Here’s an author who takes the reality of animal magic and weaves it into unforgettable tales.
I admire the stories of award-winning outdoor adventure author Gary Paulsen. He’s a highly honored writer of contemporary literature for young readers—and always a go-to author when looking for titles to get boys to enjoy reading.
A non-fiction gem by Gary Paulsen
I happened on his recent title: This Side of Wild. Unlike the majority of his work, this is non-fiction. Catalogued for children, I think it’s even better for adults. It’s a memoir, featuring memorable stories about animals—indeed, animal magic.
Here’s the (long!) summary:
“The Newbery Honor-winning author of Hatchet and Dogsong shares surprising true stories about his relationship with animals, highlighting their compassion, intellect, intuition, and sense of adventure. Gary Paulsen is an adventurer who competed in two Iditarods, survived the Minnesota wilderness, and climbed the Bighorn Mountains. None of this would have been possible without his truest companion: his animals. Sled dogs rescued him in Alaska, a sickened poodle guarded his well-being, and a horse led him across a desert. Through his interaction with dogs, horses, birds and more, Gary has been struck with the belief that animals know more than we may fathom. His understanding and admiration of animals is well-known, and in This Side of Wild, which has taken a lifetime to write, he proves the ways in which they have taught him to be a better person.”
When it comes to his take on animals, Gary Paulsen is definitely my kind of folk! The summary really speaks for itself.
I read sections of it aloud to my husband—some of these stories are so moving they call out to be shared. I had to smile that Mr. Paulsen’s narrative style is even longer and more meandering than my own! His sentences have clauses within clauses, and he jumps around in time in ways that made me have to go back and read a sentence through again to be sure I was following. However, don’t let that stop you. It’s a book full of the sweetness of the best parts of life.
Happy Reading!
Lindy MacLaine is the author of the Piper Pan and Her Merry Band books—a fantasy adventure series for mature children and adults who are young at heart. Learn more at www.PiperPanAndHerMerryBand.com