Wild Season

by Allan W. Eckert

Book Overview

Winter ended in late March. April was a transitional month, with freezing rains and raw winds. In May, spring truly arrives. As day after day the sun continues to shine, to warm the cold waters of Oak... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0316208574
• ISBN13: 9780316208574
• Release Date: January 1967
• Publisher: Little Brown
• Length: 244 Pages
• Weight: 0.96 lbs.

Customer Reviews

CERTAINLY, A TREASURE OF A BOOK.

If I had a list of my top ten favorite reads, something I find impossible to create, as I like so many different books, I would probably put this one right at the top of that list. I first read this one when it was first published around 1967 or 1968. I, like another reviewer, have read this one each spring since that first read. It has become sort of a reading tradition for me. It never seems to get old. The entire work covers the thirty one days of May. It consists of some of the best nature writing I have ever had the pleasure of reading. The author takes a very small geographical area, centered in the woods, around a pond and stream, and examines just what happens during this brief but explosive time of year. Eckert goes from animal to animal, insect to insect, plant to plant, critter to critter and gives us a wonderful story of the life cycle of these creatures and plants during these thirty one days. His writing is quite blunt and to the point. This is not a Disney Bambi book! Nature is revealed in all of its fascinating glory which includes birth, life and very sudden death. The author does a wonderful job of showing us how the death of one creature, gives live to another and on how all life is so closely interwoven. He examines the habits and habitat of each of his subjects and explains how one cannot survive without the other. There are no anthropomorphisms here, and rabbit is a rabbit and a blot fly is a blot fly. Yet, you find yourself pulling for the survival of this creature or that, even a wayward seed of wheat that is sprouting in the forest via bird droppings being deposited there. The book takes us on a day by day journey through surroundings that are all around us but few of us actually take the time to see. It becomes very apparent and vary obvious that there are entire micro-worlds around us, so much is happening, so much living and so much dying...all for a purpose though. The author's writing style is almost flawless. This is one of those rare works that a rather young girl or boy can read and thoroughly enjoy and at the same time can be just as enjoyable to geezers like myself! Now I have always been fascinated by the outdoors and nature, even as a very, very small child. This book though, started me on a life long hobby. As an example; we have lived in our present location in the Missouri Ozarks for almost twenty five years. We live in the woods. My wife and I have left over two acres of our property as it was and is. We do not mow, or disturb it in any way. It is wooded, full of brush, has a small water source and can best be described as a rain forest. I have spent all these years since we began living here, studying this small patch of "wilderness." This has not been a casual study, to be quite frank, I get pretty intense about it, observing, writing, drawing, painting, photographing and watching. The neat thing about this is that after all these years; I still keep finding and observing new

Marvelous! A must-read!

I had to read this book as a school assignment (I'm in 7thgrade), and enjoyed it immensely! Mr. Eckert presented the nature ina clear, understandable way without twisting the facts. The story flows well from one animal to the next. Wild Season is definitely one of the best books I've read. I'd recommend it to anyone!

A Book To Read Every Spring.

I read this book many years ago and have read it every Spring since. It never gets stagnant. It moves along with a flow that could be compared to Nature. I recommend that anyone with the least bit of interest in nature and wildlife, should read this book.It will remain in your memories for a long time to come.

Excellent book detailing unseen everyday natural occurrences

I read this book as a youngster, and have reread it several times since. I would recommend it to anyone who wishes to explore a world that most don't take the time to notice. The author is most descriptive in explaining the how and why of all that happens in a very interesting ecosystem.

Excellent book on lives of common animals

Though written to more of a junior high reading level, this book has been a favorite of mine for many years. It chronicles the events surrounding a pond in the midwest from the early spring through the fall. It is more of a rambling journey up and down the food chain more than a scientific text. The book can make you realize just how important every part of nature can be in "the big picture". I highly recommend it to all readers interested in nature.