Youth outdoor book recommendations?

Kindo

WKR
Joined
Dec 31, 2015
Messages
466
Location
Hudson, WI
I tried doing a little digging but came up empty. I’ve got a soon to be 8 and 10 yo who really enjoy the outdoors and anything hunting related. My daughter (10yo) loves to read and burns through 8-10 books a month and never struggles to stay engaged with various topics.

My son on the other hand, struggles to stay engaged and interested in most books. I’m hoping to find some outdoor/mountain man books for kids. Any recommendations? I used to read some back in the day but I can’t for the life of me recall the name or characters of those books.

Thanks!
 
Joined
Dec 7, 2014
Messages
852
My side of the mountain was my favorite book as a kid, probably still is. Such a cool story and really sparked my interest in the outdoors outside of my Dad.

Edit: I also remember hatchet being cool as well, and the Everest series.
 
Joined
Jul 30, 2015
Messages
6,321
Location
Lenexa, KS
Stickeen by John Muir is a short read but very worthwhile.

Certainly Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. He has a few others in that series and then more in general. I really liked him as a kid.

Indian in the Cupboard series.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2019
Messages
2,555
Location
Missouri
Gary Paulsen (Hatchet series, Tucket series) and Will Hobbs (Far North, Downriver) were some of my favorite outdoor/adventure authors around that age. Maybe try some Louis L'Amour westerns when they get a bit older.
 

davidsapp

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Oct 29, 2018
Messages
250
Location
SE TN
Pat Macmanus if he likes humorous writing, I loved him growing up and my son laughed until he cried reading my old books. Gary Paulsen has some good stuff, as noted above.
 

dtrkyman

WKR
Joined
Oct 2, 2014
Messages
3,188
If any of them have interest in turkeys then Illumination in the Flatwoods by Joe Hutto, tells the story of him hatching a clutch of wild turkey eggs and raising them as much like wild birds as he can.

Maybe Rinella's new book, Outside kids in an inside world, have not read it personally.
 

Lowg08

WKR
Joined
Aug 31, 2019
Messages
2,233
Just go pick up the Louis lamour paper backs My kid loves them. He is 13
 
OP
Kindo

Kindo

WKR
Joined
Dec 31, 2015
Messages
466
Location
Hudson, WI
"Hatchet" is a pretty good one.

Short stories from Jack London
Thanks, Jack London is who I was trying to recall! Hatchet was a good one too. I put a couple orders in so hopefully this sparks some more interest in reading.
 

98XJRC

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Mar 30, 2022
Messages
285
I bought my kids the Lane Walker series. I haven’t read them personally but they all seemed to really enjoy the books and tore through fairly quickly.

Lane Walker Books
 

Loper

WKR
Joined
Jul 1, 2020
Messages
1,131
Maybe Rinella's new book, Outside kids in an inside world, have not read it personally.

I’m reading Outside Kids in an Inside World now and it is aimed at adults/parents about how to get kids excited about nature and the outdoors.
 
OP
Kindo

Kindo

WKR
Joined
Dec 31, 2015
Messages
466
Location
Hudson, WI
Thanks everyone for all the great leads! Keep them coming, I’m building a great list!
 

Agross

WKR
Joined
Jan 25, 2017
Messages
1,756
Location
Michigan
Hatchet
Where the red fern grows
Summer of the monkeys
The call of the wild
White fang

i hated reading as a kid, like hated it, still not something I do much of other than rokslide really, but, I enjoyed all these books as a kid.
 

NB7

WKR
Joined
Jul 8, 2020
Messages
383
Anything by Jim Kjelgaard. I loved them growing up and still do. Big Red, Snow Dog, Wild Trek, and Irish Red were some of my favorites.
I remember these too as a kid and loved them. One of my favorites was about a game warden, although I can't remember the title- The one where the main character used an old hornet nest as a head on a human decoy to draw out the shooter? Long time ago but I remember really enjoying his books
 
Joined
Sep 11, 2019
Messages
90
Location
MT
I'm in the same spot. I just ordered Most Dangerous Game a few days ago. As a kid I enjoyed Louis L'Amour but my boy didn't connect. I'll be looking at Paulsen as that seems popular. I appreciate the suggestions as well.
 

Clovis

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jul 6, 2012
Messages
194
My son loved all the Gary Paulsen books, particularly the Hatchet series and Tuckett ones. Another one he really enjoyed were the Lew & Charlie stories that appeared in Fur, Fish & Game. You can buy them as analogies from FFG too.
 
Top