A Farley Mowat Reader

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian studies at
Concordia University, and the author of Kurlek, Margaret Laurence: The
Long Journey Home, and As Though Life Mattered: Leo Kennedy’s Story.

Writer and naturalist Farley Mowat has published more than 30 books,
many of which appeal to a wide range of ages. From this embarrassment of
riches, editor Wendy Thomas has chosen well for her target audience of
young readers.

The selections, which are grouped in five sections (“The Family
Mowat,” “Mutt,” “The Others,” “Adventures” and “Becoming
a Writer”), do not include Mowat’s fiction for young people, such as
“Lost in the Barrens” and “The Snow Walker.” Thomas urges
readers to seek out these books for themselves.

The autobiographical sketches will interest budding naturalists, while
the Mutt stories from The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be and selections from Owls
in the Family are sure to be favorites.

This writing is vivid, witty, deeply grounded in earthy realities yet
lyrical and reflective. Attractively illustrated with Richard Row’s
black-and-white line drawings, the reader includes a foreword by Mowat
and a list of his books. Highly recommended.