One Christmas Eve an emaciated deer stumbled across the yard of Helen Hoover’s remote cabin in northern Minnesota. Barely surviving the brutal winter, gaunt from starvation, blind in one eye from a hunting wound, he became the central character in Hoover’s best-selling book, The Gift of the Deer.Hoover and her husband Adrian named this deer Peter and nursed him back to health, setting out cedar branches, corn, and carrots. From that Christmas on, the Hoovers observed Peter and his growing clan for four years. Hoover relates the story of these deer, including the birth of new fawns, the danger of predators, even the amusing way a mother deer teaches “manners” to her young.The Gift of the Deer, first published in 1966, sold over 50,000 copies and is Hoover’s best-selling book. It is now available in an inexpensive paperback edition that is beautifully illustrated by Adrian Hoover. Readers young and old will delight in this touching story of two north woods families.

    But as Elsa had been born free, Joy made the heartbreaking decision that she must be returned to the wild when she was old enough to fend for herself. Since the first publication of Born Free and its sequels Living Free and Forever Free, generations of readers have been enchanted, inspired and moved by these books’ uplifting charm and the remarkable interaction between Joy and Elsa. Millions have also come to know and love Born Free through the immortal film starring Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers. But here is the chance to rediscover the original story in this 50th anniversary edition, in the words of the woman who reared Elsa and walked with the lions.

    In his autobiography, the author of No Room for Bears also writes a loving biography of the rough, beautiful, and exciting place that was Alaska in the 1920's and 30's. The book is filled with spell-binding "descriptions of primitive Eskimos, of dog-sledding over the Bering ice, of sour-doughs he knew along the Yukon, of caribou and mountain goats and bears, of the old Alaska which will never be again." The quote is from Corey Ford, and Mr. Ford continues: "Certainly no man had a better first-hand knowledge of Alaska's birds and fishes and animals ...Frank Dufresne had a fantastic memory, a keen eye...a boundless excitement over each new discovery... My Way Was North is an unforgettable picture of early days in Nome and Fairbanks, a tale of breath-taking adventure in the white cold..." Frank Dufresne's early reports from Alaska helped to shape the first comprehensive Alaska Game Act, and he subsequently served as Director of the Alaska Game Commission. His saga is a delicious balance of personal observation, anecdote, and knowledge born of experience. Whether he's describing a three month trek on dogsled, or wooing Klondy, his concert-violinist, dog-sled-driving wife, whether he's stepping (literally) inside a whale's mouth or sharing a fragrant raw fish with an even more fragrant Eskimo, this is consistently superb yarn-spinning for readers of any age.