Books with author Roderick Haig-Brown

"Nothing in nature, so long as it is honestly observed and honestly described, can harm the mind of a child. Almost all the ills of the human race may be traced to the fact that it has strayed too far from nature and knows too little of the natural order of things . . . let them read and understand the ways of animals and birds, of water and wind and earth; for these things are pure and true and unspoiled."--Roderick Haig-BrownKi-Yu roams the full length of Vancouver Island's Wapiti Valley without fear, hunting deer, visiting females, and using his cunning and strength to evade famed cougar hunter David Milton with his shotgun and barking dogs. Evocative of Jack London's White Fang, Panther captures the harsh reality of the Vancouver Island setting with Haig-Brown's skillful, unadorned prose, telling an enthralling-- and often bloody--story of elusive wild cats and the timber wolves, bears, blacktail deer and humans who are all led by instinct as they struggle for survival in an unforgiving wilderness.

In The Whale People, young Atlin must one day succeed his father Nit-gass, a great whaling chief of the Hotsath people. The boy trains for his role with the mixture of yearning and apprehension experienced by every youth racing toward adulthood - except that in Atlin's case, his whole community is depending on his success.With lean, sure-footed prose, Haig-Brown captures the tangled emotions of adolescence, and in the process conveys a vivid portrait of pre-Columbian life on the West Coast. Never preachy or condescending, The Whale People is richly furnished with the material and spiritual mainstays of its characters: canoes, harpoons, animals and "tumanos," the personal magic a great whaler and leader must possess."Timeless" is a term too freely bandied about, but seldom has a story so deftly married the moment with the millennia. Written 40 years ago - it was named Book of the Year for Children by the Canadian Library Association in 1964 - it could be set 400 years ago, yet there is not one quaint or dated sentence in it.

Another west coast classic is back in print with Harbour Publishing! In this prequel to the bestselling Saltwater Summer, renowned outdoor author Roderick Haig-Brown writes about two boys on the verge of manhood and their attempts to make their own living.Don Morgan is sixteen and ready to earn his keep. His family expects him to take a job at the local fish cannery but Don thinks that if he spends the winter up in Starbuck Valley trapping marten, he could make enough money with the furs to buy his own salmon troller.With his friend Tubby Miller, Don goes up into the wild, unexplored valley of the Shifting River to set out his trapline. The boys' cabin is gloomy, the trapping is poor and Tubby's pleasant disposition begins to sour. Things don't improve when Don begins to cultivate the friendship of their nearest neighbour, a notorious character named Lee Jetson. Lee knows how to trap marten and that is important to Don - he is willing to take chances to ensure the success of the winter's venture in spite of Tubby's obvious and irritating alarm.With astute observation, Roderick Haig-Brown shows how Don's courage is tested and how his strength and judgement develop. This book combines a skilful novelist's storytelling gifts with a sensitive insight into the problems and point of view of a boy on the threshold of maturity.

This tale of a young man's first summer as a commercial salmon fisherman on the BC coast, written in 1948 by the renowned fisherman and outdoor adventure writer Roderick Haig-Brown, has become a modern classic.Don Morgan has made enough money trapping on northern Vancouver Island to realize his dream: he has bought himself a 32-foot West Coast salmon troller, Mallard. In early summer, with his pal Tubby, he sets off on his great adventure, which does not unfold quite as he had pictured it. Don has a lot to learn--not just about commercial fishing, but about growing up. The fishing is so poor that Don could lose his beloved boat before the first season is over. But in the end, Don's own good sense prevails, his real friends come through, and he finds a way to overcome his troubles--running into some real-life adventure in the process.

This tale of a young man's first summer as a commercial salmon fisherman on the BC coast, written in 1948 by the renowned fisherman and outdoor adventure writer Roderick Haig-Brown, has become a modern classic.Don Morgan has made enough money trapping on northern Vancouver Island to realize his dream: he has bought himself a 32-foot West Coast salmon troller, Mallard. In early summer, with his pal Tubby, he sets off on his great adventure, which does not unfold quite as he had pictured it. Don has a lot to learn--not just about commercial fishing, but about growing up. The fishing is so poor that Don could lose his beloved boat before the first season is over. But in the end, Don's own good sense prevails, his real friends come through, and he finds a way to overcome his troubles--running into some real-life adventure in the process.