Puffin Books My Side of the Mountain

I read this as an adult reader. I saw all the good reviews and thought this would be a good read as I love the great outdoors etc. I was wrong. It's a farfetched childrens book. The animals behaviour is described as what you would expect in cartoons and the child in it somehow managed to train his falcon to hang around in the trees like a pet and to hunt rabbits! Peregrines do not have these traits and that annoyed me everytime I had to read about it, don't even get me started on the racoon or weasel! Also I found the ending disappointing, extremely unbelievable, bordering on ridiculous! Not a true to life living in the wilderness type of story that I thought it was going to be.

For aa pre-teen this would be a great book to receive as a gift, or for summer reading. As an adult, I found it interesting from a wilderness-experience point of view. Truly a story set in a distant time when folks were free to come and go as they pleased.

Bought thus book for my 12 year old nephew. I was worried he would be too old for it, seen as the age bracket was 8-12, and that it quite a range.I was pleasantly surprised when I got a text out of the blue from him letting me know he hadn't put it down, and really loved it.My nephew is a book worm, so finding books he hasn't read yet is difficult, and finding books with interesting new themes is too.Very happy with this purchase.

Highly recommended adventurous book especially for boys

I remember reading this several times as a kid - one of my first 'proper reads' - I've fantasised about the great outdoors/making it on my own ever since. From memory I moved from this on the the Survivors on telly in the 70s. It all seems to fit together for me. The environmental message only really hit me now as I read it again to my son... he loves it too and was gutted about the ending. He's seven, I'm fifty, its all good...