About Joyful Earth Books
Helping You Connect with Nature
Joyful Earth creates beautiful books and gifts to inspire people to connect with nature. A portion of the proceeds from every sale is donated to organizations that support environmental conservation.
GRAND OPENING of the shop is coming soon!
My name is Carla Wakeman and Joyful Earth Books is my dream and my passion. I’m a retired biologist and I’ve spent a lifetime studying, enjoying, and appreciating the natural world.
My first experience of the joy of nature was butterflies – thousands upon thousands of glorious butterflies. I was maybe five or six years old and happened to look at the large maple tree in my grandmother’s yard. It was always a beautiful tree, but that day it seemed to be stirring, shivering, shimmering.
Moving closer, I saw it was covered, every twig and leaf, absolutely covered with monarch butterflies. Vibrant and glowing in the afternoon sun, the butterflies (as I learned later) stopped in that tree to rest for the night before continuing on their migration journey. It was my first moment of connection with the quiet miracles of nature and set me on an extraordinary path.
I became interested in the sciences and particularly in ecology, pursuing a bachelor’s degree and then a master’s degree in biology. I spent my career working on a broad range of jobs in the environmental field, from taking care of injured and orphaned wild animals at a wildlife rehabilitation center to research on the ecological effects of wildfire to ensuring that energy facilities complied with laws that protect the environment.
Since that day with the butterflies, many decades ago now, I have seen the steady deterioration and loss of habitat and wild places, and I have also seen the response from humans who care deeply and want to help.
My mission is to help others understand, love, and conserve this beautiful planet and all the wondrous life that depends upon it. I believe that it all starts with that precious connection to nature, that one amazing moment when the heart opens and is touched by the magic of the natural world. I hope to encourage others to find that connection and inspire them to enjoy, respect, and protect our Mother Earth.
“In the end, all we can offer the world is the life we came here to live
and the gifts our souls would have us give.”
– Michael Meade, mosaicvoices.org
Joyful Earth Books is based in the beautiful San Bernardino Mountains of southern California, the ancestral homeland of the Yuhaaviatam/Maarenga’yam (Serrano) people. I acknowledge the Native Peoples who were the stewards of the land on which I live and work, and honor and respect their connection to this place.
This website is dedicated to nature lovers everywhere. Thank you for your care and concern for this beautiful planet and all the amazing beings who live here. And I want to express my gratitude for all the extraordinary wild creatures I have known, who taught me about nature, life, and love.
If you would like to receive weekly emails from me with nature-inspired goodness, please click the button below. I’ll also send you a free gift – a quick downloadable guide to nature journaling.
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