You have probably heard of the popular Christian Liberty Nature Readers. But, did you know you can download the public domain books this series was based on for free?  My family has owned the entire series for years, and I didn’t realize this until recently. Our children have enjoyed reading these books and have learned about a wide variety of plants and animals from them.

You may want to take a look at the public domain versions of the readers, which were published in the late 1800s, even if you already own the books. Several of the public domain books listed below contain additional chapters that were not included in the current Christian Liberty Press versions.

Christian Liberty Press Nature Reader 1

The second edition of Christian Liberty Press Nature Reader 1 is based on Nature Stories for Young Readers: Animal Life (1894). The third edition of the reader is based on a combination of select chapters from both Nature Stories for Young Readers: Animal Life and Nature Stories for Young Readers: Plant Life (1896). Most of Animal life focuses on insects, but it also has some chapters about birds and other small animals. Plant Life covers a wide variety of plants and trees. Florence Bass wrote both books.

Christian Liberty Nature Reader 2

Both the second and third editions of this reader are based on Nature Readers: Sea-side and Way-side No. 1 (1887). Julia Wright wrote this book, which is mostly about sea life and insects.

Christian Liberty Nature Reader 3

The second and third editions of this reader were both based on Nature Readers: Sea-side and Way-side No. 2 (1888). This book, also written by Julia Wright, covers more sea life and insects.

Christian Liberty Nature Reader 4

All editions of this reader were based on a vintage nature book. However, the original author and publisher are unknown, so I’m unable to verify that the book is in the public domain or locate anywhere to download it for free. Instead, you can borrow a free digital version of the first edition of Christian Liberty Nature Reader 4 (1992) for two weeks from the Internet Archive. The book consists of chapters on various birds, reptiles, insects, and more.

Christian Liberty Nature Reader 5

The second edition of this reader is based on The Child’s Book of Nature Vol. 2 (1890). Worthington Hooker, M.D., wrote this book. It’s not the usual nature book, as most of it focuses on human anatomy. The third edition of Christian Liberty Nature Reader 5 was published in 2018 and features completely new and original content rather than being based on a public domain book. Therefore, it isn’t available for free. Instead of anatomy, the new third edition is about oceans.

Do I regret buying books I could have downloaded for free?

Not at all! Christian Liberty Press has revised and updated these books many times over the years. So, the set I own is not the same as the original books from over 100 years ago. These have been some of our favorite books, so we enjoy having the print versions. Plus, the modern editions include review questions, and there are also coordinating answer keys available for purchase. You can purchase the complete set of third edition readers and answer keys from Christian Liberty Press. If you don’t want the entire set, you can also buy the books individually.

Note: This post was originally published on April 24, 2020 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.