Beyond the Front Door - by Josée Bergeron (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

Bring your family together by taking them back to nature, wherever you are, with fun, creative activities and adventures.

Whether you live in a big city, in the suburbs, or out in the country, Josée Bergeron helps you find creative and simple ways to bring the rhythm of nature into your daily routine. Following the four seasons, she offers unique ways to bring your family closer to the outdoors, helping you enjoy time together and engage with the world around you. Bergeron encourages you to feel at home in nature, and she offers practical, fun ideas for connecting with it through curiosity and relatability. You can incorporate cultural traditions into your interactions with nature and honor the inherent qualities of the land you live on. Whether it's welcoming spring by weaving a wildflower crown, celebrating summer by building a bug hotel, appreciating autumn by preserving leaves in beeswax, or creating a magical ice wreath in winter, you will learn how to embrace nature's seasons and be more in tune with each other and your community.

Review Quotes

"Beyond the Front Door is your cue to ditch the guilt, grab the kids, and head outside - no fancy gear or flawless plans required. Blending heartfelt storytelling, research, and Indigenous wisdom, Josée Bergeron offers creative ways to reconnect with nature and each other in every season, rain or shine. Refreshingly honest and judgment-free, it's the parenting guide you've been waiting for."

"Beyond the Front Door stopped me in my tracks, made me think, cry, reconsider my choices, and take action to give my family more of the wild life they deserve. The book is honest, insightful, useful, readable, and relatable. This book is like a joyful, playful, practical friend, opening the door, taking us by the hand, and leading us back into the world."

"Beyond [offering] a primer on getting outdoors, Josée has tapped into her deep bond with Mother Nature and given us a verdant path through the forest of modern parenting."

"Children develop a love of nature not by looking at it, nor by walking through it, and certainly not by being lectured about it. They develop a love of nature by playing in it and with it. Josée Bergeron has provided us with a wonderful guide for enabling, encouraging, and enriching such play."

"Forging a meaningful connection with nature is essential for the health of both kids and adults, as well as for the places we live. Yet today, most of us live indoor, screen-filled lives. We know it's not good for us, but we struggle to change things up. To the rescue comes Josée Bergeron's wonderful, narrative-rich book, Beyond the Front Door. Bergeron provides a veritable feast of activities-organized by season, no less-to help you and your family connect with nearby nature, improve your physical and mental wellbeing, and have awe-inspiring fun along the way! What are you waiting for?"

"This book is part rally cry, part plea, and all a big warm hug. It doesn't matter if you're a huge outdoor enthusiast or a person who thinks nature just isn't your scene, there's something for you in this book. Josée crafts her personal parenting struggles with science and data to pull us all towards nature and being outside more. She calls nature her co-parent and I think every parent needs to hear and embrace this. If you struggle with getting outside, she outlines baby steps to do as well as crafts and recipes to lure your children back to the land. This book is both a treasure and a must-read."

"With courage, humility, and subtle humour, Josée's book helps parents make sense of the isolation and disconnect many feel raising children in a digital world. By helping us understand that nature is a way for families to ground themselves, she offers something we all need right now: hope. And by sharing practical, real-life ways to reconnect with nature, she makes that hope possible."