John Muir
John Muir (1838-1914) was one of the most influential conservationists and nature writers in American history. He was instrumental in the creation and passage of the National Parks Act, and founder of the Sierra Club, acting as its president until his death. Muir was a spirit so free that all he did to prepare for an expedition was to "throw some tea and bread into an old sack and jump the back fence."
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Reviews for Stickeen
33 ratings8 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This edition, retold by Donell Rubay and illustrated by Christopher Canyon, was thrilling and beautiful and heartwarming and heartwrenching. A picture book for ages 4-12, published in 1998, sometimes shelved in non-fiction because the original story is indeed an episode from the life of Muir. Thorough author's note.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Just a short story but riveting. A man and a dog stuck on a glacier. My heart skipped several beats at the climax of this story.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Non-Fiction: Picture BookMuir, John Stickeen: John Muir and the Brave Little Dog. Illust. by Christopher Canyon. Dawn Publications, 1998. Unp. Intermediate-AdultHeartwarming true story of Stickeen, a brave dog who went on glacier exploration adventure with John Muir in Glacier Bay in the 1880’s and courageously overcame the dangerous situation they found themselves in. Simplified and retold for children using much of Muir’s original first person descriptive wording. Theme is friendship. Beautiful, impressionistic paintings accompany text.AK: Glacier, Glacier Bay, SE AlaskaActivities: Ask children if they have ever been up close to a glacier? What was it like?
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5In this memoir, it is the late 1800s and the author is exploring Alaska with a dog, Stickeen. They are hiking through glaciers and end up in a bit of a scary spot. It was ok. It really didn't get “exciting” till over half-way through. It was written in the late 1800s, so a different writing style from today. A lot of description that I wasn't always as interested in. It did get more interesting once they got onto that glacier and had to figure out how to get back. Overall, a little disappointing, though, as I expected more about the dog.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5If you are a dog person, you'll enjoy this paen to an independent mutt. Having just read "Mister Dog" by Margaret Wise Brown to my grandson, I would have to say that Stickeeen fits the prototype (tho of a much more adventurous personality). Mostly I was impressed by what a risk-taker Muir was--the first version of Parkour? He's lucky he lived long enough to be an inspiration to generations of environmentalists.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5“Stickeen” by John Muir is a short story about the author and a “small and worthless” dog, and their adventures in the Alaskan wild. I don't know if it was intended but the dog's behavior seemed to be a metaphor for human life – a study in risk-taking and confidence to face obstacles. In any event, if you would like an entertaining break from the humdrum of everyday life with a quick and uplifting read, I recommend “Stickeen.”
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A very quick read (20-30 minutes) about John Muir's adventure with a little dog named Stickeen as they spent a day upon a glacier, watching it crush trees in its wake and wending their way around giant crevasses (and sometimes leaping over them). No a biography in itself, but a small biographical annecdote.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Definitely not the kind of book I usually read, I was pleasantly surprised here. I off-handedly grabbed this book at a used bookstore, only later realizing that it's a classic wilderness story. I loved it and felt a joy and pull while reading that I can't remember ever feeling with any other books in the "wilderness"-type genre. Short but full of description and excitement, I certainly see why Stickeen is considered a classic and loved by so many.
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Stickeen - John Muir
The Project Gutenberg EBook of Stickeen, by John Muir
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Title: Stickeen
Author: John Muir
Release Date: March 22, 2004 [EBook #11673]
Language: English
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STICKEEN ***
Produced by Audrey Longhurst and the Online Distributed Proofreading
Team.
STICKEEN
BY
JOHN MUIR
1909
TO
HELEN MUIR
Lover of wildness
this icy storm-story
is affectionately
dedicated
TO MY DOG BLANCO
BY J.G. HOLLAND
My dear dumb friend, low lying there,
A willing vassal at my feet;
Glad partner of my home and fare,
My shadow in the street;
I look into your great brown eyes,
Where love and loyal homage shine,
And wonder where the difference lies
Between your soul and mine!
I scan the whole broad earth around
For that one heart which, leal and true,
Bears friendship without end or bound,
And find the prize in you.
Ah, Blanco! did I worship God
As truly as you worship me,
Or follow where my Master trod
With your humility:
Did I sit fondly at His feet
As you, dear Blanco, sit at mine,
And watch Him with a love as sweet,
My life would grow divine!
STICKEEN
In the summer of 1880 I set out from Fort Wrangel in a canoe to continue the exploration of the icy region of southeastern Alaska, begun in the fall of 1879. After the necessary provisions, blankets, etc., had been collected and stowed away, and my Indian crew were in their places ready to start, while a crowd of their relatives and friends on the wharf were bidding them good-by and good-luck, my companion, the Rev. S.H. Young, for whom we were waiting, at last came aboard, followed by a little black dog, that immediately made himself at home by curling up in a hollow among the baggage. I like dogs, but this one seemed so small and worthless that I objected to his going, and asked the missionary why he was taking him.
Such a little helpless creature will only be in the way,
I said; you had better pass him up to the Indian boys on the wharf, to be taken home to play with the children. This trip is not likely to be good for toy-dogs. The poor silly thing will be in rain and snow for weeks or months, and will require care like a baby.
But his master assured me that he would be no trouble at all; that he was a perfect wonder of a dog, could endure cold and hunger like a bear, swim like a seal, and was wondrous wise and cunning, etc., making out a list of virtues to show he might be the most interesting member of the party.
Nobody could hope to unravel the lines of his ancestry. In all the wonderfully mixed and varied dog-tribe I never saw any creature very much like him, though in some of his sly, soft, gliding motions and gestures he brought the fox to mind. He was short-legged and bunchy-bodied, and his hair, though smooth, was long and silky and slightly waved, so that when the wind was at his back it