Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 An old friend revisited October 4, 2008
A favorite winter read. I first read this heartwarming story twenty years ago, and I've returned to it every few years since. Each time I feel I am rediscovering old friends. Helen Hoover's remarkable skills at observing and respecting wild animals in their own element, which I first discovered in her memoir, "A Place in the Woods", bring to life several generations of a family of deer who return each year to Helen & Ade Hoover's cabin in the Minnesota northwoods after they saved the life of Peter, a noble buck who showed up on their porch one winter night after having been shot in the eye. Their care for him, while respecting his wildness and not trying to tame him, led to a loyal trust in them, and each year he returned, bringing his ever-growing family with him. Hoover takes care not to romanticize or attribute human qualities to the deer; rather she brings to life the individual personalities of each of the deer, their family bond, and their innate wisdom. This is NOT "Bambi"; the deer live a hard-scrabble life, but with dignity and grace. Hoover's prose is well-crafted and beautiful to read. I come away from this book each time with a renewed appreciation of the importance of preserving our wildlife and their habitat, and a reminder that humans are not the only wise and intelligent beings on this planet. I am grateful for the gift Helen Hoover shares in this story. With charming line drawings by Ade Hoover.
A Classic... December 23, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The kind of story that must be pulled off the shelf and reread again and again.
When a injured deer finds its way to the Hoover's cottage, they didn't realize that in helping him, they'd find a friend. Peter, as the deer is named, comes back season after season, bringing other deer with him. The Hoovers' observations and personal narrative is a touching tribute to this gentle hearted deer.
A JEWEL OF A BOOK!!! December 21, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
What a special book this is! Written by a very special lady. Who had a very special husband. And they lived in a very special place. And they came across a very, very special deer which began their four year period of caring for wonderful Peter Whitetail and his progeny. And whatever wild creature came to them in need.
The reader will know what it is like to live in 30 degree below zero winters on the border lake between the U.S. and Canada and the struggle of wildlife to survive in such severe conditions. The reader will know what it is like when outlaw hunters gun tame deer and bear down for sport, leaving the humans who loved them in despair. And the reader will know what it is like for the animals to live in constant fear of and alert for predators and, as the deers age, to become more prone to know defeat.
But above all, one has the marvelous experience of getting to know Peter, Mama, a wonderful black bear whose life is cut very short by man, and a host of our forest friends.
Helen Hoover, as one reviewer points out, was a woman who was developed on the right and the left side of her brain. A superb intellect was accompanied by a magnanimous heart, by deep feminine feeling values, intuitive grace, and the courage at times to bear the almost unendurable. Her husband was a marvel too. Devoted and dedicated, and very kind. His illustrations are terrific and really capture the mystery and sternness and wonder of the setting and its inhabitants. That they picked up from city life and faced their almost impossible dream successfully is awesome.
As for Ms. Hoover's prose, she was a highly gifted writer but, more than that, at times she reaches the heighth (or perhaps I should say depth) of genuine and beautiful poetic prose. I believe, had she had a bent to do so, she could have been as well a highly accomplished poet.
This book is a great adventure story. It is Ms. Hoover's gift to humanity.
A Timeless Tale September 23, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I was enriched by reading this lovely book, and found it also raised a lot of questions about man's relationship ( and duties) to the wildlife surrounding his home. Hoover's tale was clear eyed and a definite antidote to all the Disneyesque sappy forest characters we are bombarded with. Life was hard for all in the northwoods, and, as always, the "laws of nature" seem awfully harsh. But the intelligent, loving relationships depicted in the book make it more bearable.
 Wonderful story August 22, 2003
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
I hadn't read this book in a few years and when I saw it again on my shelf I remembered it was a great book to read in the summer. The story is a good one, esp. if you read it in partnership with Hoover's other book about her move to the woods, The Years of the Forest, and tells the story of how she and her husband moved to the wilds of Minnesota in middle-age and what (and who) they found there. The Gift of the Deer introduces us to Peter, Mama, Pretty, Friendly, and all the others who live in Hoover's "neighborhood" deep in the North Woods.
Oh - and why is it great to read in the summer? Because her stories about the bone chilling cold of Minnesota winters are just right to balance the August heat and humidity!
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