In the National Book Award longlist book This Side of Wild, Newbery
Honor-winning author Gary Paulsen shares surprising true stories about
his relationship with animals, highlighting their compassion, intellect,
intuition, and sense of adventure.
Gary Paulsen is an adventurer who competed in two Iditarods, survived
the Minnesota wilderness, and climbed the Bighorns. None of this would
have been possible without his truest companions: his animals. Sled dogs
rescued him in Alaska, a sickened poodle guarded his well-being, and a
horse led him across a desert. Through his interactions with dogs,
horses, birds, and more, Gary has been struck with the belief that
animals know more than we may fathom.
His understanding and admiration of animals is well known, and in This
Side of Wild, which has taken a lifetime to write, he proves the ways
in which they have taught him to be a better person.