Mowat, Farley Books

Never Cry Wolf : Amazing True Story of Life Among Arctic Wolves

Farley Mowat

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 84 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

I don't think they would print what I would like to say 1 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I read this ...how do you say "NOVEL" pretending to be non-fiction when in grade school years ago.
Since then I have learned that Sir Mowatt doesn't let the truth get in the way of a good yarn.

I will never read any book by him again. ...I give it a negative 5 stars.

save your money and buy a comic book.

A taste of real arctic adventure 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is an excellent book by and excellent author. Having traveled much in the arctic by kayak and canoe, I was thrilled to read a book capturing some of the idiosyncrasies that I've experienced myself. The joys and tragedies of the arctic come through brilliantly and only those with a hatred of wolves could fail to see the obvious conclusions Mowat makes concerning the fate of the caribou. I bicycled the Dempster highway in 2005 and found the landscape littered with caribou remains; a slaughter empowered by a gravel road. Time has proven Mowat right in his conclusions. Man, a relative newcomer, is responsible for the declines in wildlife, not the wolves who have lived on the land for countless centuries. The old saying of wolves and caribou: 'the caribou feeds the wolf and the wolf makes the caribou stronger' seems obvious now. Man on the other hand hunts the strongest in the breed, weakening the herd, kill by kill.

Editorial Review:

More than a half-century ago the Canadian Wildlife Service assigned the naturalist Farley Mowat to investigate why wolves were killing arctic caribou. Mowat's account of the summer he lived in the frozen tundra alone-studying the wolf population and developing a deep affection for the wolves (who were of no threat to caribou or man) and for a friendly Inuit tribe known as the Ihalmiut ("People of the Deer")-is a work that has become cherished by generations of readers, an indelible record of the myths and magic of wild wolves.

The Boat Who Wouldn't Float

Farley Mowat

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 29 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Mowat at his best 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Worth reading for Mowat's explanation of the three cardinal tenets of rum drinking in Newfoundland alone.

The boat that wouldn't float 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Great read...laughed myself nearly to death! You NUST read it if you've ever sailed a boat or visited Newfoundland or the Eastern provences.

Editorial Review:

It seemed like a good idea. Tired of everyday life ashore, Farley Mowat would find a sturdy boat in Newfoundland and roam the salt sea over, free as a bird. What he found was the worst boat in the world, and she nearly drove him mad. The Happy Adventure, despite all that Farley and his Newfoundland helpers could do, leaked like a sieve. Her engine only worked when she felt like it. Typically, on her maiden voyage, with the engine stuck in reverse, she backed out of the harbour under full sail. And she sank, regularly.

How Farley and a varied crew, including the intrepid lady who married him, coaxed the boat from Newfoundland to Lake Ontario is a marvellous story. The encounters with sharks, rum-runners, rum and a host of unforgettable characters on land and sea make this a very funny book for readers of all ages.

The Dog Who Wouldn't Be

Farley Mowat

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 29 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

This is a great read-aloud 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

My husband has been reading this book aloud to our three children, ages 12, 10 and 7. They howl with laughter when he reads it (a sound that is music to the ears) and demand more. The book provides an excellent opportunity to learn about and discuss different ways of life and different times.

A charming book 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I have not read this book in many years but I remember it as being one of the funniest books I have ever read. My old copy is falling apart, I'll have to get a new copy soon.

Don't let me give it away, You must read it for yourself 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is one of my favorite dog books of all time, right up there with White Fang by Jack London. Get ready for a fun ride as you follow the author through the actual experience of a dog that is 'one of a kind' but that we all know in the many ways that dogs reach out and touch our lives by just being themselves. An astonishing, tender, revealing and sensitive book that will have you involved, right there with the owner and his family as each day leads to another amazing event.

An Unforgettable book.

Editorial Review:

Farely Mowat's best loved book tells the splendidly entertaining story of his boyhood on the Canadian prairies.  Mutt's pedigree was uncertain, but his madness was indisputable.  He climbed tress and ladders, rode passenger in an open car wearing goggles and displaying hunting skills that bordered on sheer genius.  He was a marvelous dog, worthy of an unusual boy growing up a raw, untamed wilderness.

Owls in the Family

Farley Mowat

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Subjects -> Children's Books -> Animals -> Birds -> Fiction

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 38 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Laugh out loud funny! 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Great heartwarming stories about a boy, 2 owls and a dog. I recommend this for all ages. The cover markets this as a childrens's book, but adults who like animals will love this story too. A bird lovers' delight!

A good book with funny parts! 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Our reading group, The Picky Pickles, liked this book. We thought it had interesting scenes with animals and funny parts. The first chapter was a little slow, but the book got better and better as you read. We also liked how the animals were so attached to the people.

OK Owls 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I might be in the minority, but I thought this book was simply - OK. It is clean cut, which is refreshing in juvenile literature. Unfortunately, I found it almost boring. Worse, as a novel writing teacher, I found the writing technique tended to "tell" rather than to "show." It is a quick-to-read book and lends itself to a great unit study of owls, so go ahead and get it, but don't hope for the best novel you've ever read.

Editorial Review:

The adventures of two owls who shake up an entire neighborhood and turn a house topsy-turvy.

Lost in the Barrens

Farley Mowat

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 25 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A wonderful, inspiring read! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I first read this book when I was 14, and was facinated at the detail and survival methods demonstrated. As a suburban, yuppie kid, I was absolutely enthralled with the imagery of the Great White North dipicted in this tale. Heading into my 30's with family ahead and many wilderness adventures behind, I find myself wanting to re-read this wonderful tale. This story, like many of Mowat's, I want to share with my wife, my future children, and with luck, actually visit the landscape portrayed in the book. For anyone who is interested in wilderness survival, the Canadian North, or who "wows" to Survivor Man, this is the book for you!

Lost in the Barrens is a winner! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

"Lost in the Barrens," originally published as "Two Against The North," has been a favorite of mine since I was about [....]. I bought it from Scholastic Books when I was in grade school. Recently I bought a new copy so I could read it to my son's second grade class. That was a treasure.

Not only does Farley Mowat pull the reader in with the excitement of the hunt and the drama of the fight for survival on the lakes, rivers and mountains of the far north, he teaches his readers about the wilds and the peoples who inhabit them. I learned a ton about the barrenlands of the far north of Canada and about the Innuit, the Crees and the Chippewas who inhabit that world, as well as their historic conflicts. Mr. Mowat builds lessons about self reliance and respect for the elements into a drama about two boys surviving in one of the harshest environmnets on earth. This book is great fun and a real treasure!!!

Isaiah Cooper

Editorial Review:

Two brothers must face the wilderness with no food and no hope of rescue when their canoe is destroyed by the rapids.

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

Farley Mowat

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

If Only My Childhood Was Like His.... 5 out of 5 stars.
25 of 25 people found this review helpful.

I've been a big fan of Farley Mowat's literary style since I first read Never Cry Wolf back in junior high school. Even as a 9th grade Earth Science teacher, I show the silver screen adaptation of this great novel. Born Naked, however, is of different 'stuff' than Never Cry Wolf. Here is a book written in a light, easy-to-read fashion that highlights his early years in this great world. We, the readers, are along for the ride when he travels to the Arctic on a research mission with his uncle, or when he makes his daily rounds to inspect the nests of local birds in Saskatchewan. This book is written in a truly entrancing style. I had a very difficult time putting it down. There are some questionable portions in it dealing with his discovery of his own sexuality, but they are far outweighed by the sense of awe and discovery he felt as a youngster. I would heartily recommend this book to anyone that enjoyed Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, or anyone that wants to experience the childhood they only dreamed about

Editorial Review:

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. He also brings back Mutt, the famous hero-dog of his classic THE DOG WHO WOULDN'T BE, and his pet owl Wol, hero of OWLS IN THE FAMILY. The tale of an outrageous and clever boy, BORN NAKED takes its place as the foundation of the Farley Mowat canon.

Two Against the North

farley mowat

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Editorial Review:

formerly titled "Lost in the Barrens"

The Black Joke

Farley Mowat

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

An inventive novel of Newfoundland and St-Pierre 5 out of 5 stars.
19 of 20 people found this review helpful.

I think what I like best about "The Black Joke," is that it introduces the reader to a little known corner of North America: Newfoundland and St-Pierre and Miquelon. The other thing I like about it is that it proves that Farley Mowat can write just about anything he sets his mind to.

With an historical background that is not negligible (nor does it matter much to the actual plot), the book Mowat has set out to write is ostensibly for children. It follows a classic "Boys Own" formula of putting the action safely into the hands of a pair of enterprising youngsters who then have to deal as well as they can with the baddies. It is really an excellent story of the sea; readers of maritime literature will love the boat that lends its name to the book, and bewail its apparent fate near the end. I suppose children will also like this book, although it seems so old-fashioned in many ways. Nevertheless, if you can convince a 12-year-old to have a look at it, you may make another convert, both to Mowat and the art of reading. Just don't forget to read it yourself!

Mowat seems to have tried an experiment with this book and I am confounded a bit to know why he didn't try and take it a bit further with other volumes. He had already written one of his Arctic stories for children, "Lost in the Barrens," by the time he wrote this one, and he subsequently wrote a sequel to it. But "The Black Joke" has to stand alone and I suppose all one can say is that, based on his output since its 1962 publication, it has nothing to do with fearing the hard work of writing. Excellent and underrated book.

Editorial Review:

The Black Joke is a rousing sea story in the tradition of the great classic pirate tales. The time is the 1930s. The loot is bootleg liquor, not pirate gold. And the ship is the “Black Joke,” the speediest, nimblest craft on the Newfoundland coast – Jonathon Spence, owner and master. An unwelcome passenger enmeshes the boat and her crew (young Peter and Kye) in danger and near destruction…until the fiercely independent people of the island of Miquelon are caught up in the fate of the “Black Joke” and the cargo aboard her.

Westviking: The Ancient Norse in Greenland and North America

Farley Mowat

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Mowat rethinks the Norse discovery of America 5 out of 5 stars.
20 of 20 people found this review helpful.

Canadian author Farley Mowat is perhaps the best-equipped person alive today (1998) to take a look at the remote history of the Norse voyages to North America. Combining the skills of seamanship, navigation and amateur anthropology with those of the historian and trained scientist (he is a biologist), this unique writer has brought a very fine light to bear in this 1965 work which is just as relevant today as it was over 30 years ago.

Amongst the more remarkable attributes of this lengthy examination of the old Icelandic and Norwegian sagas, is the locating of the probable sites for the major voyages of Eric the Red and Leif Ericsson and the well-argued contention that neither of them was the first man to make a documented voyage to the New World. According to Mowat, that honour goes to the little-known Norwegian trader, Barnji Herjolfsson, who probably gave Eric the Red his sailing directions.

Mowat doesn't take kindly to many other conceptions about this period of Norse history and spends considerable time debunking what he believes are myths created by scholars who had no first-hand knowledge of either sailing or the particular coastlines (Greenland, Newfoundland and Labrador) involved in the sagas. Indeed, his close examination of the available descriptions serves to point very much to the real sites as they might have been and show that many of the old theories (particularly to do with New England) have no value at all.

Sailing enthusiasts who love to read will come readily aboard this vessel and perhaps pitch their own knowledge against or alongside Mowat and the various Newfoundland schooner captains whom he interviewed to find out their opinions about prevailing winds and currents. All in all, it's a delightful book, not too difficult to read, even for non-nautical types (Mowat chose to create quite a number of appendixes to hold all the very detailed information and make the main text easier to read - they work very well) and anyone even remotely interested in finding out who, as far as we know, actually did discover America (or thinks they may have had Viking ancestors), should pick this up. As an added bonus, if you enjoy this book, there are several more by Mowat on the same theme, and dozens more by him on a wide range of associated subjects (the Arctic, the environment, sailing, whales etc.).

Polar Passion (His the Top of the World; V. 2)

Farley Mowat

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Formidable history of Arctic exploration 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This is the second volume of the "Top of the World" trilogy by Canadian writer Farley Mowat. In this formidable historical series, Mowat retraces the steps of the early explorers into Canada's northern realms. Volume one, "Ordeal by Ice" told us of some of the earliest expeditions into Hudson's Bay and of the difficulties faced by inexperienced men in ill-equipped ships. Indeed, those who set out were frequently never heard from again and their stories have been pieced together, often many years later, by the discovery of diaries under rocky cairns and from information gleaned from Eskimos who came across the men at some stage during their struggles. The stories are quite fantastic and there is an atmosphere of outlandish adventure throughout these books, making them difficult to put down. Volume two, "The Polar Passion," recounts the fascination exerted by the idea of reaching the North Pole, and the results of some of the early expeditions. Drawing from primary sources, Mowat lets the expedition members tell the story themselves, as much as possible. He contents himself with drawing them all together and setting them against an historical background that allows us to have a wider perspective of the events. It has obviously been a long labour of love for Mowat and I feel as though a considerable debt is owing to him, for having made this material available to us in such a readable and coherent form.