Contents

Woodsong

Collection of memoirs by Gary Paulsen

The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's notability guideline for books. Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention. If notability cannot be shown, the article is likely to be merged, redirected, or deleted. Find sources: "Woodsong" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

This article does not cite any sources. Please help improve this articlebyadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Woodsong" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (February 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Woodsong

First edition
Author	Gary Paulsen
Illustrator	Ruth W. Paulsen (Spouse)
Language	English
Subject	Outdoor Life, Dog sledding.
Genre	Juvenile Non-fiction
Published	1990 (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing)
Publication place	United States
Media type	Hardcover and Paperback (Later Editions)
Pages	132 (1st Edition)
ISBN	0027702219 (1st Edition)

Woodsong is a book of memoirs by Gary Paulsen. The first half consists of Paulsen's early experiences running sled dogs in Minnesota and then in Alaska, and the second half describes the roads and animals he faces in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Paulsen opens his book with a vivid retelling of a story in which he watched brush wolves kill and devour a live doe in the woods. This event revealed the raw, unfabricated realities of nature to him. Paulsen recounts many incidents he has undergone with his dogs on their runs, including times he has been carried to safety by his sled dogs after breaking his knee on the trail, became violently ill in the midst of extreme cold conditions, and a variety of mysterious happenings in the Alaskan wilderness. In all of their adventures, he bonds closely with his dogs, particularly one named Storm. Storm is portrayed as an ideal dog that taught Paulsen many life values.

Part One closes, and Part Two begins with Paulsen entering a team of fifteen of his dogs in the Iditarod Sled Dog Race, an approximately 1,153.2 mile-long sled dog race from Anchorage, AlaskatoNome, Alaska. The race proves to be long and arduous. Extreme cold conditions and difficult terrain put both him and his team to the test. He is repeatedly afflicted by lifelike hallucinations caused by extreme sleep deprivation, such as a man with a trench coat talking about educational grants, and hallucinating about a man hallucinating. But Gary is spurred onward by the beauty of the race and his devotion to the team. During the race, Gary experiences a unique feeling when he is running with his dogs. After nearly seventeen days, he at last crosses the finish line in Nome. He places last in the race, but accomplishment and adventure are all that matter to him. Gary feels at home and a sense of peace when he is sledding with the dogs in the race.

The main characters include Paulsen (the narrator), Dollar, Storm, Yogi, Obeah, Duran, Columbia, Cookie, Olaf, Dunberry, Scarhead, Hawk, Neil, Fred, Clarence, Alex, Wilson, and Blue (dogs).

This article about a non-fiction book related to sports is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This article about a memoir is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.