A Happy, Healthy Life in Nature is our Birthright.

For 96% of human history, we were wild. What can we learn from our evolutionary heritage about how to live now?

“A great read for naturalists, those interest in rewilding, survivalists, and anyone searching for a different way of life.” —Booklist


Why We Need To Be Wild:

One Woman’s Quest For Ancient Human Answers
to 21st-Century Questions

Jessica Carew Kraft, an urban wife and mom of two, was firmly rooted in the modern world, complete with a high-powered career in tech and the sneaking suspicion that her lifestyle was preventing her and her family from truly thriving. Determined to find a better way, Jessica quit her job and set out to learn about "rewilding" from people who reject the comforts and convenience of civilization by using ancient tools and skills to survive. Along the way, she learned how to turn sticks into fire, stones into axes, and bones into tools for harvesting wild food―and found an entire community walking the path back from our technology-focused, anxiety-ridden way of life to a simpler, more human experience.

Weaving deep research and reportage with her own personal journey, Jessica tells the remarkable story of the potential benefits rewilding has for us and our planet, and questions what it truly means to be a human in today's world. For readers of A Hunter-Gatherer's Guide to the 21st Century and Hunt, Gather, Parent, Why We Need to Be Wild is a thought-provoking, unforgettable narrative that illuminates how we survived in the past, how we live now, and how each of us can choose to thrive in the years ahead. 

Read a free excerpt here at BIG THINK.

  • “A brave book by a courageous human. With intellectual and emotional honesty, Jessica Carew Kraft offers a first-hand account of the badass pioneers of personal rewilding. She reports their various visions of the future with a good journalist’s skeptical eye and an idealist’s imaginative hope.”

    — Richard Louv, author of Our Wild Calling and Last Child in the Woods

  • “An engrossing, illuminating, and personal journey into how humans have disconnected from nature, and how to rewild ourselves back to health.”

    – James Nestor, author of Breath and Deep

  • "The skills Kraft details in this book add to what millions are discovering about tapping into their innate physiology to live wild and free."

    — Wim Hof, the IceMan

  • “In the world of wilderness skills, historically dominated by men, Kraft champions the important role of women and mothers.”

    — Doniga Markegard, Author of Dawn Again and Wolf Girl

Available at the following outlets and your local bookstore: