Customer Reviews

Driftwood: Stories Picked Up Along the Shore

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this on a whim and now I wish I'd bought two - then I could carefully cut out the lovely pictures and frame them to put on the wall! The tales told within are just the right length and make you smile and wonder. It gives a great sense of the life of people around Isle Royale and Lake Superior, I love this book. My daughter (who's only 15 months) also loves it. The pages are thick so she can easily turn them without tearing or frustration!

I enjoy good storytelling, and Howard Sivertson truly has a way with the words. He's put his talent into the enjoyable stories in Driftwood: Stories Picked Up Along the Shore. And he also painted the glorious pictures that are in the book.

While storytelling is a gift, that gift is made better when there is a passion to the telling. Sivertson provides the passion, the history and charm that make a good book better.

Those of us who live near Lake Superior's shore know the love the people have for the area. In Driftwood, the reader is given the gift of all the variances of life in that region of the country. There are numerous fabulous stories. Some of my favorites are: "Gathering Gull Eggs on Cloud Island" (this is personal for me), "Dead Reckoning" reminded me of my Norwegian great uncle long gone but not forgotten. "Going Visiting" has all the charm of a Will Weaver story and those readers who long ago had the opportunity to pick raspberries, "Standoff at the Grace Island Raspberry Patch" is a few delightful minutes of `what the doctor ordered.'

Sivertson's Driftwood is the perfect gift for that hard-to-buy-for parent, aunt, uncle, cousin or friend. It's a visit to the past; one you'll want to make often.

Armchair Interviews says: A winner!

This is the fourth book i have purchased written by Howard Sivertson and along with the other books "Driftwood" has become a favorite. I look forward to sharing the stories in the book with my children and grandchildren.

The next best thing to being there is to simply browse through the pages of Howard Siverston's "Driftwood: Stories Picked Up Along The Shore" and enjoying the forty-five watercolor paintings and the folksy anecdotal reminiscences of a master storyteller about living in Lake Superior country and family life on Isle Royal. Siverston's artwork, wit, and tales provide yesteryear glimpses that are entertaining, intrinsically interesting, and occasionally inspiring. Part of a third-generation commercial fishing family from Isle Royale, Siverston grew up helping his father harvest lake trout, whitefish and herring. Determined to be an artist he studied the subject at the Minneapolis School of Art and the University of Minnesota Duluth. After service in the Navy during the Korean War, Siverston drew cartoons for publication in stateside newspapers from his station in Hawaii. After his service he went to work as a graphic artist in Duluth, ultimately returning to his passion for painting and his gift for telling stories. "Driftwood" is a beautifully composed compendium and a recommended addition to personal and community library regional collections. Also very highly recommended are Siverston's award winning earlier titles: "Once Upon An Isle"; "The Illustrated Voyageur"; "Tales of the Old North Shore"; and Schooners, Skiffs and Steamships.