Woodsong

Woodsong feels like sitting around a campfire listening to Gary Paulsen reflect on life with his sled dogs—from witnessing brutal wolf hunts to battling exhaustion and hallucinations in the grueling Iditarod race. It’s a powerful memoir about resilience, respect for nature, and the unbreakable bond between human and animal. With vivid, sometimes raw storytelling and short, punchy chapters, it hooks students who crave adventure and authenticity. This one builds empathy for nature and self-discovery—perfect for middle-grade readers who want real-world heroism.

Paulsen writes movingly of his learning to run dogs and training pups for the harness. There are eye-rolling episodes where his ignorance in managing dog sledding had me cringing. Equally, there were laugh-out-loud anecdotes (I especially enjoyed the bantam hen dominating the Paulsen family backyard). The evocative passages of winter beauty and wilderness camping added to my appreciation of Paulsen's writing.

I'm not sure who the target audience really is for this book. It's a memoir of the author's early days running dogs, which could certainly appeal to outdoors-oriented readers of any age. But there are also passages of the harsh realities of wolves and deer populations and a squirrel-chipmunk interaction both of which are very show more graphic. Of course, the younger end of the YA readership might just gloss over these descriptions.

The final chapter of running his first Iditarod was captivating, even though I'd previously read Winterdance. I always come away from reading stories of this famous Alaskan race with amazement at what people will do as an extreme sport and wondering how on earth more dogs and drivers don't die trying to complete this run. In the Woodsong version, the tale of Pualsen's first Iditarod is shortened but still paints an astounding chronicle of the race. show less

Another book I had to read for school that I am certain I would have enjoyed much more if the school had not made such a chore out of the book with all their dumbass assignments.

I was an avid reader back then and even now, and nothing ruins the reading experience faster than it being made a chore of. It's a shame because although it's been a while (a long while!) since I read this book, I found some parts of it thrilling/enjoyable. I may give this another read some day and be able to really enjoy it the second time around.

For my review of the book “woodsong” by Gary Paulsen I would like to start by saying that it was built into two parts. The first part of the story is pretty much an autobiography that is a well descriptive story about Gary Paulsen’s life as a dogsled rider. He spends the whole part talking about many of his dogs and his daily life. He adds a huge amount of his book talking about the many life lessons that he learns as he encounters things. I would say that I enjoyed almost every part of this half of the story. It had really funny stories and cool adventurous stories that made you feel almost like the author at times. I did have a slight problem with the book though. When I read books I understand that descriptive sentences are show more needed but there can be so many that it takes me awhile before finally going on to the next part of each story. I would say that this book is very interesting and that if you enjoy reading about people’s life and dog stories then you will get hooked to the first half of the story.

The second part is Gary’s retelling of the time he joined a major dogsled race around Alaska’s wilderness. He starts it off with how the first day was a fiasco and that he tells how they run out of the chute into the road of a small village. As each day progresses he tells of how he gets sick of the food the people give him and how he starts getting sick. He later recalls saying that a mysterious man kept showing up and helping his dogsled whenever it broke down or got the dogs tangled up. This part of the book is 17 days long and almost every chapter is one day worth. The sled race ends with him saying that everything he has gone through was worth it and that he will probably do it again. It is hard to tell if he does though. I loved this part because it included descriptions of the condition of the race and the reactions of everything he had done. I think that I can say that this part gave me no disappointment and I absolutely suggest to try reading this book.

In all I would give this book a rating of one of my personal favorites and should be a good read for people who love adventure, and life stories of people and their home. Every part of this book will paint a picture in your mind about a white tundra and the coldness of the man’s travel. show less

Exhilarating NF about wilderness, endurance and…dogs. Bittersweet with some gross-out humor. Fascinating. Paulsen has won awards for his teen fiction. With Woodsong he tries his hand at NF. The book is filled with lovely (and sometimes terrifying) glimpses into his life living on the edge of wilderness in Minnesota running his dogs. It finishes with an accounting of his first Iditerod.

Gary Paulsen has led an interesting life. After reading this book, I now understand how he writes survival scenes so well.
I learned a lot about sled dogs. I never would have guessed that they can't eat dry food, but it makes sense once you think about it.

Amazing book. Stories you won't find anything else. In my top favorite books, but too short so it makes you want more. Not for the squeamish though as a few stories are a bit bloody.