Born Naked: The Early Adventures of the Author of Never Cry Wolf

Boyhood in Woods of Ontario - good - the Other Loves — animals, birds, etc
Very good True

Farley Mowat's youth was charmed and hilarious, and unbelievably free in its access to unspoiled nature through bird-banding expeditions and overnight outings in the dead of winter. The author writes of sleeping in haystacks for survival, and other adventures, with equal shares of Booth Tarkington and Jack London.

Some of the stories in this book will be familiar to fans of Farley Mowat, but this autobiography covering the first sixteen years of his life also contains many new episodes. Born in 1921, Farley Mowat lived in southern Ontario and also Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, with his parents. His father worked as a librarian much of this time.

For a Mowat fan, this book was fun to read. The descriptions of life on the prairie during the Great Depression were vivid, but seen through the eyes of a young boy who had few cares. The end of the book, just before the Mowats move back to Ontario when Farley is 16, seems abrupt.

We hear much of Barry Lopez and, in Canada, read a multitude of books by the hyper-productive Pierre Berton. But Farley Mowat was the better writer and also spoke up nobly and proudly for nature and against hypocrisy. A beautiful memoir of a great naturalist's early years, followed later by his second memoir, Otherwise, this volume

I enjoy reading Farley Mowat, and I enjoyed this volume of memoir describing his early years in Ontario and Saskatchewan. Much of the book focuses on Mowat from the ages of about nine through his mid-teens, and describes his growing interest in nature and in writing.

An entertaining account by Farley Mowat of his first 12 years growing up free and wild in cities in Ontario and in the wilds of Saskatchewan. His was an unusual, colorful and adventurous family (and his father was a librarian!) that allowed him the freedom to discover nature that would be his life-long passion.

I wish I had read this when I was a kid living on the edge of a forest

signed by author