Incident at Hawk's Hill

First re-read of this since I was a kid. I loved it with my whole heart then, and was relieved to find that I still love it.

This story, allegedly based on a true incident, is about a boy who lives with a badger for a period of time. The natural history details are glorious- everything you ever wanted to know about badgers, their habits, their diets, and their vocalizations! The story itself is good, though a touch on the melodramatic side.

Recommended for natural history people and animal lovers with a high tolerance for exhaustively detailed descriptions of the omnivorous badger's diet (which included lots of cute furry things).

Although this book received a Newbery Honor when it was published, you probably haven’t heard of it. The cover most likely won’t convince you to pick it up. Even the introduction might persuade you that it’s too slow to finish. But once you’ve gotten into the story, you may have a hard time putting it down until you’ve blown all the way through the last page.

Ben is a boy who doesn’t do well with people. This worries his family, especially his father, who simply cannot understand why his youngest son insists on following animals around, mimicking their noises and movements perfectly. When Ben finds himself lost on the prairie near his house, he must make a deep connection with a dangerous predator if he wants to survive. What show more happens to both of them and how it affects the other characters is almost unbelievable, even to Ben, and will leave a deep impression on you after you close the book.

This is a good choice for readers who like outdoor adventures (think Gary Paulsen) and stories about fathers and sons. It’s also for readers who can stomach detailed descriptions of some of the more gruesome things that happen in nature. show less

Read for Children's Books group: Newbery Club, Sept. 2021.

This article, http://ozandends.blogspot.com/2020/07/how-real-story-became-incident-at-hawks.ht..., is much more interesting than the book. I found it looking for information about the truth that inspired the novel and learned that the enhancements Eckert added varied as to their relevance & implausibility, that the novel was written for adults, that the Kirkus reviewer did not like it, and much more.

The treatment of the previous occupants of the land, the assorted Indian nations, is brief, and not sufficiently regretful or apologetic, but not inaccurate either.

" One such Prairie dog town began in the Dakota territory and stretched far out into the land of the Cheyennes. It was show more just over 100 miles in width and fully 250 miles in length. Within its confines lived the staggering population of over 400 million black tailed prairie dogs."

Early in the book Burton shows off a badger he had trapped. Ben looks for the notch on the ear: "This was not the badger he had encountered out in the prairie and a wave of relief flooded through him." Even Ben is biased towards the known, the immediate... whereas the truth is, of course, that one badger is just as valuable as another.

Sometimes the writing is delightful:
A kingfisher "trilled it's rattling cry as even discussed over its own poor aim and then bounced off through the air on inconstant wingbeats."
And: "[Rose hips] did little to satisfy his hunger, but at least his stomach had something to work on." show less

Supposedly this story is based on a true happening. Set in the late 1800s the young protaganoist runs away from home and is rescued by a badger. The story follows his survival, and his family's hunt for him.

A lyrical and fun adventure story for the adolescent reader.

I read this a long time ago, so I don't remember just how the boy ended up with the badger, but it was a pretty darned good read about a boy who forms a bond with the aforesaid badger. If I recall, the badger had lost its cubs, so that was a big reason it grew attached to the boy. I think i need to re-read this book, lol.

This book was ok. It’s a partially true story that tells of Ben McDonald, a small boy who has a great love and understanding of animals. One day he wanders too far from home and becomes lost. He takes shelter in a Badger hole and befriends a badger who has just lost her mate and litter due to a trapper. This part of the story becomes hard to believe, Ben and the badger share food and shelter. It went into a little too much detail for me about the types of food they shared. After spending several weeks with the badger he is found by his brother but at this point Ben is more animal like then human and has hard time accepting his life, but with the help of the badger he reunites with his family.

A shy, lonely 6-year-old wanders into the Canadian prairie and spends a summer under the protection of a badger