Woodsong

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Summary: Woodsong
Review: I read the book "Woodsong" by Gary Paulson. I have very mixed feelings about the book. I liked it in the way I thought it was interesting. I didn't like it in the way that it was gruesome and certain times was boring. I thought Gary Paulson did a great job in righting all about his trips into the wild and the animals and good and bad conditions he faced. It gave readers a good idea and image of what the wilderness is really about.
In this book Gary Paulson tells us about his remarkable experiences in the wilderness and what he learned about life and the way it helped inspire his writing. He tells us about his experiences of running a sled dog team and his scary and amazing encounters while doing this. I thought it was really interesting to hear about how a person would react when falling down a frozen waterfall. What really got me was how the dogs reacted, how they helped lick his wounds and help him get back home. After reading the book it's like the dogs could see through his heart and read his mind. After Paulson's journey he could read dogs as well. He found out how smart they really are and to trust and believe in their instincts. They guided him through the journeys and helped him learn life long lessons that he would never forget. The lesson I liked hearing about most was when Paulson was aggravated and wanted to get home. The weather was bad and he thought he knew the part of the woods they were in. The dogs new better and new they were not going the right way. Cookie (the lead dog) was trying to pull the other way but Paulson got upset and tugged at her. So she decided to give Paulson a lesson. They ended up going over a cliff and tumbling down a steep hill. Cookie had leaded them off the cliff knowing it was there. Paulson then understood that he had to trust the dog's instincts and know they knew where they were going.
Overall I thought the book was good. There were a few gory parts that I didn't like but that's part of nature and what Paulson saw. The lessons he learned from nature and how he describes them are what make this story so good.

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Summary: WoodSong
Review: Gary Paulsens book WoodSong is full of adventure and excitement. The book tells us about Mr. Paulsen's life and how he raced his sled dogs in the Iditarod.
I loved this book. It was humerous at times and also searious. I like chapter five where we really get to know a small Bantie chicken, named Hawk. Hawk is quite the charactor, she rules the farmyard with golden beak! You could never imagine an animal so small controlling all manner of creatures, (dogs, cats goats and even Mr. and Mrs. Paulsen.) Gary Paulsen gives Hawk some grousse eggs one day to go along with her chicken eggs. Hawk adopts the grousse as her own. She made sure any animal or human who dared to come too close to her children got what they deserved.
My favourite animal character in the whole novel was a sled dog by the name of Storm. Storm was a smart, strong and loyal dog. He would let Gary Paulsen know if he did something wrong. Storm was not the type to give up and he even had a way of communicating with Gary. Storm taught Gary Paulsen so many things and he was a wonderful character in the book.
I especially like how this book was written in first person. It brings a whole new prospective to things. I think it is much harder to write a good book in first person than in any other way. Gary Paulsen did an excellent job with this.
WoodSong was written with so much detail that I could feel the cold winter wind and I could feel the warmth of the Paulsen's kitchen. I could even sense the dogs excitement during the Iditarod race.
I learned alot from Gary Paulsens book WoodSong. For example everybody knows terrible things happen in the world, but when you are affected personally by these things it becomes real. In the book Mr. Paulsen knew that wolves often killed deer and that it was just a fact of nature. When he saw it happening though, it was like reality hit him. Also I learned that even our pets can teach us a thing or two about life.

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Summary: Woodsong
Review: Gary Paulsen's book "Woodsong" is a rather short, but exciting book that was worth the read. This is a book that will hold your interest the entire time due to the amazing descriptions of wildlife given by Paulsen. The adventures and struggles that Paulsen personally encountered during his life gave me incentive to keep going. His style of writing makes it easy to read while still being compelling.
The primary reason I enjoyed "Woodsong" was the graphic descriptions of nature, events and Paulsen's life as an adventurer. His appreciation for dogs and nature leads him to training dog sled teams and eventually for races. While reading I felt as though I was riding in the sled and experiencing all the adventures along side Paulsen. The opening chapter is a great example of his descriptions when the wolves hunt the deer. I thought I was watching the Discovery Channel, it was so vivid in my mind. He effectively painted a picture in my head that became so real I thought I was part of the hunt. This technique of visualization is prevalent throughout the book.
Another characteristic of this book that was impressive was the way Paulsen showed us his life lessons through nature. Paulsen begins the story thinking he was prepared for any adventure, but realized he was only an amateur. But through the sled dogs, bears and mistakes throughout the story you could see how he matured as a person. Due to these experiences he became very in tune with nature.
The book entailed action, adventure, struggles and hardships between man and nature. Paulsen's detailed descriptions created visualization that captures your interests. I would recommend this book to anyone because it is an inspiring story of one mans life.

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Summary: Woodsong
Review: Gary Paulsen's Woodsong is a unique biography in that it does not bore the reader, but instead presents a major part of the author's life an in intriguing and almost humorous way. From the beginning of his dog-sledding days to the final hour of the Iditarod race, I was kept captivated and turning pages.
The book is basically divided into two parts: training and history, and the running of the Iditarod. I liked how this was done. The first part really introduced you to dog-sledding and terms, and it was presented to you in a way that you learned as Paulsen learned. It made it interesting and you almost looked forward to the next 'lesson'. Also, the main characters of the story, the dogs, were introduced and given personality. You felt, at the end of the part, that you knew the dogs. This background information, normally presented in books in a somewhat boring way, was made clear to you in a style that kept the reader captivated and enraptured.
Part two began the Iditarod race. This part changed from the format of a story to the layout of a diary. It described the events of the day in a journal entry. I liked how part two of the book was set up because it made you feel like you were there, living each day with Paulsen, rather than just reading a book.
The Iditarod race brought back a few characters that were previously mentioned. This character helped Paulsen and his team of dogs get out of trouble at dangerous situations in the race. He also seemed to add a little bit of fiction to the purely non-fiction story. I liked this touch of seemingly-pretend drama.
Paulsen's description added flavor to the story. His ways of twisting words to paint a perfect picture in your head are superb. I rarely had problems understanding what was going on. The way the words flow and describe a scene leave you stunned. There is no denying Paulsen is an extremely talented writer; this book provides indisputable evidence.
I overall enjoyed this book very much. There wasn't a part of it that I didn't like. The plot was unique in that it was split into almost two separate stories. The wonderful and amazing description helped to create a beautiful picture and include you in the story. It was easy to get caught up in the book, and I enjoyed the story. 'Woodsong' is a novel worth reading.

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Summary: Woodsong has effective description use
Review: Gary Paulsen's novel "Woodsong" strongly demonstrates his ability to involve the reader in the story using descriptive elements. As a Paulsen fan, and frequent reader of his various works, I began reading this book with expectations of satisfaction.
One of the first aspects of this book that I noticed was the style it was written in. As Paulsen writes, it is virtually impossible to not visualize what he is describing, and as a result, the reader is compelled to continue reading. Another major aspect of the novel "Woodsong" is the way Paulsen identifies his memories and observations of nature. As each memory is introduced, it is backed by great amounts of description, and the reader visualizes a mental picture Paulsen has created. However, the memories Paulsen recalls do not have a type of organization that causes them to maintain a comfortable "flow." At the beginning of the novel, Paulsen more or less "lists" his memories, and later on they begin to relate to each other. I believe this is an effective way to relate the reader to the story and even help them "become" part of his memories and understand as well as feel what he felt as he went through the experiences and made the discoveries he describes in the novel.
A final characteristic of this novel that I would like to observe is that of the graphic nature used to describe various instances throughout the novel. Paulsen uses this technique throughout the book, and as a result, the reader can visualize and feel virtually exactly what Paulsen has written. A few examples of this technique can be found in the opening scene with the doe and the wolves, the scene where he injures his kneecap, and even in the words used to describe Hawk's attacks on the family and pets around the house. This technique, as well as the others I have mentioned, prove to perfectly match this novels goal of creating a vivid picture and description of the many mysteries of nature and differences between human beings and animals.

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Summary: Woodsong
Review: In the book WoodSong by Gary Pausen, he explains his realations to dogs and the woods. Pausen was drawn into sled dog running when his trapline grew to long to manage on foot. With a beat up sled and 6 old dogs givin to him by friends; his new hobby turned into a way of life, and soon he was training for his first round of the Iditerod. A 1,420 mile sled dog race across Alaska.
The aurthor explains his run of the Iditerod it extreme detail. There are few flat spots caused by the over explanation of the simple happenings in the book. The author pulls you into the book so effectively that part 2(The race) of it seems to travel to fast to the end.
This book was very well written and extreamly detailed. It brings you into the story even if you have little or no interest on the subject of sled dog racing. Or adventure storys.
Over all the book was very well written despite of some minor flat spots and story flaws. This novel will be liked by any reader that like adventure, or doesn't. its written that well.

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Summary: A Thrill Chill
Review: This book was so fantastic. This book was so fascinating that I kept thinking that all of the information wasn't true. Gary described the book so well that I felt like I was him and I was sled dog racing. I thouroughly reck a mend it to anybody that likes winter adventures, and I also hope there will be a sequal to this book, since it is so good. I also hope there are books kind of close to this but they probably will be nothing in comparison.

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Summary: The story remains with you for years!
Review: I read this book in my seventh grade class down in southern New Jersey 11 years ago. Today I called my junior high school and told one of the seventh grade reading instructors that I was searching for the name of a book I read and described the magnificent memories I had of this book. I even quoted the poem at the end of the book and sure enough, she told me the book was called "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen. After 11 years, I've finally reunited with this masterpiece. It has been in my thoughts all these years and while I forgot the name of the book, the story and experiences inside the book have never left my thoughts. This book is a must read for all ages, even seventh graders!

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Summary: Garry and his wild adventures!
Review: Woodsong is a intersting book to read if you are into adventures. Garry has a team of dogs. He runs them on some land in their back yeard. He trained the team. He gets in some really interesting runs.He also gets in a really funny one. He gets three sodas. Thay EXPLODE because thay are so cold. One of the dogs gets frost bite. So he is in the sled. He gets some on his booties. When he runs with the other dogs he is sucking on his booties when he is running. That is the funniest in the race....

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Summary: Class review 1-5-03
Review: I Thoroughly enojoyed reading this book WoodSong. In it Mr. Gary Paulsen Describes in detail his training for, and soon after running the iditarod taking him through many thousands of miles of Alaska's rough wilderness. Over all the book was really pretty interesting. Mr. Paulsen really knows how to intentlly invole a reader with the same interests. While telling a story he paints a picture so clearly and vivid with words you could almost frame it and hang it as the masterpiece of your living room. The biography spans through his stupidity in the neglet to learn form the dogs, to later gianing great respect and trust from mans best friend. All in all grerat book, i'd definitely recomend to a friend.