Alaska Books

I first recieved this book after Shelly Gill spoke at my elementary school when I was in 3rd grade. It was my favorite book! It is a fun-loving story, and it has very engaging pictures.I would reccomend this to children everywhere...
Side Note: I love this book so much that I am using it as part of one of my College reports!

Danger the Yard Dog Cat was Dangerously Extreme. It is about a cat named Danger & he lives with 57 Huskies! Thanks for the autograph, Shelley Gill.

I give this book four stars. It`s great and really funny! I don`t give it five stars because it is too easy for me. It should be for kids ages 4-6. I recommend this book for kids who like cats.

I like the book Danger the Dog Yard Cat. I recommend this book to you because it tells you about a cat that raced in the Iditarod. The pictures are funny. This book is half true and half make believe. This book is about a cat that gets saved by a dog sled racer that has a lot of dogs. The Cat has to race for the dog leader because he hurt his paw. Danger had one friend that was a dog, and his name was Mud shark.

Danger the Dog Yard Cat was one of the best books I've ever read because it's funny with a very catchy ending. Shelley Gill is funny and cool.

I spent a few weeks in the Pacific Northwest and bought this book as soon as I had arrived. (I love the Lone Pine guides- Plants of the Rocky Mountains, and Wildflowers of Tennessee the Ohio Valley and Southern Appalachians)
I loved using this book; it was worth every penny, even for a short period of time - I carried it with me everywhere. This is a wonderful reference for any level of plant or wildflower enthusiast. And the notes on historical uses and other interesting factoids give the flowers and plants a depth that they never had before! Buy this book!

The most comprehensive guide the plants of the rainy coastal forest of the Pacific Northwest. Good photos, range maps, and general info for most plants you'll find. I've stumped it a few times, but generally every plant I find hiking in the forest is in there somewhere. For the most part well organized. The book is high quality and has rounded corners for backpack use. Highly recommended.

I have several other plant identification books. This is the best one by far for my area (the central Oregon coast). The information beyond simple plant identification is exceptionally useful.

This book is awesome. I learned to love Biology from Mr. Brugman at Toutle Lake High School with Mr. Brugman and his required plant collection. Now I'm all grown up and homeschool my 3 kids with this book! My oldest boy uses it almost every day; searching outside and identifying plants. He is only 11 and has worn the binding of this book out! I've taped it all back together several times and now here I am at amazon to buy him a new one for his birthday! Very informative and easy to use book with lots of neat history facts about our areas shrubs and their uses in the past. Very colorful and beautiful pictures help with easy identification! Others wouldn't probably approve, but my little boy has done 3 of these collections for other high school sutudents who all received A's. (none from Toutle, of course LOL) This book has helped nurture my little boys' love of the outdoors and plants. Thanks again for the inspiring me to love Biology, Mr. Brugman. From ~ Robin (Berry) Hamm

This is by far the best native plant guide for the Northwest that I've encountered. My family has amassed quite a few guides for local plants, but none come close to containing the information that Pojar and MacKinnon have put in this book. Plants are listed according to families, using common family names, though there is a glossary for the scientific names in the List of Keys on p 6. The pictures are for the most part excellent. The Notes are fantastic and I love the tribal use section as I have a particular interest in ethnobotany. The introduction also includes a great breakdown of the NW tribes and their whereabouts and distinctions. This book is very easy to use, making it perfect for the hobbyist, yet I think the information is exact enough with good identification keys and illustrations that hardcore botanists would find it a useful addition to their references.

It's a touch heavy to go hiking with, though if I weren't such a slug I might take it anyway. I usually take photos of any unfamiliar plants I find and then cross-reference when I'm home.

There is a revised edition coming out Nov. 30th, 2004 and I can't wait to get my paws on it! My current copy is completely dog-eared. I just wish the editors and authors (you listening?) would consider a guide to the Northeast coast.

This is a very detailed book that gives a very good sense for the various campgrounds in Alaska. It provides phone numbers for most places, and we were able to call ahead to check availability and if the wash facilities were available and to check hours of operation. GPS locations are also given for each campground. It also lists some points of interest around the area of the campgrounds. This along with The Milepost were invaluable.

My wife and I recently came back from a 2-week RV trip from Alaska exploring as far north as Chena Hot Springs and as far south as Seward and had a wonderful time. This guide book helped us tremendously on our journey because it was easy to use, accurate, and comprehensive. If and when we do decide to return to Alaska for another trip, we'll be sure to buy the same guide and the latest edition.

This is great for the RV's not so good for tent campers and Motorcycle Adventure tourers.

Since we will be camping most of the time while in Alaska, this book is a great guide.

This is a GREAT book! I highly recommend it if you are planning a trip to Alaska. It is VERY informative and VERY detailed. I enjoyed it immensely and I know I will take it with me when I visit Alaska next year! Thanks to the authors for such a great book!

Reading "It Takes One to Catch One" by Steven A. Knutson, was like being in the high Sierras near the John Muir trail under stars spread across the bowl of night like a crowded field full of blooming flowers sitting around a camp fire chased by wisps of smoke swapping stories with friends now gone. I've done that and more. But I haven't hunted and fished like this author has. I haven't been close to a grizzly with two cubs--so close that Knutson felt the touch of death as he tensed waiting for the claws and teeth to slash and bite.

The author of "Catch One" will tell you that this is fiction. It's not fiction. It's captured memories that are like a wild beast, and the story meanders as the author travels back through the years. Sure, there are flaws, but those flaws make this work perfect in the way it captures a wild, dying world most of us will never experience as we are tamed and conditioned to fool ourselves that we are free in noisy, crowded, smelly cities shared with graffiti, gangs and gray CO2 skies. What most of us breathe is not the pure air of Knutson's world.

Every sentence; every fragment and every run-on or intended, misspelled word along with happy or unhappy faces in places of periods, sculpt a unique image of the author and the world he grew and lived in--a place most of us will never see as corporations and greed pave nature and turn it into a parking lots surrounded by condos, casinos and strip malls.

Knutson's style is like `sitting around a wilderness campfire' with bears, moose, dear and bobcat lurking nearby in the brush waiting. As you read, you might find yourself wondering what kind of rifle or pistol you have or should have and is it ready. If you want the rivers and mountains and forests of this world to stay wild, don't tame this book. If you love to fish, Knutson's stories will send you places you may only dreamed about.

To tame this precious beast that Knutson calls "It Takes One To Catch One" would be a crime. I'm sure some editor or grammar maven with a corn cob stuck up his `you know what' would do it because of short sighted stupidity. If you are one of those `stuck in the mud' editorial types, you might not like what a home-spun, wilderness artist does with the written word. To bad, your loss--our gain. Before I go any further, I want to point out that I taught English grammar and literature for thirty years. I also edit my wife's novels (printed and sold in more than thirty languages and countries) before her manuscripts go to her publisher. I feel strongly that a style that goes with the character and voice of the artist are more important than a missing comma or quotation mark; fragment or run-on sentence.

I love to read books that take me places I have not been. "It Takes One to Catch One" was one of those books. I watched Knutson fish and trap not only wild animals for food and fur along with criminal types that would ruin what's left of nature for a profit but also the car of a neighbor trying to run down another neighbor's dog.

If you are a Bambi lover (a person that doesn`t know what living in the real world means), someone that thinks squirrels and bears and deer are cuddly and cute creatures created by a Disney cartoon, this book is not for you. It will probably give Bambi lovers nightmares. On the other hand, if you miss being out in the wilderness and understand that `wild' means danger of another type and you embrace that danger, don't miss out on the adventures in "It Takes One To Catch One". There are two-hundred-and-seventy-eight pages of laughter and `seat-of-the-pants' adventure waiting.

Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for [...] 5/08
I love this book! Throughout It Takes One To Catch On,e I found myself trying to separate fact from fiction. I've always heard that "life is stranger than fiction," so I suspect there is a lot of truth in this narrative. Steven Knutson writes from a personal perspective. He shares memories of his younger years from a "seasoned" perspective.
Knutson's personality shines through in his book. He easily laughs at himself and invites the reader to join in. I do want to make one tiny suggestion. Please removed the smiley faces. You do not need them, and they distract from the story. Reading It Takes One To Catch One is like sitting on the front porch with a dear friend while listening to him reminisce. Mr. Knutson, please tell me another story. For a lighthearted look at life, rush out and buy It Takes One To Catch One.

Was sharing with a friend that this book is a great read in these economic times, if for no other reason that to show that a person with an adventuresome spirit can survive and enjoy the process.

Be it Minnesota, Montana, Washington State, Alaska or parts of Canada, the stories make you feel as if you are with the author.

And in some ways they also reminded me of the TV show Northern Exposure, as well as some great songs from Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash. Alas its fiction, and I rarely ever read fiction.But its great fiction.

My husband, Brian and I have long known Steve and through those years he shared snippets of his vast and colorful past. Those stories and tales were always telling in his unique sense and style of humor. His stature and demeanor places one in awe and wonder as to how this guy survived his youth of sometime deliberate acts in his quest for adventure and his lust for life. I read the manuscript first and all who know Brian knows he has no sense of humor; but I'd hear gut-busting laughter from down the hallway and knew he was reading It Takes One to Catch One. Steve will take you on a journey into his world of adventure from his early youth into his (almost grown-up years). He grew up during a time of not so much plenty but turned it into a time of growth and change for himself. He could have easily turned out to be the original and true Real Bandit, but his lessons of life revered him to become the man we all came to know and admire. By no means should you allow yourself to think he's old as he would have you believe. That zest for life burns bright this day and I cannot wait to get my hands on his sequel. I purchased his paperback for our Alaskan library and recommend it HIGHLY. It's filled with his humorous tales and stories of life lived to its fullest....sometimes on razor's edge (that's the prepetural kid in him) yet always focused. How else could he have survived it all?

This book is a must read for anyone who ever dreamed of Alaska. Knutson is the consumate Alaskan sportsman. From law enforcement, to hunting, trapping and fishing, Steve does it all and tells his tall tales like he is sitting around a campfire. If you want to hunt sheep or bears, or snowmobile at night in subzero weather, or catch big fish in remote lakes this book is for you. Outdoorsman the world over will love these adventures. It is a great contribution to Alaska's back country lore.

What a great read! Awe Inspiring, Alaskan all the way. Does not get more raw than that! I grew up in the bush hearing tales of the good old days. This is a story worth every word.

I spent time in the village of Huslia and actually taught in the school Jimmy started there. I met Jimmy's brother Sidney, who also wrote an awesome book, SHADOWS ON THE KOYUKUK. This is a beautiful, but harsh country where survival was not a given. This is a marvelous book..... unforgetable........ a must-read for a lover of adventure and the wilderness!

Recently, I have been fascinated by Alaska and the people that inhabit(ed) its interior. The life of Jim Huntington is to be admired by everyone. This book was a fast read and a real page turner. It is more adventurous than many fictional tails I have read. Excellent and should be read by everyone.

I think I bought the last eight copies, so please order more, Amazon. I teach high school in the Alaskan bush, and it is extremely difficult to find books that my non-readers enjoy reading that also have academic value. This book, and "Shadows on the Koyukuk" by Sidney Huntington, Jimmy's brother, have given my students insight into the transition between traditional Native culture and current native culture with its White influence and inclusion. My copies are going into the Alaska History tub of materials from our district resource center, to be shared by the other schools in our district. We will need more copies.

Jimmy Huntington wrote the best read I have seen in awhile--not too flowery, just basic truth. I loved it!!! Bonnie

i haven't read a lot of colleen coble because i don't particularly like suspense books. But, i liked this one surprisingly!! i thought i had figured it out half way through but ended up being wrong. i'm not saying it's one of my favorite books but i really did enjoy reading it and would reccommend it to anyone considering reading it.

Colleen Coble's books are difficult to put down. I have read the Rock Harbor series and am half way through the Aloha series along with Alaska Twilight in 1 and 1/2 months time. Needless to say, I will probably order the remainder of Coble's books. I traveled to Alaska in July and could relate to many parts of this book, especially the bears.

I absolutely loved this book. I couldn't put it down. The end of each chapter kept me wanting more. Great ending and very unexpected. I went out and bought Colleens entire Rock harbor series after reading this book. You gotta get this book!!

Awesome. Couldn't put it down. The romance, suspense, murders, grizzlie bears, Alaskan wilderness...loved it all. Next book please?

I'm a big fan of Dee Henderson's O'Malley Series and this was even more exciting. You won't be able to put it down.

Colleen Coble has woven a fabulous, suspense-filled tale of bears and the Alaskan wilderness into a most enjoyable read. Haley Walsh, city girl and photographer extraordinaire, has a prosthesis and significant emotional baggage. She's one spunky heroine who will grab your heart. Tank Lassiter is a famous wildlife biologist who works with the Alaskan bear and has his own baggage including his dead wife's twin sister who wants custody of his young daughter. Haley and Tank have some growing to do before they can be the perfectly matched pair.

Coble's skill with the narrative and description has you right there in the wilderness of Alaska with Tank and Haley, their problems, and those scary bears. You'll find the inspirational thread skillfully and unobtrusively, blended throughout and the plot twists and turns will keep you guessing and turning the pages. My first Coble novel, and I'm hooked.

I've just granted my eyes and heart a second opportunity to experience Alaska through the verse and images of John Pezzenti Jr. The verse conveys both the spiritual and emotional connection the author obviously has with Alaska. The images transport this viewer to a place and time that feature nature displaying a magnificence worthy of savoring. Alaska, the book, inspires me to contemplate another adventure here in the northern Eden we call Alaska. A place where I am invited to quest for the spirit of the natural world that John Pezzenti knows so well. Alaska, the book and Alaska, the place transend the ordinary with grandure and excitement. I recommend both to anyone who lusts for beyond the ordinary. John Toppenberg

After 40 some years of living Alaska, I am well aware of the difficulty and seeming impossibility of capturing the great land on film and with words. The true essense and spitituality of this vast offering often eludes our cameras and pens. John has nailed it. His enduring patience and impecable eye for the finest of nature glows from image to image, mushroom ice stands, an otter enjoying a meal, volcanic clouds balloning over stands of towering spruce, an eaglets first moment broken from the shell, in your face bears, all these images and much more inspire me to look harder, go further, and wait longer for more of Alaska than I have ever experienced. The photos are sparkled by John's unique style of writing. After recieving the book as a gift I spent long nights, reading and re-reading his tales of adventure with delight. My work takes me far from home and John's book gives me opportunity to share the true flavors of Alaska with those I meet on the trail. Thank you John for sharing your God given talents, I so look forward to the next book.

There are a great many picture books on Alaska, some which contain exceptional photgraphic elements. There are a great many journalistic books on Alaska, some which are so well written the reader is taken with and to The Great Land. John Pezzenti's book epitomizes the best of both.

Like Alaska, this book is greater than it's physical boundaries. It evokes the senses and the emotions. This is one photo book that is a must read!

Great Book! I would recommend to anybody interested in the beauty of our 49th state. This book captures the wild beauty and grandeur of the last frontier. Buy this book, if you can!

Once you have met John Pezzenti, you will understand that this artist and his incredible photographs are one entity. John's "ALASKA..." will take you on an incredible journey through the heart of the Alaskan wilderness, into the soul of an unforgettable man.

Five years ago, I walked into a conference room at the World Trade Center in Manhattan. A man stood beside a display of exquisitely breathtaking photographs, protecting them like an anxious parent; listening to every word, every comment, as if there might be some question about the magnificence of his work. That enigma was John Pezzenti, Jr. Those privileged to know him, have experienced the complexities of the man: Passionate, sensitive, wild as Alaska, free as the wind and sometimes, as immovable as the mountains. His life and his photographs have made an indelible impression.

Language seems a truly inadequate means of conveying the experience of John's "ALASKA" book. The photographs seem to have a life of their own. Speaking directly to the heart and soul, they give a glimpse into the spirit of the man who created them. This is a soul that seems to dance somewhere between heaven and earth. A soul that has borne burdens that few of us could shoulder, but one that has known transcendent heights that few will ever reach.

With each page, John's photographs and stories allow us to share his incredible gift, and to see places on this earth that seem closer to heaven. John's spirit is as wild and free as the Alaskan wilderness. Nature seems to recognize a kindred spirit. You will feel certain that he has been granted special permission to view the sacred, and that at times, nature must say "wait, keep that until John gets here." But such honors are not bestowed without tremendous tests of courage and endurance, endless patience, and unquestioning faith. No work of this magnitude is brought to fruition without great sacrifices, and John has made more than his share.

John has the unique talent of capturing the essence of the moment - then combining it with a fragment of his own soul - the result is this spectacular gift he has given to the world. No one can experience "ALASKA: A Photographic Journey..." and not be deeply moved. The superb imagery and heart warming words speak to everyone in a unique way. It will draw you in, touching your heart and soul each time you open its pages to relive the journey. Again and again it will surprise you, revealing something new with each reading.

Thank you, John for sharing your vision. Your book is dearly treasured, and keeps Alaska close to my heart until I return. God Bless, John. We await your next creation.

This book is an excellent source of Alaska information and is presented in a very orderly manor.

Excellent reference guide for trips to and within Alaska by road. We flew a small plane to Alaska and found it very useful once we were on the ground and moving around by car. Information is detailed, well-organized, and unbiased.The Milepost 2008 (Milepost)

The only way to travel the Al-Can and the best way, (short of actually being there), to remember the great state of Alaska!

A little background, we are Air Force and we recently PCSed to Elmendorf, AK. We used the milepost to plan our stops and it was a lifesaver. Everything that you could ever want to know about any route to Alaska, the scenic markers, the stops, even road conditions and pullouts, they are all in there. A must for any traveler.

I bought Milepost 2008 for a friend, so I have not used it myself. However, I was so intrigued by the contents of this book, that I am have developed a strong desire to make the trip. The book is very detailed, and seems to cover everything one needs to know to tour Alaska.

I have lived in Alaska for 10 years and can't believe I just heard about this book. I bought it yesterday and have not been able to put it down since I opened it.

Not only is it an excellent read but I am learning a lot of tips about wilderness survival. It is about the best adventure book I have ever read.

A phenomenal book for all outdoors people and Alaska fans. The text flows very naturally. There is a lot of information on Alaskan nature and history.

Excellent read ! I read mostly African based books, but put onto this from a friend now living in Juneau; thanks Scott! This is the "Capstick" adventures for Alaska !

I read these type books on a regular basis & this one is head & shoulders above the rest. Captivating, interesting, & very informative. Well written & a true treasure. This should be included in the required reading for wolf relocation advocates & "Naturalists". Glasser has no axe to grind, simply tells of his adventures & experiences. I assure you, it is time & money well spent !

Frank Glaser's story is a real, first hand look at Alaska in the early days. If you love Alaska and the wilderness, this is the book for you. Frank goes into the back-country and his adventures never cease as he traps, hunts, builds, explores and generally just checks things out. It amazes me that he is always so at ease, even in the most difficult of situations. He is the kind of guy you would just love to tag along with (if you could keep up with him!) His stories and accounts bring Alaska to life at a time when few tourists ventured into the back country. Jim Rearden has done a great job in compiling Frank's stories and amazing life. This book has given me a much greater appreciation of a great state...Wonderful Alaska! I doubt if anyone has ever experienced it like Frank Glaser.

I picked this book up while visiting my daughter in Alaska. As an educator from a very small midwestern district, I could relate in so many ways to the sutle communication styles and cultural secrets of these students. Many of us teach on "islands" where financial and social poverty play a huge role in our day to day contact with students. I could not put this book down. In so many ways I saw many of my own students in the characters, and quite unfortunately, saw some of my teaching peers in the negativity of certain Gambell staff members. I will share this title with my collegues and intend to reread it myself. It is a wonderful and inspiring novel for all teachers in remote areas.

You can almost hear the "Rocky" theme as you read the final pages as these Yuupik kids do the impossible!

Although these kids are from a remote sub-arctic island most will never travel to, anyone who has worked with youth as a teacher or other group leader will, or should, recognize them. Turned-off kids, trapped in an alien (to them) school system, who need someone who believes in them--we can find them anywhere. Suffering teachers trying to find themselves while unwilling to give up on impossible assignments--we probably know a few of them too. In my case, I have visited that community several times and even know some of the families involved. This is an authentic telling; the kids' victories, with Guthridge's unique facilitation, actually happened.
As a former high school teacher myself, I couldn't put the story down. Guthridge's remarkable honesty about the task he took on, his sometimes desperate struggle, his empathy, sometimes remorse, for the situation he had put his own children in, and how he painfully learned day-by-day along with the students made it for me. His tragi-comic relations with the other faculty are priceless. Although I have never felt quite that alone, I, like him, have gotten ill over teaching at times, and laughed myself sick over it too. The book made me wish I could go back and give teaching another run. George is a master story teller as well as a master teacher.

This book was well worth it's read. It is realistic to Alaska, heartfelt, inspiring and humbling for all of us who believe in kids and want to make a difference in their lives. The stories are great in their depth of emotion and in bizarreness, and for those who know Alaska Education, you know that they can be true.

As for the author, I met George out in Dillingham, AK while he hosted me at his B&B, the Thai House. We had some great discussions about language development, reading, writing and all the perils of teaching and/or being an itinerant in Alaska. As a person, he reminded me that countless people have felt the same stresses in education even though time and place separate our experiences. He inspired me to read his book as he spoke of his journey through the education system. From the moment I picked this book up, I wanted to read more and more just because it was real to me, and in very simple language.

In the 1980s an amazing thing happened. Siberian Yupik kids, who lived on a remote island in the Bering Sea and who spoke English as a second language, won national academic competitions. Their teacher was a writer who took the teaching job in order to support his young family and writing, but the experience turned him into a dedicated teacher as well as award-winning author. The Kids from Nowhere is his story of teaching junior high and high school students in Gambell, Alaska.

George Guthridge went to Gambell to teach in 1982. His students were Siberian Yupiks, who called themselves Eskimos, who got their water from the village's tank, and who missed school to participate in the subsistence activities of their families and community. Located on the northwest corner of St. Lawrence Island, Gambell has a view of nearby Russia on the rare clear day. When he arrived, the Gambell schools had discipline as well as academic problems, and teacher turnover was very high. The school district was considering closing the high school.

Coming from the "outside"--outside of Alaska, Guthridge had much to learn. He learned about Eskimo culture, teaching methods, public school politics, and academic success. His story is also the story of the kids he coached. These kids had the typical Eskimo shyness. Guthridge learned to read the raised eye brow that meant yes, and the lowered brow that meant no. He learned to listen to the silence exchanges among the students--and the discussions in Yupik.

Guthridge was assigned to coach Future Problem Solving at the elementary, junior high, and high school levels. Initially, he did not know what Future Problem Solving was. It is a method of solving a problem set in the future, and a program to teach youth problem-solving skills. Given an assigned topic, the students were to identify at least 20 problems that could go wrong, chose one of the problems, solve it at least 20 ways, develop criteria for evaluating the solutions and then evaluate their solutions, identify the best solution, and write an essay about the solution. In competition, all this had to be done in two hours.

Guthridge's challenge was to teach assigned Future Problem Solving topics like nuclear waste and genetic engineering to students who had seen neither a tree nor an escalator. At times teaching was frustrating, very frustrating. Gradually, Guthridge began to apply the tools of writing to teaching. He developed the "what because why" format to focus on the relationships inherent in any topic. He kept repeating to the students, "Original thinking is precise thinking," and he placed emphasis on research. He ignored grade-level complexity, and he borrowed techniques from Superlearning and educational philosophers. He also had to teach competitive strategies to kids in a cooperative culture.

He also remembered that he was coaching and teaching kids for life. He sent a smelly sock home with any student who insulted another student. The kids were to participate as a team and support each other. In the end, both the junior high and high school teams won national championships.

Guthridge tells his story with grace, modesty, cultural sensitivity, and skill. He stayed in Gambell for six years. He now teaches through the University of Alaska's campus in Dillingham, Alaska, and he continues to write short stories and novels. With full respect for cultural differences, Guthridge reminds us that kids can learn--even "the kids from nowhere."