As a child, my all-time favorite book was Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen. I remember being literally on the edge of my seat in class as my teacher reached for the book, preparing to read it aloud to the classroom, anxious with anticipation. I was an adventurous girl, feeling happiest exploring barefoot the creek and woods down the street from our house. I would spend hours with friends or by myself, catching minnows and crayfish, covering my legs in gray clay from the creek, imagining I was living wild and free.
Naturally, I loved this book, about a thirteen-year-old boy who, after his plane crashes in the Canadian wilderness, finds himself utterly alone and dependent on his own survival skills for months on end. Though the book is geared towards kids aged 10 and a bit older, I have been reading it aloud to Milo (7) and Oliver (5) before bed every night. There are serious issues in the book; death and betrayal and risks and intense and scary situations. But they are loving every moment of it and I’ve enjoyed broaching these topics with them. They shout out what they would do if they were up there in the plane all alone with no one to fly it, what they would do differently when trying to build a fire or shelter, or catch a fish or spear a bird. They are, not surprisingly, completely enthralled.
And at the same time, I am tearing apart Last Child in the Woods, by Richard Louv. It deserves an entire post or two or three for at-length discussion about the importance of giving our children the gift of nature, so I will post once I have finished the book and spent our own time in the woods.
Happy Reading!
Oh! I had totally forgotten about Hatchet! I’ll have to hunt that down for our next read aloud. Have you read My Side of the Mountain? It’s a similar genre and a favorite around here . . .
My kids love a good survival story. We’re reading Island of the Blue Dolphins right now and they’re obsessed with it.
As for Last Child in the Woods, I read it a year or so ago and it really made an impression on me. I often wonder how many maladies, illnesses, and disorders might disappear if everyone had access to the outdoors and time to explore and play in it.
Hatchet was one of my top favorites! All of those survival novels were my obsession. I don’t remember if you already knew this, but my dog Rontu got his name from the wild-turned-tame dog in Island of the Blue Dolphins. That was my favorite starting when I was Milo’s age. For some reason I see Gary Paulsen being a good name for a cat.
Last child in the woods is one of the best books I’ve ever read about what exactly is going awry in our society. I habitually recommend it to everyone I meet <3
Hi there,
Just discovered your blog and read your article in the Washington Post.
What a great article! I have been at home for 5 years since my daughter was born. My son is 3 1/2 and I agree, enjoy. You have worked hard to get to this time. I also appreciated your description of the value of the busy/ productive days along with the idea of taking an hour to yourself. Thanks! Erin 🙂
On a separate note – I live in Canada and am not familiar with “Hatchet” – I will read it. I do have Last Child in the Woods and my kids also attend Montessori. I am now going to re read Last Child in the Woods.
Hatchet gave me such anxiety as a kid. I flew a couple times a month because of parents’ custody arrangement and was always terrified of a crash and my not so great survival skills being out to the test. I was always more inclined towards books where problems arose from kids being trapped in the museum or library!
Really interested in that other book now.. Wanna do a book swap? 🙂
Elisa and Ami, thank you for the reminder about Island of the Blue Dolphins! It was one of my favorites as a kid but I somehow forgot about it… on the list for the library now!
And yes, Julie! I want to do a book swap with you! 🙂
I have never read Hatchet! I don’t remember even hearing about it as a girl, and once it came on to my radar screen in adulthood I never checked it out. Must do 🙂