Live Like a Hunter Gatherer - by Naomi Walmsley (Hardcover)

About the Book

"If you imagined that all Stone Age people lived in caves, were not very clever, not very clean and said "Ugg" a lot, then think again. Marking the start of all human history, the Stone Age lasted around 3.5 million years (the last part of that was only 71 grand parents ago!). Delve into that incredible time with this book packed full of amazing facts, information, crafts, storytelling and myth debunking to find out what it was really like to live as a hunter gatherer. Dotted through the book are step-by-step craft activities and recipes that give you first-hand experience of some vital Stone Age skills making a Mesolithic shelter, fat lamps, a digging stick, creating cave art, making a bow and arrow and a fishing hook are just a few"--Publisher's description.

Book Synopsis

Live Like a Hunter Gatherer is an informative and immersive guide to the Stone Age, written by a real-life hunter gatherer!

If you imagined that all Stone Age people lived in caves, were not very clever, not very clean and said "Ugg" a lot, then think again. Marking the start of all human history, the Stone Age lasted around 3.5 million years (the last part of that was only 71 grandparents ago!). Delve into that incredible time with this book packed full of amazing facts, information, crafts, storytelling, and myth debunking to find out what it was really like to live as a hunter gatherer.
Many of our Stone Age ancestors' everyday needs were similar to ours including:

• How to keep warm
• Where to sleep
• What to eat and drink.

We find out how they met those needs, what a typical day was like, what medicine they used and even how they had fun - all brought to life with beautifully detailed illustrations.

Dotted through the book are step-by-step craft activities and recipes that give you first-hand experience of some vital Stone Age skills, making:

• A Mesolithic shelter
• Fat lamps
• A digging stick
• Cave art
• A bow and arrow
• A fishing hook

Are just a few! A fictional tribe member pops up throughout the book to tell us about her life, describing the sights, sounds, smells, and emotions she experiences. The safety of a warm cave with flickering firelight and other tribe members nearby, the gnawing feeling of hunger when food is scarce and the excited relief when a deer is hunted.

Review Quotes

"When a non-fiction
title about surviving the Stone Age is written by a bushcraft and Stone Age
skills expert, you know it is going to be good. Live Like a Hunter Gatherer is
a beautifully illustrated guide to this prehistoric period packed full of facts
and information about survival, medicine and what a typical day was like."--Just Imagine

"The Stone Age isn't a historical era that gets a lot of coverage in children's nonfiction, so it's awesome to see this extremely detailed and interactive book. The topics covered are engaging...Underwood's illustrations are rich yet clear-cut, and do well at establishing an atmosphere while also imparting visual information. Both the art and text do a wonderful job of dispelling the myth of hunting and gathering being segregated along gender lines; girls and women are shown hunting, boys and men are shown gathering."--@thebabybookworm

"A fascinating new book that explores the secrets of the Stone Age. I highly recommend checking this one out."--@picturebookrecommendations

"A fascinating, accessible read for independent readers of around 8 years +."--@busy_busy_learning

"This new picture book takes you back to the Stone Age to find out how prehistoric people lived. The book features lots of activities, from building a shelter to creating cave art, which will allow you to go back in time and live like a hunter gatherer."--The Week Junior Science + Nature

"This is an informative and immersive guide to the Stone Age, written by a real-life
hunter gatherer!"--@father_teacher_reader

"This would be fantastic for any child or class interested in or studying the Stone Age."--@mancunian_mum

"Interesting facts that takes you back all the way to Stone Age..."--@the_treasure_babes

"this non-fiction book is informative and practical. There is bite-sized chunks of info, step-by-step craft activities and a fictional family who 'describe' the sights and sounds of the Stone Age world. The illustrations by @miaunderwood are rich and enticing. I love the backgrounds on the pages and the endpapers are sublime!"--@bookishwaytoplay

"This new book showcases Naomi's knowledge and expertise about the Stone Age and is presented in a child-friendly way! Learn about how people lived, a typical day, what people ate and drank, where they slept, Stone Age entertainment and medicine they used. It's full of facts, myths, storytelling and crafts that you can try too! As well as being fascinating, this book makes you appreciate what you have such as a roof over your head, easily accessible food and running fresh tap water!"--@homeplaylearn

"A stunning Stone Age resource...It really is packed with lots of facts and I love that they also debunk a few of the myths about the Stone Age. There are lots of interesting diagrams explaining the different concepts...and every few pages there is a sweet fictional girl who talks about her life in the stone age...It is written in a easy to read manner and they include some great activities which the kids could try out themselves."--O Family Learning Together

"An intriguing, gently educative resource for home and primary school users."--Red Reading Hub

"This brilliant non-fiction book is full of fascinating information and really will tell you everything you need to know about the Stone Age. There are easy to read facts, storytelling, craft projects and gorgeous illustrations throughout making this a very accessible book for readers 7+... This would be the perfect book to accompany the topic in school and a very useful book to have at home! We have thoroughly enjoyed reading it!"--@family_book_club

"Perfect for older children who are studying the Stone Age at school, this INFORMATIVE hardback is absolutely jam-packed with facts, as well as ancient craft activities... A super accessible book...This is a fantastic guide to all things Stone Age which will leave readers in awe of how resourceful and capable those who lived during that time truly were."--@teenyreaders

"Perfect for anyone with an interest in or learning about the Stone Age era. The layout of information is presented in an accessible and child friendly way with bitesize detailed chunks alongside lots of engaging artwork and some step-by-step craft activities"--@raising_bookworms

"Aimed at kids age 7 to 11, but really younger and older kids will enjoy this one too, it's so engaging! Packed with interesting facts and exciting artwork this really does make learning fun!"--@home.read.play

About the Author

Naomi Walmsley and Dan Walmsley are a husband and wife team, they run Outback2Basics from their patch of woodland in Shropshire, UK. Specializing in bushcraft and Stone Age skills, they provide unique experiences for schoolchildren and teachers to connect to nature. Naomi is a qualified bushcraft instructor and Forest School Leader and believes that every child should be able to safely light a fire and have at least ten uses for a stick by the age of ten. She has also written for many magazines, including Bushcraft Survival Skills, LivingWoods and Juno.

So passionate are they about the Stone Age way of life, they have actually lived and breathed it for themselves. Naomi and Dan undertook a five-month Stone Age immersion experience in the US in 2010, living in the wilderness without any modern equipment, profoundly influencing their lives and teaching. In 2020, they appeared in Channel 4's fascinating documentary Surviving the Stone Age. A three-part series filmed in Bulgaria with six other Stone-Age experts living as a tribe of hunter gatherers for one month. Naomi has co-authored two previous books for GMC Publications Forest School Adventure and Urban Forest School.

Mia Underwood is a designer and illustrator based in Brighton, UK. She loves a creative challenge and works with traditional and digital illustration as well as creating 3D characters. Being half Danish she particularly enjoys creating scenes with characters that conjure up the dreamlike and mysterious imaginary woodlands within Scandinavia.