Customer Reviews

Brian's Winter

5 star:		(168)
4 star:		(152)
3 star:		(33)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

I first heard about Brian's Winter when my teacher gave every student a copy the day before winter break. I am not a very bookish person, so I only read books that I tremendously like from the first chapter. This book was one of the rare books that captivated me on the first page. Without warning, Brian was involved in a horrible plane crash. He sustained no injuries, and afterwards he also survived on the isolated lake grounds for a very long time. I was very interested in all of Brian's weapons, his Native American ways of survival, and his hunting skills. I had tried reading Hatchet but it didn't really interest me. A good strategy to get yourself reading more is to read the second book in a series to get all the excitment right away, then read the first in the series. I was really impressed by Brian's way of survival in the wilderness. It was very suspenseful and exciting when Brian had to put up somewhat of a fight against some of his larger prey. I just couldn't put the book down. I admired Brian's way of life so much, that now one of my favorite things to do is to hunt rabbits and set traps for birds. In conclusion, Brian's Winter was filled with excitement, suspense, and emotion.

In 6th grade i read the book before this and i thought wow that was ok. Then i was on a dry streak and never read a book for a year or two and i saw this book in my closet and remembered i read the one before this one. I beleive this book got me reading again and I suggest you get this book immediately because it draws you in and it makes you want to read more and more. I read this last week and after this i read all the other ones in the next week it was amazing and I hope you find this helpful.

Have you ever been stranded in the middle of nowhere, in the winter? Brains was stranded for more than 54 days, and no one had found him yet, so Brian knew now that he is going to be there for a while. Brian is worried, he has only some food and he knows that it will only last for some of the time. Well Brian didn't want that to happen, so he got out his hunting tools and went hunting. He got some more food for the winter, and then he was all set. He had a sleeping bag, pots, pans, silverware, matches to start fires, and of course food. I wonder if Brian will survive. Ladies and gentlemen I invite and encourage you to read the book "Brian's Winter, By: Gary Paulsen".
One thing I dislike about the book was when; he found out in the beginning that he wasn't going to be found for a while. Then he thought on how it was going to be winter very soon! If I was he I would be worried too just like him. Something I liked about the book was at the end when he was found. A lot of times when I read books I am always anxious to see what is going to happen in the book, how it is going to end up. When I was reading "Brian's Winter" I was so anxious to see what was going to happen. All of these events were happening and it was really exciting for me to read this book.
I would describe Brian, different than other people. Brian is determined, courageous, and smart. He is determined because he has a goal to live through this winter and he is determined to meet his goal. Also Brian is courageous. He has lived this long out there, and hasn't given up by being scared or any thing. Finally he is also smart. In the book "Hatchet" (the book before "Brian's Winter") he was smart when he was stranded there he didn't know how to start a fire. He tried rubbing sticks together; rocks together, and it wouldn't work. He got so mad he threw the rocks at the tree and they made some sparks. He hit them on the tree again and they made sparks, then Brian got an idea. When he hit the rocks again and put some wood where the sparks were going to land. He was hoping so much that it would work, but it didn't work. Then Brian thought and he remembered that he has a twenty-dollar bill in his pocket and it was his last hope. So as you can see Brian is very smart. I thought this book "Brian's Winter By: Gary Paulsen", was excellent. I hope you read it and enjoy it.

The book Brian's Winter has to be one of the best books that I have read in a long time. I am not the biggest fan of Gary Paulsen but, this book made me feel like I was actually at the camp he built and could hear all the sounds of nature.
When Brian Robeson's plane crashed, he was stranded in the northern Canadian Woods. Since the pilot of the plane died, Brian was on his own. After surviving the summer, he found a survival kit with food, water, a rifle and other essentials for surviving. Unfortunately, the rifle was broken after so many uses. He had to settle for the bow he made.
Brian had lost track of the days and didn't realize that winter was coming! The sign in which he realized winter would arrive soon is that cold rain poured for days. He began to worry and his food supply was low. To his luck, he saw wolves coming back from the woods with food in their mouths. He went to the area where they came from and found a half eaten doe lying out in the open. Brian needed food so he carried the doe back to camp.
As the days went by, the air became very cold. His doe meat was running low. He knew that he needed a larger animal to survive. Brian's old bow would not be able to kill large animals. So he made a larger bow with larger arrows. Brian also made a lance when he needed the extra boost. When he went out hunting, he came across a moose. The moose was enormous! Brian shot his large bow and hit the mark, but it didn't kill the moose. The moose charged, but Brian used the lance and stabbed it. After taking the moose back to camp, he realized his tattered and torn clothes would not suffice. So he made a jacket out of fur from the deer and rabbit fur. He also made moccasins out of the same material.
One morning he woke up to find layers of snow covering the entire woods! Brian could go nowhere with this thick snow. He easily resolved the problem by making snowshoes. One night while he was asleep, he heard an explosion like a gun shot! He thought that someone was out in the woods. In the morning Brian investigated the trees by the lake. He realized that the sap in the trees expanded in the tree that caused so much pressure the trees exploded. Many days later, Brian went looking around the woods. He found a peculiar track leading on to the lake. Brian followed the track to find a trapper family! They were out there in the woods every mid-winter. They had a bush plane that came by every three weeks. One week later, the plane came back and Brian returned home.

In an alternative ending to Gary Paulsens Hatchet, we find that Brian is still in the middle of the northern woods, with summer nearly over. The first signs of the approaching winter, a different something in the air, eludes Brian until he finds that he is ill-prepared for the coming changes. However, true to his character, Brian figures out how to sustain himself during the winter months. He makes warmer clothing and boots from animal skins, he winterizes his shelter and learns how to keep the fire inside, and he makes stronger weapons, enabling him to hunt bigger animals. I appreciate the fact that although Brian kills animals so that he can live, hunting never becomes a sport to him. For example, when Brian kills the deer, he silently thanks the animal for what it provides him.
I think the only thing I didnt really like in Brians Winter was the ending. The entire story was so full of challenge, suspense, and danger, and the ending just left me feeling flat.
I give Brians Winter 4 out of 5 stars!

Imagine being stranded in a forest after a plane crash with just a hatchet, nature, and no one to help you! In the extraodinary and suspenseful survival book, Brian's Winter, a 13 year old boy named Brian Robeson has to survive in the threatening wilderness during the winter alone. Brian has to use his head and his skill to hunt for his food as well as produce his own weapons and living quarters. With bear attacks and frost-biting temperatures. Will Brian survive? Will he ever find civilization? If you like stories about the wilderness, with lots of suspense, adventure, and vivid language, Brian's Winter is the book for you. on a rating from 1-10, we would give this book an 8. Appropriate for grades late 4th to 6th.

If you have read Hatchet, this book would be the next to read . It is about nature , how it would be if you were to get lost in the woods. It is just before winter, your out in the middle of no where. You don't know which way to go or just stay. No one else is out there with you. You have been out there for 2 months. One day your out walking and then you run into a house with a family of four that has lived right behind your shelter with out you knowing about it.

Imagine you had to survive in the freezing cold temperatures of Northern Canada. So cold that when you spit, your saliva froze before it hit the ground. This is what Brian Robeson had to do, in the novel Brian's Winter. Brian is the same 13 years old protagonist who remained in the wilderness. This is the second sequel to Hatchet. He is still located in a coniferous forest, where he crashed, in Hatchet. The most important conflict of this book is for him to stay alive in the wilderness during the hard winter. I think this is a very good book. I liked the plot because it stayed at a steady pace, and was exciting. I couldn't wait to see what would happen in the next chapter. One other reason I liked this novel is because it was full of adventure that made me feel like I was right there, with Brian. My only complaint was that the ending seemed too choppy and abrupt.

This book offers an alternate ending to Paulsen's previous book, Hatchet. The story disregards Brian Robeson's rescue in Hatchet and continues his story of survival in the Canadian wilderness. Brian has found a survival kit on the plane that gives him more than just a hatchet to use for survival. However, Brian still has to be creative in finding ways to survive.

His days are filled with hunting, gathering wood, and doing what it takes to survive. When Brian realizes winter is quickly approaching, he knows to survive the winter he must have shelter, warmer clothes, and food. Brian begins to make preparations for the coming of freezing weather. Brian must also survive encounters with many wild animals, such as wolves, bears, elks, and even a skunk. While many things go wrong, Brian continues to learn from his surroundings, and uses that knowledge to survive.

Readers will find Brian creative and his adventures in the wild fun to read. While this book will probably be mostly enjoyed by boys, it can be enjoyed by girls, too. The best recommendation I can give, perhaps comes from my 13 year old son, who rarely reads for enjoyment. He only reads when the book totally captures him. He picked up Brian's Winter while stuck in the backseat of the car during a two hour trip and began to read it. He kept saying, "Mom, this book is really good!" I had to make him give me the book, so I could get it read and reviewed for a class assignment. That tells me this is a book that is worth reading and is an excellent book to keep in my classroom library.

By Noah

Brian's winter by Gary Paulsen is great, suspenseful, intense, and enjoyable book. It is an awesome book especially if you like adventurous or survival books. In this book Brian endures many animals such as a skunk who he becomes very fond of her and names her Betty he also comes to face with wolves, deer, and the most dangerous one of them all a moose which attacked him during his hunt. Brian uses his knowledge of the wilderness to survive. He also uses his memories too help design bows, arrows, and even arrowheads. He got used too living in the wilderness so he worked on new hunting techniques. He also learned how too make his shelter more secure by packing the walls with mud making it water tight and nearly air tight. This is a great sequel to the book Hatchet. Brian is a great character considering he gives the book a lot of suspense. During the time Brian was in the woods he learned many useful things such as how to carve an animal which is a good thing considering he as improved his hunting skills. The book Brian's winter was a great book I would definitely recommend it to anyone who liked Hatchet or likes adventurous or survival books.