Books published by publisher David R. Godine Publisher 2013

Camp, explore, hike, discover, learn woodcraft―get outdoors and be at home in nature all through the year!This Handy Book was written in 1906 by a pioneer of the scouting movement, Daniel C. Beard, whose great passion was making boys and girls feel at home in the great outdoors. Then, as now, the reward is to experience nature's wonders while fostering self-sufficiency and independence. That is what The Field and Forest Handy Book provides.There are chapters on packing a horse, on making clothes and moccasins, on camp cooking, on building piers, boats, sleds, kites, birdhouses, snow houses, and snowmen. Everything imaginable for all ages to have some serious fun.

A very funny story of brains versus brawn. Tom is happy with his new Aunt Bundlejoy Cosysweet. And his aunt is delighted to join Tom in his latest invention, a jam-powered frog. When the frog hops past Captain Najork’s window Tom does not expect to be chased by a pedal powered snake, complete with the Captain and his hired sportsmen, bent on revenge. As Tom, the Captain, and aunt all converge on a nearby girls’ boarding school, the tables are suddenly turned with the Captain finding himself in a very precarious situation.... A wonderfullt satisfying collaboration for children by Russell Hoban and Quentin Blake.

Friendship, resourcefulness, adventures! Here’s the classic tale of two families of children who band together against a common foe: an uncle who claims he’s too busy for his nieces.The Walker children (John, Susan, Titty and Roger) are on school holiday in the Lake District and are sailing a borrowed catboat named “Swallow,” when they meet the Blackett children (Nancy and Peggy), who sail the boat, “Amazon.” The children camp together on Wild Cat Island where a plot is hatched against the Blackett’s Uncle Jim who is too busy writing his memoirs to be disturbed. Fireworks—literally—ensue along with a dangerous contest, a run-in with houseboat burglars, and the theft of Uncle Jim’s manuscript. How all this is resolved makes for an exciting and very satisfying story. Uncle Jim ends up apologizing for missing his nieces’ adventures all summer—thankfully, readers won’t miss a thing. Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons series has stood the test of time. More than just great stories, each one celebrates independence and initiative with a colorful, large cast of characters. Like the entire series that follows, this book is for children or grownups, anyone captivated by a world of adventure and imagination, exploring and setting sail.

The uproarious true adventures of a dog who doesn’t understand that he’s a dog — and the boy who loved him. Funny, heartwarming, and true, this is a classic story of a very imaginative kid and one very unusual dog.Funny and poignant, The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be is a lively portrait of an unorthodox childhood and an unforgettable friendship. Growing up in on the frontier of Saskatoon, Canada, the legendary adventurer and naturalist, Farley Mowat, received a gift from his mom: a dog she bought for four cents. Farley quickly named him “Mutt.”Mutt displayed skills at hunting and retrieving that were either pure genius or just plain crazy — once going so far as to retrieve a plucked and trussed ruffed grouse from the grocer. Mutt also loved riding passenger in an open car wearing goggles and climbing both trees and ladders — the perfect companion for a child with a love for animals and misadventures.Originally published for young people, this is a memoir by the author Never Cry Wolf that will delight dog lovers of all ages.

It is a long time ago in a village near Germany's Black Forest, and Erich, a foundling, has been left in the care of the good and charitable Frau Goddhart. Or, at least the publicly good and charitable Frau Goddhart; at home it's quite another story. Erich's young life of work and little love changes when old Ula, the town's most skillful clockmaker, offers him a job as his helper. Ula is patient and very slow worker, which is why his cuckoo clocks are the best anywhere. Ula teaches Erich about clockmaking, playing the fiddle, and many other useful and wonderful things.One day as Ula works at his clockmaking and Erich looks one, Baron Balloon storms in demanding a clock. Ula refuses, and decided right then and there to make a clock for himself, a wondrous, beautiful clock that will be his last and best. The clock he makes - with Erich's help - is wonderful, beautiful, and magical, with a cheerful enchanted cuckoo bird that knows all the thirty-six songs of the birds of the Black Forest. Mary Stolz's story is alive with magic of art and creation and is sure to enchant, as are the warm pencil illustrations of Pamela Johnson.

This lovely retelling of one of the lesser known tales of the Saint Francis's lessons centers on the legend of the great wolf of Gubbio, a ferocious canine who terrorized the town and was slowly reducing it to penury and starvation. In nearby Assisi, Brother Francis heard of their plight and came to their rescue. Unbelievingly, the villagers watched from the ramparts as Brother Francis called to the wolf, tamed it with his tenderness, and made it pledge that if the people of Gubbio would care for it, he would do them no harm. He took the pledge and lived in harmony with the citizens of the city until his death.

A board book especially for country toddlers. In sweet pictures and rhyme, we are taken through the daily tasks of running the farm: milking, egg collecting, laundry, woodcutting, and more. The little old man, the little old lady, their cat, their dog, and other familiar livestock are depicted in Andrea Wisnewski's uniquely charming paper-cut print style. The words on each page beg to be read aloud, time and time again.

For anyone who loves sailing and adventure, Arthur Ransome's classic Swallows and Amazons series stands alone. Originally published in the UK over a half century ago, these books are still eagerly read by children, despite their length and their decidedly British protagonists. We attribute their success to two facts: first, Ransome is a great storyteller and, second, he clearly writes from first-hand experience. Independence and initiative are qualities any child can understand and every volume in this collection celebrates these virtues. Swallows and Amazons, the book that started it all in 1930, introduces the Walker family, the camp on Wild Cat Island, the able-bodied catboat "Swallow," and the two intrepid Amazons, plucky Nancy and Peggy Blackett.

A perfect New England summer in 1910, based on the childhood stories of Donald Hall's own mother. Poet laureate Donald Hall grew up spending his summers on his grandfather’s farm in what was then rural New Hampshire. It was there that his mother, Lucy, and her sister Caroline told stories about their childhood – a time when the July Fourth parade in Danbury, New Hampshire was the biggest celebration of the year (complete with flags, speeches, and ice cream) and when a trip to Boston, where toys could be bought for a penny apiece, was counted as a major event. This is a piece of Americana that will bring readers back to a simpler time in which pleasure was derived from making as much as buying, where politics were truly local and not a national circus, and when worth was determined by character, not price.

First published in England in 1902, and full of whimsical charm, The Adventures of Uncle Lubin, presents one of literature’s most guileless and sincere characters. With his comically floppy hat and striped baggy stockings, gentle, serious Uncle Lubin is left in charge of his beloved nephew Peter. One fateful day, a great Bagbird swoops down while Uncle Lubin is innocently napping, whisks away the screaming child in his beak, and flies to the moon. Deeply horrified by the unexpected turn of affairs, Uncle Lubin nonetheless recognizes his duty as Peter’s guardian and sets out on a series of adventures to deliver the child from the wretched bag-bird, searching high and low (literally) for the kidnapped child. His ingenuity proves boundless: he builds an air-ship to follow the bird to the moon (using his hat as a parachute to descend); he invents a submersible sea-boat to search for Peter among the mer-men and mer-children of the deep; he kills a sea-serpent by putting salt on its tail (which we all know is the only way to kill a sea-serpent). He even melts an iceberg with a candle to reach the wicked bag-bird perched mockingly on top. These fantastic adventures are enhanced by Robinson’s detailed pen-and-ink drawings depicting, among other things, Uncle Lubin’s remarkable inventions and contraptions. Robinson had a profound affection for the ridiculous, and was a genius at sensitively and inventively depicting the absurd.