apparent, new research shows that nature can offer powerful therapy for such maladies as depression, obesity, and attentiondeficit disorder. Environment-based education dramatically improves standardized test scores and grade-point averages and develops skills in problem solving, critical thinking, and decision making. Anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that childhood experiences in nature stimulate creativity.

In Last Child in the Woods , Louv talks with parents, children, teachers, scientists, religious leaders, child-development researchers, and environmentalists who recognize the threat and offer solutions. Louv shows us an alternative future, one in which parents help their kids experience the natural world more deeply—and find the joy of family connectedness in the process. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

知名兒童權益宣導人，是資深記者，也是暢銷作傢，長期關注並投身於自然，傢庭和社區領域的事務。現任兒童與自然網絡主席，該組織旨在發起國際性的兒童與自然連結的運動。他同時是美國國傢兒童與自然論壇的榮譽共同主席，該論壇由保育基金會贊助，長期為全美各地鼓勵兒童走齣戶外的計畫提供資金。他目前也是剋萊姆森大學的訪問學人。

長期在“紐約時報”，“華盛頓郵報”等報章雜誌發錶文章，1984年至2007年間，為“聖地牙哥聯閤論壇報”專欄作傢，也是“傢長”雜誌的編輯顧問委員會成員，美國國傢兒童發展科學評議會顧問，以及福特基金會“改變世界的領導力”奬項顧問。他亦活躍於媒體，經常在全美及世界各地發錶演說，是“哥倫比亞廣播公司晨間秀”，“早安美國“，”今日“，”哥倫比亞廣播公司夜間新聞“，”全國廣播公司晚間新聞“，”國事論衡“等電視廣播節目的常客。長期緻力於公領域的他獲奬無數，2008年，更獲得瞭美國奧杜邦奬的肯定，奧杜邦協會是全球最大且最具行動力及公信力的環保團體。已是兩個男孩的父親的他，正努力催生第八本書的齣版，不過他說，比起來，他仍熱愛釣魚勝過寫作。