Puppies, Dogs, And Blue Northers Essay

490 Words1 Page

I really enjoyed "Puppies, Dogs, and Blue Northers" by Gary Paulsen, because it was a story about his life. In the book Paulsen shows the true outdoors. He explains that he lives in northern Minnesota in a small house with his wife, Ruth and son, Jim. They have electricity but they do not have a television. In their small house the only heat source they have is a woodstove. Paulsen explains, that he is usually the first one to wake up and is consequently the person who has to get the morning fire started. He explains about his dog kennel he has. It is composed of all of his sled dogs that he raises. Paulsen is a sled dog racer and has raced in the Iditarod a few times. The story shows true friendship between Paulsen and his dog Cookie. This …show more content…

Without her as the main character the book would have no true meaning behind it. The relationship that they have together really ties the story together. His wife Ruth and son Jim do not play as heavy of a role as Cookie in the story. Being that the book takes place in Northern Minnesota in about the 1980's. Paulsen lives in a small house that doesn't really take much to keep up. It is surrounded by his passion of dog sledding and racing.I think that the book being based on dogsledding and the work that is involved with it really shows how Paulsen is an old fashion kind of person. He does have a lot of up to date things and the way that he writes his books is in an understandable and relatable fashion. He is just the kind of person that enjoys doing things the more traditional way. In "Puppies, Dogs, and Blue Northers", I think that one common theme is companionship between humans and dogs. For example Paulsen gets in an accident and all of the dogs get loose and run back home. Cookie takes off too, but she has a different idea. She runs all of the dogs down and turns them back towards the sled. Once they are back they go into their spots and wait to be harnessed. The caring and loving that Cookie shows towards Paulsen is quite a great feature in her

More about Puppies, Dogs, And Blue Northers Essay

Open Document