Autumn's Reviews > Woodsong

This is very good, but in some ways, a challenging read for what appears to be a children's book. The first half of the book is a series of short essays Paulsen wrote about training his sled dogs. He writes about odd things that happened to him while on runs and in the woods, the brutality of nature and what his dogs taught him. Some of the essays, actually, most of them, have one thing or another that was difficult to read. He really doesn't shy away from the ugly side of the natural world. That's why this short book took me a while to get through- I loved his descriptions of his dogs, and their funny sides, their wisdom and strength, and he draws so much from his experiences with the dogs, but there were a few scenes that made me face a side of nature I don't usually like to think about- wolves feasting on a deer, the death of a beloved dog, etc. The book is also funny at times and a couple of choice stories and phrases had me laughing out loud.

The second half of the book is in seventeen parts, one part for each day of Paulsen's first stab at the Iditarod. This could have been a book in itself, the chapters are brief and actually I wish he would have drawn this out more and made it its own book. He's a children's author, but I can't decide what to make of this book because although it is appears to be like a children's book (or, like his other books, I should say), and a sixth grader could read it, some of the things he write about are so upsetting, and so dark, that I personally think it would be hard for a younger child to read and process. Maybe I'm just sensitive where animals are concerned. The chapter about his beloved dog who could not turn east when he died was just heartbreaking.

I also have a soft spot for Gary Paulsen because when I was in sixth grade, we read Hatchet, and I decided to write to him. At the time I believe he was living in Minnesota. He actually wrote back to me with a hand-signed, personal letter. I will never forget that!