These books would make excellent gifts for Scouts or Scouters. As a Scouter and outdoorsman they have been a source of inspiration, practical skills, Scouting history, outdoor lore, and for many years. If you follow the links and purchase an item on this page I get a referral fee. A Sand County Almanac I cannot gather wood […]
Scouting Books
Podcast 318 – Troop Leader Guidebook Vol. 2 PART TWO
No 11-year-old boy joins Scouting to get his character developed… … and few boys join to attend troop meetings, wear the Scout uniform, or sit before boards of review. Instead, they sign up for fun and adventure. Last month Walter Underwood joined me on podcast 313 to review the first volume of the Troop Leader Guidebook. We got […]
Podcast 317 – Troop Leader Guidebook Vol. 2 PART ONE
What is the ninth method of Scouting? Author Mark Ray begins the second volume of the Troop Leader Guidebook with these words; Back when you first attended Scout leader training, you learned that Boy Scouting has eight methods: adult association, advancement, ideals, leadership development, outdoors, patrol method, personal growth, and uniform. Now that you’re a seasoned leader, however, you realize […]
Scoutmaster Podcast 313 – Troop Leader Guidebook
Have you seen the first volume of the Troop Leader Guidebook? Join Walter Underwood and myself as we review the first volume of the Troop Leader Guidebook. Like Walter I accumulated a collection of Scoutmaster Handbooks. From the very first edition to the last they were uniformly mediocre at best. Both Walter and I agree that the most useful offical guide to […]
So Far, So Good! Audio Book
Happy to announce today that my book So far, So Good! A a new Scoutmaster’s Story is now available as an audio book. If you aren’t familiar with the book it’s the story of Chuck Grant’s first few months as a new Scoutmaster. Chuck is asked to take on the job after serving as an assistant Scoutmaster, and […]
Not Just Canoeing Wild Rivers
Reading Canoeing Wild Rivers is like attending a master class in wilderness travel. Cliff Jacobson’s 30th anniversary edition of the classic Expedition Canoeing (now Canoeing Wild Rivers) is required reading for anyone planning or even thinking about a high adventure trip. This completely updated and revised edition features dozens of full-color photos, how-to illustrations, source charts, canoeing and camping techniques, and a chapter […]
Building Resilience, 7 Cs and Scouting
An author was being interviewed on the radio in the background as I was working away at my desk. He was discussing building resilience in young people. As I listened I thought “Hey! Who is this guy? This sounds a lot like Scouting!” This got me thinking about the big ideas that form the foundations of the […]
The Story of a New Scoutmaster – So Far, So Good!
Most of you will have read the series “A New Scoutmaster” I started publishing this fall (here’s the first chapter). Because of the overwhelmingly positive response I expanded the story past the original twelve chapters, edited, expanded what I had already written and I am happy to offer the result in my new book So Far, […]
Patrol Log Book
I set up this logbook for my Scouts to keep records of meetings, camping trips plans, adventures and memorable moments. They use the information to help their patrol understand what they should start doing, keep on doing or, perhaps, stop doing. By reflecting on things that worked well and things that don’t go as planned they can avoid […]
My Fellow Americans – Scouting and the Presidency
In his new book, My Fellow Americans: Scouting, Diversity, and the U.S. Presidency historian David Scott chronicles something we all know something of, but do not know enough about; the special relationship between Scouting and the presidency. Though the image of the presidency is all too often skewed by charged political divisiveness fomented by a continuous steam of partisan rhetoric, Scott’s work […]
Native American History and Skills
Ernest Thompson-Seton founded his vision of Scouting on the lore of Native American life. I’ve devoted a great deal of time over the years to studying the Native American Peoples who once occupied Southeastern Pennsylvania where I live (specifically the Lenape and Susquehannock). I think it is important our Scouts have the opportunity to connect with […]
The Commissioner’s Corner by Darnall Daley
Author F. Darnall Daley, Jr. has a long record of service to Scouting at the District, Council, and Regional levels. He has plenty of Unit-level experience too – notably as an Assistant Scoutmaster and Assistant Cubmaster for two different grandsons. “The Commissioner’s Corner”, a collection of essays, thoughts, and poems, reflect his love for, and […]
Three ‘Secret Weapons’ Every Scouter Should Have
Every Scouter has been there. You’ve been there, and so have I. Your fellow Scouter, a parent, or Scout has a question. You think you know the answer. After telling them what you think there’s a little shadow of doubt in your mind;”did I get that right?”. That shadow grows, and you go looking for […]
Cub Leader Questions? Read ‘For the Love of Cub Scouts’
Where do you go find answers to Cub Leader questions? During the years I spent as a Cubmaster and Webelos Den Leader formal training sessions helped , but the most valuable advice I received at the time came from those long talks in the parking lot with folks who had been there and done that. […]
The Edge of the Firelight – Campfire Stories
Wisconsin Scoutmaster Gordon Bain authored this collection of eleven campfire stories for his Scouts. Imagine hunkering around the fire and hearing a very credible account of someone you know, or a place you have been. Just enough factual information to draw you in, but with an eerie twist that raises the hair on the back of […]
Thoughts on Scouting Book Available Now
AVAILABLE NOW Thoughts On Scouting Ideas, Insights and Inspirations for Scouters Authored by Clarke Green I have a fondness for sayings, maxims, adages, mottoes, epigrams, proverbs, and aphorisms. There’s poetry and beauty in expressing a complex thought with a few well-chosen words. This book of 150 thoughts on scouting were first published as 140 character […]
Men of Schiff: The Professional Scouters Who Built the B.S.A.
Win Davis has been a member of the Boy Scouts of America for more than sixty years as a Cub Scout, Boy Scout, Scoutmaster, Sea Scout Skipper, Commissioner, Commodore and other positions too numerous to mention. As a professional Scouter Win attended the National Executive Institute at Schiff Scout Reservation in 1970. He was fortunate enough […]
Outdoor Adventure Manual
Published by Scouts UK with a forward by Bear Grylls The Outdoor Adventure Manual is packed with practical Scout skill tutorials ; tents and camping, fire, food and cooking, tools and gadgets, knots and lashings, navigation, first aid and survival, and more. Skills are explained step-by-step with photos and illustrations that really bring them to life. I’ve read […]
The Scouting Party | February 2013 ScoutCircle
TheScoutingParty.com The Scouting Party available on Amazon You can order David’s “Where Character is Caught” from the Circle Ten Council We are pleased to welcome author David Scott for a discussion of his book ‘The Scouting Party’ to our February ScoutCircle. February marks the anniversary of the founding of the Scouting movement. The official birthday is […]
Pioneering (and more) with John Thurman
Richard Francis “John” Thurman (4 April 1911 – April 1985) was Camp Chief of Gilwell Park from 1943 to 1969. In 1943, he introduced the Gilwell woggle awarded on the completion of basic training, and the Gilwell scarf and the Wood Badge beads were awarded on the completion of Advanced Training. Thurman wrote a number […]
Paul Siple – Eagle Scout
Paul Siple, a nineteen-year-old Eagle Scout in Erie, Pennsylvania, was one of thousands who applied to join Admiral Byrd’s expedition in 1928. Byrd asked the Boy Scouts of America to help him select one Scout to take on the year and a half exploration of Antarctica. Local committees vetted applications and forwarded 88 to the […]
Podcast 137 Four Percent, Eagle Scout Book
IN THIS PODCAST Interview with author Mike Malone about writing the Eagle Scout book, Four Percent, an engaging, inspiring, history of the award. Read my review of Four Percent Four Percent on Amazon In our interview Mike mentions The Scouting Party Past editions of the show are available at the PODCAST ARCHIVE Podcast: Play in new window | […]
W. Ben Hunt – Whittlin’ Jim
Several books authored by W. Ben Hunt (Walter Bernard Hunt) also known as “Whittlin’ Jim” grace my bookshelves. Each one offers a rich journey into Native American arts and performance, woodworking, whittling, scoutcraft, pioneering, jewelry making, metalworking and calligraphy. Native of Greenfield in Milwaukee County, Hunt was born in 1888 in the log cabin his father built. He […]
Four Percent – Eagle Scout History
Friend of the blog and podcast Mike Malone has announced the release of his new excellent, authoritative Eagle Scout history: Four Percent – The Story of Uncommon Youth in a Century of American Life; . (Listen to my interview with Mike on podcast 137.) Mike is a well known writer, twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. His […]
