Father Water, Mother Woods - (Laurel-Leaf Books) by Gary Paulsen & Ruth Wright Paulsen (Paperback)

About the Book

Memorable essays of hunting, fishing, and camping in the North Woods of Minnesota recount Paulsen's boyhood adventures--alone and with friends. Sometimes poetic, often hilarious, and always instructive, these essays will appeal to all Paulsen fans. An ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers. A Publishers Weekly Editors' Choice 1994.

Book Synopsis

Survival in the wilderness--Gary Paulsen writes about it so powerfully in his novels Hatchet and The River because he's lived it. These essays recount his adventures alone and with friends, along the rivers and in the woods of northern Minnesota. There, fishing and hunting are serious business, requiring skill, secrets, and inspiration. Luck, too--not every big one gets away.

This book takes readers through the seasons, from the incredible taste of a spring fish fresh from the smokehouse, to the first sight of the first deer, to the peace of the winter days spent dreaming by the stove in a fishhouse on the ice. In Paulsen's north country, every expedition is a major one, and often hilarious.

Once again Gary Paulsen demonstrates why he is one of America's most beloved writers, for he shows us fishing and hunting as pleasure, as art, as companionship, and as sources of life's deepest lessons.

Review Quotes

"This book is obviously a feast for the outdoor lover--the hunter, fisherman, or camper--but it will also draw those who love the beauty of the carefully crafted description, so detailed and vivid....The essence of Paulsen."--Booklist

"The pieces are rooted in the details of a youth spent in search of perfection: the perfect cast, perfect catch, perfect shot...On target." --School Library Joumal

"Descriptions of light and water, of fish and wildlife, kindle in the reader a measure of the author's own complex respect for nature."
--Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

About the Author

Gary Paulsen is the distinguished author of many critically acclaimed books for young people, including three Newbery Honor books: The Winter Room, Hatchet, and Dogsong. He won the Margaret A. Edwards Award given by the American Library Association for his lifetime achievement in young adult literature. Among his Random House books are Road Trip (written with his son, Jim Paulsen); Family Ties; Vote; Crush; Flat Broke; Liar, Liar; Paintings from the Cave; Woods Runner; Masters of Disaster; Lawn Boy; Notes from the Dog; The Amazing Life of Birds; Molly McGinty Has a Really Good Day; How Angel Peterson Got His Name; Guts; and five books about Francis Tucket's adventures in the Old West. Gary Paulsen has also published fiction and nonfiction for adults. He divides his time between his home in Alaska, his ranch in New Mexico, and his sailboat on the Pacific Ocean.

Ruth Wright Paulsen is an artist, illustrator, and author of books for young readers. She graduated from the University of Colorado, where she studied painting, and then taught art at a junior high school, which informs her illustrations for children's books. She frequently collaborates with her husband, author Gary Paulsen, and her illustrations can be seen in his books Father Water, Mother Woods and My Life in Dog Years. She lives and works in New Mexico.