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Scroll down past the store for more recommendations from the Maine Primitive Skills School Staff.
The following books are recommended and frequently used by the staff of the Maine Primitive Skills School. Many of these books are also available for browsing in our library.
Birds
- National Audubon Society, Field Guide to North American Birds
- National Geographic, Field Guide to Birds of North America
- Peterson, Roger Tory, Eastern Birds (Peterson’s Field Guides)
- Ehrlich/Dobkin/Wheye, The Birder’s Handbook
- Sibley, David Allen, The Sibley Guide to Birds
- Wheeler/Clark, A Photographic Guide to American Raptors
- Stokes, Donald and Lillian, A Guide to Bird Behavior, Vol.1,Vol. 2, Vol. 3,
- Stokes, Donald and Lillian, Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region
Bows
- The Bowyer’s Bible, Vol. 1
- The Bowyer’s Bible, Vol. 2
- The Bowyer’s Bible, Vol.3
- Hamm, Jim, Bows & Arrow’s of the Native Americans
- Waldorf, D.C., The Art of Making Primitive Bows and Arrows
Brain Tanning
- Richards, Matt, Deerskins Into Buckskins – Book, DVD, and Video (Wet Scrape)
- Riggs, Jim, Blue Mountain Buckskin (Dry Scrape)
- Edholm, Steven & Wilder, Tamara, Buckskin: The Ancient Art of Braintanning (Wet Scrape)
Flintknapping
- Ratzat, Craig, Caught Knapping (Video)
- Waldorf, D.C., The Art of Flintknapping
- Whittaker, John C., Flintknapping
Natural Navigation
Works by Tristan Gooley, The Natural Navigator
New England
- Haines/Vining, Flora of Maine
- Maine Forest Service, Forest Trees of Maine
- Seymour, Tom, Foraging New England
- National Audubon Society, Field Guide to New England
- Wallner/DiGregorio, New England Mountain Flowers
- Halfpenny/Bruchac, Scats and Tracks of the North East
- Georgiady/Brockmann, Prehistoric Lithic Types of New England
- Hunter/Calhoun/McCollough, Maine Amphibians and Reptiles
Plants
- Gibbons, Euell, Stalking the Wild Asparagus
- Foster/Caras, Venomous Animals & Poisonous Plants (Peterson’s Field Guides)
- Newcomb, Lawrence, Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide
- Peterson, Lee Allen, Edible Wild Plants (Peterson’s Field Guides)
- Brown Jr., Tom, Field Guide to Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants
- Brill, Steve, Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants
- Elpel, Thomas J., Botany in a Day
- Duke, James, The Green Pharmacy
- Hoffman, David, Complete Illustrated Guide to the Holistic Herbal
- Reader’s Digest, Magic and Medicine of Plants
- Embertson, Jane, PODS: Wildflowers and Weeds in Their Final Beauty
- Wood, Matthew, The Book of Herbal Wisdom: Using Plants as Medicine
- Christopher, John R., School of Natural Healing
- Edwards, Gail, Opening our Wild Hearts to the Healing Herbs
- Thayer, Samuel, The Forager’s Harvest
- Schmid, Ronald, Traditional Foods are Your Best Medicine
- Couplan, Francois, The Encyclopedia of Edible Plants of North America
Primitive Skills
- White, George M., Craft Manual of North American Footwear
- Mason, Bernard S., Drums, Tomtoms & Rattles
- Society of Primitive Technology, Primitive Technology: A Book of Earth Skills
- Society of Primitive Technology, Primitive Technology II: Ancestral Skills
- Laubin, Reginald and Gladys, The Indian Tipi
- Dina, James, Voyage of the Ant
Scout
- Brown Jr., The Way of the Scout
- Goodwin, Grenville & Neil, The Apache Diaries
- Ball, Eve, In the Days of Victorio
- Carter, Forrest, Watch for Me on the Mountain
Spiritual
- Mails, Thomas, Fool’s Crow
- Mails, Thomas, Fool’s Crow: Wisdom and Power
- Black Elk, Black Elk Speaks
- Brown Jr., Tom, Awakening Spirits
- Green, Glenda, Love Without End
- Andrews, Ted, Animal Speak
- Brennan, Barbara Ann, Hands of Light
- Edwards, Betty, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
- Powell, M. Norman, Ingwe
- Carter, Forrest, The Education of Little Tree
- Reitze, Raymond, And We Shall Cast Rainbows Upon the Land
- Pennell, Kevin, Two Feathers – Spiritual Seed Planter
Survival/Bushcraft
- Mears, Ray, Bushcraft
- Olsen, Larry Dean, Outdoor Survival Skills
- McPherson, John & Geri, Primitive Wilderness Living & Survival Skills,
- McPherson, John & GeriPrimitive Wilderness Skills: Applied & Advanced
- Brown Jr., Tom, Field Guide to Wilderness Survival
- Brown Jr., Tom, Field Guide to Living with the Earth
- Kochanski, Mors, Bushcraft
- Elbroch, Mark & Pewtherer, Michael, Wilderness Survival
- Conover, Garrett & Alexandra, Snow Walker’s Companion
- Hjellstrom, Bjorn, Be Expert with Map & Compass
- Lundin, Cody, 98.6 Degrees: Keeping Your Ass Alive
Tracking
- Elbroch, Mark, Bird Tracks & Sign
- Elbroch, Mark, Mammal Tracks & Sign
- Rezendez, Paul, Tracking & The Art of Seeing
- Brown Jr., Tom, The Tracker
- Brown Jr., Tom, Nature Observation and Tracking
- Brown Jr., Tom, The Science & Art of Tracking
- Brown Jr., Tom, Case Files of the Tracker
- Murie, Olaus, Animal Tracks (Peterson’s Field Guides)
- Kays/Wilson, Mammals of North America
- National Audubon Society, Familiar Animal Tracks of North America
- McDougall, Len, The Encyclopedia of Tracks & Scats
- The Great Dance (video)
- Stokes, Donald & Lillian, A Guide to Animal Tracking and Behavior
- Benyus, Janine, Northwoods Wildlife- A Watchers Guide to Habitats
- Benyus, Janine, A Field Guide to Wildlife Habitats of the Eastern United States
- Kearney, Jack, Tracking: A Blueprint for Learning How
- McDougal, Len, The Complete Tracker
- Scott-Donelan, David Tactical Tracking Operations
- Elbroch, Mark, Animal Skulls: A Guide to North American Species
Trees & Shrubs
- The Audubon Society, Field Guide to North American Trees
- Little, Charles E., The Dying of the Trees
- Symonds, George W.D., The Tree Identification Book
- Symonds, George W.D., The Shrub Identification Book
- Wessel, Thomas, Reading the Forrested Landscape
- Geisel, Theodor Seuss, The Lorax
- Sutton, Ann, Eastern Forests (Audubon Society Nature Guides)
- Eastman, John, The Book of Forest and Thicket
- Eastman, John, The Book of Swamp and Bog
Magazines
- Bulletin of Primitive Technology
- Primitive Archer
- Wilderness Way Magazine