[.ca] Two Little Savages (ISBN 0486209857)

Believe it or not,, it can be a life-shaper...:
Time: Nov.30,1936. Site: my high school. The Great Depression still gripped the U.S. A classmate apparently didn't have any lunch money so he offered me the hardback version of "Two Little Savages" for 10 cents. Although that was two-thirds of my lunch money, I bought it. Result: it led me into the woods, and so changed my life that, when I retired as a journalist, I moved to this mountain farm. That book now rests on my desk next to this computer, with its date and the notation: "Bought from Franklin Ramsey for 10 cents."

It was central in forming my attitudes toward nature.:
This book has an autobiographical feel, set in Ontario in the last quarter of the 19th century. It deals with the interaction between an adolescent loner "from town" and the people and environment of the back country through woodcraft, and with his growth in that context. Though it contains much of Seton's wonderful woodcraft and illustrations, it is most valuable for the story and the lessons about human nature and rural poverty (my own youth). My mother first read it to me from a tattered hand-me-down copy in the early 1950's when I was too young to read it for myself. It shaped my attitudes toward the natural world and helped me understand my own adolescence. To me, it is probably the single most important book I ever read.

City boy goes to live with farm boy. They live like Indians:
Set in the early 1800's, an ailing city boy, Yan, goes to live with a farm family in upper New York State. Sam, the farmer's son, and Yan, both admire American Indians. During their vacation they build a teepee and live like Indians, They are befriended by a mysterious former scout who had lived with the Indians, He taught them Indian crafts and Indian ways of living.

Charming and wonderful:
I first read this book as a young boy in the early sixties. I then read it at least twenty times over the next ten years. eventually the library wanted it back. I have searched for a copy since reaching adulthood. It's the kind of book I want my children to read.

A charming tale of boyhood and learning about the wild:
I read this book after my mother recommended it to me--and that was back in 1959. I remember its vivid descriptions of how to live in the style of the native americans. A remarkably interesting and charming tale, great for boys and girls alike.