Well shoot that’s record time for fastest I’ve finished a book. But I love this crap, makes me want to go backpacking. I think I want a moose parka as well.

Not very engaging but then again, this wasn't written for a 35 year old woman. I just really want to read a good survival story and don't know where to look I guess.

Brian’s Winter explores the possible story of what may have happened if Brian had not been rescued before winter arrived in Hatchet. It’s the 3rd book of the Brian’s Saga series. I am continuing my husband’s legacy by finishing the series for him. Two more books to go!

My Rating:
3.5 stars ☆☆☆.5 (rounded up)

| Winter ( / win-ter / ) – the cold season between autumn and spring in northern latitudes (in the Northern Hemisphere from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox; in the Southern Hemisphere from the summer solstice to the autumnal equinox) |

Brian has confronted hunger, bears, wolves, and faced traumatic experiences. He has learned the ways of survival and how to tune into nature. However, this time, he has missed the most important warning of all!

Winter is coming.

Not even the infamous Starks from Games of Thrones whispered, “Winter is coming” to warn him. (Yes, I may be binge watching Game of Thrones right now!)

Now I’m a HUGE fan of survival stories. Give me the nitty-gritty, suffering, look away, violent, gut-wrenching, terrifying, starvation, struggling, desperation kind of detailed stories, and I won’t flinch or run away. I want to know it all. So naturally, this story was slightly underwhelming, especially after losing the surprises Hatchet entailed. It was much too easily handled and far-fetched for my liking. There was an exciting bear encounter, but even that wasn’t something to write home about. Sigh.

Things I Learned Anyway:
1)tFrozen trees explode!
2)tBetty the skunk was the BEST part of the story! She legit saved the day!
3)tKilling animals to survive has to be one of the hardest things to do.
4)tContradicting #3 slightly when I say this but – moose stew sounds delicious!

“The wolves were just being natural and he understood the need to kill—he would himself die if he did not kill.”

Round of applause – Another 2024 Monster Mash Challenge met

|The Mummy Category|
◇ Read a book that has snow or ice somehow involved in the story. ✔️

Name: April Fell
Genre: Adventure
APA: Paulsen, Gary.(1996). Brian's Winter. New York: Random House Children's Books.
Highly Recommended/read 1st two books Hatchet and The River/this is the final book in the series

Brain's Winter is the 3rd book in the Hatchet series. Gary Paulsen received feedback from his readers that they wanted to know what happened to Brian in book II. He felt an obligation to his readers to finish what he had started in Hatchet.

Brian is stranded in the Alaskan wilderness when his plane goes down. It was either learn the ways of the wild or die. Brian built a shelter, learned to make tools, hunt for animals and sew clothing from hide. He also learned the rhythms of the seasons but had not yet experienced winter. He missed the clues of winter's arrival until one day he heard the geese flying south and then he knew his survival would depend on the skills he was learning.

First, he killed small game with a makeshift bow and arrow he made. He realized however, these small animals would not sustain him throughout the winter-moose and deer were his next targets.

Join Brian on his journey and experience what it was for him to experience weeks in a wet, cold sleeping bag and clothing. The feeling of being alone in a forest with nothing to keep you company but sounds of the forest and your own thoughts. It is a life changing event from boyhood to manhood, just as the seasons change, so too does Brian. Highly Recommended

I read the book brians winter .I enjoyed reading this book because it taught me how hard it would be to survive during winter. I like survival books liked this one, because I love what the outdoors has to offer.

Plot: Brian's Winter is book about a boy named Brian who survived in the Canadian wilderness over winter, after his plane had crashed. Brian set up his base camp about fifty yards from the lake and about fifty yards from the woods. He made a shelter to keep him protected from the wind and predators. He gathering firewood had become a chore since he had burned all of his wood within a 100 yards Brian never recognized the signs that winter was coming. Until one day when he woke up and the woods had with two inches of cold snow. Brian gathered firewood and began winterizing his shelter for winter. The days grew colder and shorter. He had less time to hunt, gather. Brian made himself a bow that could kill fool birds and rabbits on an accurate note. Brian never went hungry. He had a couple close encounters with moose, bear, and wolves. One night a bear had found his meat and tore into his shelter apart to pieces. The moose charged him on a hunt and some wolves stalked him but left him alone. Brian sat days upon days in his shelter to stay warm by the fire. He decided to make a war bow to kill bigger game. He made the bow, arrow shafts, and feathers. He made the stone tips out of a weird rock that he had found by the lake. He went out to hunt to kill a moose. Brian had enough meat to last him weeks. Over a period of time the days started to grow longer and warmer. He would go walking on day trips to explore the woods and the beauty of the world around him. Until one day he heard the gunshots. Brian came up on a small pond and saw what appeared to have been a pathway. Brian followed that path until he found dog tracks in the snow. He followed that path until he saw three dogs that were tied up. Brian had finally found another person. He hadn't seen another person in over six months. The person was an eskimo man,he had came out of his hut and invited Brian in. He forgot how to socialize with someone else. Brian took on a journey to the nearest town and he boarded a plane, and he was heading home

Characterization: Brian was a teenager that had crashed in a plane and was the only survivor. He was smart enough to hunt, gather, and most importantly survive. Brian did what he needed to do to survive. He accepted the fact that he would never be rescued. He kept going and strived to survive. Brian had made it out of the wilderness without going insane.

Recommendation: I would reccomend this book to 7-12 graders.If the reader lkies the outdoors they would like this book.

I enjoyed this ending much more than the original. It also made up for the not so great River addition.

Read by Malinda, Summer 2006:
"The book that I read this week was Brian’s Winter by Gary Paulsen. I picked this book to read because I had read the book that came before it in the series with a student that I was tutoring. This book is about a 13 year old boy who is in a plain crash. The small plain that he is flying in goes down in a small lake and the pilot is killed. The plain crash does not happen in this book but you are given enough information to know that it happened. Brian has to survive on his own with only the tools that he can make and a survival kit that he found in the plain after a tornado brought it up out of the water. He has survived all summer but it is now getting colder and winter is on its way. He realizes that he has to make changes in his daily life if he is going to survive the winter. He puts in more wood and changes the way that he hunts. He eventually comes across a family of hunter/trappers and is rescued when their supply plain comes. He is happy to be going home but sad to be leaving the woods. Brian’s Winter is part of the Brian’s Saga series, there are 5 books in this series. The storyline of this series is survival and nature, and is aimed at boys from 5th to 7th grades. Although each book builds on the last, they can all be read by them selves. I feel that series fiction is a great idea when teaching literacy, if the student likes one book they are apt to like the other books in the series or even by the same author. If you are teaching using a series that matures as it goes along so should the vocabulary and plot line. I enjoyed reading this book and would read other Gary Paulsen books for fun."

My personal response- I think this was a very we'll written book. The way Gary Paulson had only one main character and how he managed to still make a great story just around him was amazing.

The Plot- This is about Brian Robeson who is thirteen years old and is trying to survive in a wilderness with winter coming fast. He is not prepared for it at all. He has no clothes or food or anything. He has to learn to do a lot of things a normal thirteen-year-old boy would never have to do. He learns throughout the winter several things like how to skin an animal, how to use a bow and arrow, and how to make a bow and arrow. He learns how to sew clothing out of animal skin. He learns how the mice live under the snow and he makes friends like Betty the skunk, the wolves, and David Smallhorn of the family who rescued him.

The setting- Brian is stranded somewhere in the Canadian wilderness alone. He figures in the story he is somewhere right before the beginning of November or December. The setting affects the story big time if he wasn’t in the wilderness he would be okay.

Characterization of Brian- He is a very quick learner. When he puts his mind to something, he does it no matter how hard. He is also very smart. He learns the ways of the wolves and bears. He hunts with a bow and arrow. He has a very deep appreciation for the natural world. Coming from New York, he doesn’t get to see much of that. Brian matures through his new ability to be patient. He develops a keen sense of observation using things like his senses to survive, and he gets to see how beautiful nature is in the progress.

I think this book is suitable for all ages. I would recommend the book to people who are looking for survival books or suspense. It’s very good the author is amazing.

Until last month, I didn’t even realize that Hatchet had a sequel. Turns out, it has four. How did I not know this?! I skipped over The River, the first sequel, for the time being, as it seemed like a repeat of the first but with an audience. Although I have to confess, I’ll probably be reading it sooner rather than later. But I was intrigued by the synopsis of Brian’s Winter. What if Brian hadn’t been rescued, and had to ride out the winter in the Canadian wilderness? Would he survive?

Spoiler-alert: he survives! And with a lot less angst than was present in Hatchet. By this point, he’s come to terms with his new life and is actually flourishing on his own in the wild. He learns to hunt big game and store meat and make clothes. The first book was emotional. This follow-up “what if?” book was a lot more fun because Brian seemed so happy!

Seeing how someone survives and adapts is always incredibly interesting to me. And what I really love about these books is that they’re not romanticized. Things don’t just fall in Brian’s lap. And he wouldn’t be as happy if they did. The sense of fulfillment and self-satisfaction that floods him whenever he succeeds at something drives him almost as much as his need to survive.

I think every kid should read these books, not only so they have a greater appreciation of what they have, but so they can see the beauty and harshness of nature. Every child should be able to fantasize about surviving on their own, and these books add a touch of realism to that fantasy. And honestly, it wouldn’t hurt adults to read or reread these books, either. Sometimes we need to be reminded what a child can accomplish, and to remember that a child still resides at the center of each of us.

For more of my reviews, as well as my own fiction and thoughts on life, check out my blog, Celestial Musings.

Austin Hammond
English 12/5
September 25th, 2014
Brian’s Winter




I just finished reading “Brian’s Winter” by Gary Paulsen. I thought this was a very good book. It was one of those books that you didn't really want to put down. It was very eventful and always had something new in store.

There was a lot of exciting events that happen in this book, anything from him getting attacked by a bear, to him spearing a moose. The biggest adventure for him I feel was him having to learn to live off the land and make the best of it. I thought it was interesting how he picked up ways to survive from other people's culture such as learning how the Native Americans made spears and clothing.

The main character in this book is Brian. This book doesn't talk a lot about Brian's appearance. It tells you what he looks like in the other books in this series. "Brian's Winter" is the third book in the series of “Brian’s Saga” by Gary Paulsen which include “Hatchet”, “The River”, “Brian’s Winter”, “Brian’s Return”, and the last one “Brian's Hunt”.

This book doesn't say what year it takes place. I know its in the 1900’s. As far as the time this story is taken place, I don’t believe it would of made a difference. The reason for that is no matter what, if your in the middle of the woods all on your own you're going to need to learn how to live off the land.

While reading this book I noticed the author uses Brian as a connection to the reader. It seems that in this book and the rest of the books in the series, he put Brian to the test and has him face many challenges. I noticed no matter what, if he tries hard enough he is always successful and also I think Gary Paulsen is trying to tell us is that, no matter what the earth will always provide us with what we need.

I would give this book a 5-star rating I thought it was very good and I enjoyed reading it. Anyone who likes the outdoors would really enjoy this book. I would recommend it to anyone in middle school and older.

This is an amazing book based off of what would have happened to Brian if he were not rescued before the winter struck him in the northern Canadian wilderness. It shows many scenarios that went very badly for Brian, such as the bear attack, that destroyed his shelter, and then the fact that he was so worried about the bear coming back that he didn't begin to think about preparing for the winter he was about to face. For example, he never began to ready more firewood to help him through the winter, he never thought about how hard food would be to come by during the winter, and worst of all, he didn't prepare for the extreme cold of the winter by building a winter shelter, or making himself any warm clothing to help him manage the cold when he had to leave the shelter in the winter to find wood, or food that he needed to survive. The one thing he did begin to do though was build a much stronger now than his fish and fool bird bow, so that he would be able to hunt deer, or possibly a moose. He also made a killing lance in case anything attacked him again he would be able to defend himself with the new lance.

I really enjoyed the creative side to this book, as Brian had to improvise many things to keep him alive, as well as to help him through the winter, and accommodate him. I also enjoy the whole outdoors theme to this book, as I am a big outdoors person myself, I am able to relate to some of the situations that Brian gets himself into, and then he has to find a way to get out of. The only part of this book that I do not like is how it ends so easily, like Brian finds a cabin that this whole time has only been a little farther out of his exploration range, it almost makes it seem like it was pointless to just settle down on the water, and survive when the cabin was there the whole time.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Gary Paulsen, or any young adult readers.

I thoroughly enjoyed this young adult survival adventure fiction (and I’m much older than that).

STORY BRIEF:
This is a sequel to Hatchet and should be read after Hatchet. At the end of Hatchet, Brian is rescued in the Fall after surviving 54 days alone in the Canadian wilderness. It was a hugely successful book, and many readers wanted to know how Brian would have survived in the winter. So the author wrote this sequel. It starts where Hatchet ends with the difference being Brian is “not rescued” at that time. This is the story of what Brian learns and does to survive in the winter.

REVIEWER’S OPINION:
I loved Hatchet. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Part of the enjoyment is what I learn - things I don’t know. It makes me grateful to have what I have and not go through what Brian had to go through. The author personally spent a lot of time in this type of environment, so he had knowledge that he incorporated into his fiction. I like seeing characters learn, grow, and change in a book - which both of these books provide.

Regarding the narrators: Richard Thomas is a very good actor, but I prefer Peter Coyote as narrator. Peter narrated Hatchet. Richard narrated this book. During this book I kept thinking about Richard Thomas the actor. When I listened to Hatchet, I was so into the story I didn’t think about the narrator, which may be a compliment to Peter Coyote.

OTHER BOOKS:
The author wrote many books, but the Hatchet series consists of:
5 stars. Hatchet (read first)
5 stars. Brian’s Winter (read second or third but I prefer second)
3 stars. The River (read second or third)
4 stars. Brian’s Return
3 stars. Brian’s Hunt

DATA:
Unabridged audiobook length: 3 hours 11 minutes. Narrator: Richard Thomas. Swearing language: none. Sexual content: none. Setting: current day Canadian wilderness. Copyright: 1996. Genre: young adult adventure fiction.