I never read this as a kid, but after hearing of it for years, I finally gave it a shot. It’s a cute tale of a boy living alone in the woods. The basic premise—that every boy wants to go live in the wild and survive off the land—is a solid and fairly timeless one, and I enjoyed his relationship with all the surrounding animals (the falcon, the weasel, etc.). However, I couldn’t help but feel that it made survival in the wild seem a lot easier and more fun than it really is, and I think a lot of people would be quite shocked it’s not so cute and friendly as in this story.
