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The Gift of the Deer
The classic story of a family of deer and the humans who loved them.
One Christmas Eve an emaciated deer stumbled across the yard of Helen Hoover’s remote cabin in northern Minnesota. Barely surviving the brutal winter, gaunt from starvation, blind in one eye from a hunting wound, he became the central character in Hoover’s best-selling book, The Gift of the Deer.
Hoover and her husband Adrian named this deer Peter and nursed him back to health, setting out cedar branches, corn, and carrots. From that Christmas on, the Hoovers observed Peter and his growing clan for four years. Hoover relates the story of these deer, including the birth of new fawns, the danger of predators, even the amusing way a mother deer teaches “manners” to her young.
The Gift of the Deer, first published in 1966, sold over 50,000 copies and is Hoover’s best-selling book. It is now available in an inexpensive paperback edition that is beautifully illustrated by Adrian Hoover. Readers young and old will delight in this touching story of two north woods families.
One Christmas Eve an emaciated deer stumbled across the yard of Helen Hoover’s remote cabin in northern Minnesota. Barely surviving the brutal winter, gaunt from starvation, blind in one eye from a hunting wound, he became the central character in Hoover’s best-selling book, The Gift of the Deer.
Hoover and her husband Adrian named this deer Peter and nursed him back to health, setting out cedar branches, corn, and carrots. From that Christmas on, the Hoovers observed Peter and his growing clan for four years. Hoover relates the story of these deer, including the birth of new fawns, the danger of predators, even the amusing way a mother deer teaches “manners” to her young.
The Gift of the Deer, first published in 1966, sold over 50,000 copies and is Hoover’s best-selling book. It is now available in an inexpensive paperback edition that is beautifully illustrated by Adrian Hoover. Readers young and old will delight in this touching story of two north woods families.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1966
40 people are currently reading
440 people want to read
About the author
Helen Hoover
18 books26 followersHelen Hoover (January 20, 1910-July 1984) studied chemistry, and though she never earned her degree, she worked as a metallurgist for Ahlberg Bearing Company during and after World War II. Hoover grew up in Ohio but later moved to Chicago with her family, which is where she met her husband, Adrian Hoover. Both Helen and Adrian held steady jobs when they decided to quit and move to their vacation cabin on the south shore of Minnesota’s Gunflint Lake.
With no steady income, the Hoovers struggled through their first Minnesota winter, and Helen began writing magazine articles. Her first book, The Long-Shadowed Forest, which recounted life in northern Minnesota, was published in 1963. She followed it with three more books inspired by the Gunflint Trail: The Gift of the Deer, A Place in the Woods, and The Years of the Forest, as well as a children’s book The Great Wolf and Good Woodsmen.
With no steady income, the Hoovers struggled through their first Minnesota winter, and Helen began writing magazine articles. Her first book, The Long-Shadowed Forest, which recounted life in northern Minnesota, was published in 1963. She followed it with three more books inspired by the Gunflint Trail: The Gift of the Deer, A Place in the Woods, and The Years of the Forest, as well as a children’s book The Great Wolf and Good Woodsmen.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
December 24, 2016
Once again, Helen Hoover has drawn me into her beautiful natural world. This offering, based upon her life in the wilderness with husband Adrian from the mid 1950's to the early 1970's, concentrates on a deer that the Hoovers saved from starvation one Christmas Eve, and befriends for nearly 4 years. Each year brings new deer to their cabin, although their first (and I imagine favorite), Peter Whitetail, is present throughout all four years.
Hoover's detailed observations of the deer reveal their individual characteristics, quirks, and mannerisms. From gentle, generous Peter to fiercely maternal and shy Mama, greedy and undisciplined Pig, beautiful Pretty, mousey Fuzzy, and a host of other deer, Hoover's descriptions delight and educate in a fascinating and wimsical way.
The end of this book is bittersweet and poignant. Hoover strikes a good balance between how nature takes it's course, and how man often interferes - with sad consequences.
I can truely say I loved this book and the observations Hoover offered. This is a keeper on my bookshelf.
Hoover's detailed observations of the deer reveal their individual characteristics, quirks, and mannerisms. From gentle, generous Peter to fiercely maternal and shy Mama, greedy and undisciplined Pig, beautiful Pretty, mousey Fuzzy, and a host of other deer, Hoover's descriptions delight and educate in a fascinating and wimsical way.
The end of this book is bittersweet and poignant. Hoover strikes a good balance between how nature takes it's course, and how man often interferes - with sad consequences.
I can truely say I loved this book and the observations Hoover offered. This is a keeper on my bookshelf.
August 20, 2019
You might also enjoy:
✱ A Place in the Woods
✱ Years Of The Forest
✱ One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey
✱ Singing Wilderness
✱ The Lonely Land
✱ A Country Year: Living the Questions
✱ The Outermost House: A Year of Life on the Great Beach of Cape Cod
✱ A Year in the Woods: The Diary of a Forest Ranger
✱ Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout
✱ A Place in the Woods
✱ Years Of The Forest
✱ One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey
✱ Singing Wilderness
✱ The Lonely Land
✱ A Country Year: Living the Questions
✱ The Outermost House: A Year of Life on the Great Beach of Cape Cod
✱ A Year in the Woods: The Diary of a Forest Ranger
✱ Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout
January 12, 2019
When life gets too hectic and frustrating, I turn to the natural world. Getting away from it all is important for my mental health. If I can't get up and go, the next best thing is to read something that can transport me there. This book does just that. Hoover gives just enough description for me to picture the setting and the time of year, and she does so without needing to provide every detail. My imagination can fill in the missing pieces. Her writing focuses on several generations of a family of white-tail deer.
There's so much here about the behavior of the deer that now I want to read some of the current research on mule deer. She named the deer, which makes it possible to know exactly which animal she's describing. Here's an example of a paragraph (p 92) that describes the parents (Mama and Peter) communicating with their offspring (Pig and Brother).
Peter ... reappeared in the cleared area near where Pig and Brother were jumping from grain pile to grain pile and Mama was eating in a more sedate manner. Peter turned toward the road and stood guard, only his ears moving as he followed sounds too faint for human hearing to catch. After the others had made a good start in cleaning up the grain, he turned his head toward them and flipped his ears forward. Mama in turn looked toward him with her ears forward. Ten seconds later Mama tapped Brother lightly on the neck with a hoof and nudged him in the rump with her head. He turned toward her and the long look with ears forward passed between them. Then Brother trotted up to take over the guard duty and Peter came in to feed.
There's so much here about the behavior of the deer that now I want to read some of the current research on mule deer. She named the deer, which makes it possible to know exactly which animal she's describing. Here's an example of a paragraph (p 92) that describes the parents (Mama and Peter) communicating with their offspring (Pig and Brother).
Peter ... reappeared in the cleared area near where Pig and Brother were jumping from grain pile to grain pile and Mama was eating in a more sedate manner. Peter turned toward the road and stood guard, only his ears moving as he followed sounds too faint for human hearing to catch. After the others had made a good start in cleaning up the grain, he turned his head toward them and flipped his ears forward. Mama in turn looked toward him with her ears forward. Ten seconds later Mama tapped Brother lightly on the neck with a hoof and nudged him in the rump with her head. He turned toward her and the long look with ears forward passed between them. Then Brother trotted up to take over the guard duty and Peter came in to feed.
January 2, 2015
I always try to read a book about nature for my first book of a new year, so I grabbed "The Gift of the Deer", because Helen Hoover was such a phenomenal writer & I was not disappointed.This is the second book by Ms. Hoover that I have read, and she had such a eye for the natural world, that each chapter is like a little treasure for those of us who adore the great outdoors. Highly recommended.
November 25, 2022
Imagine sitting under a grand tree, facing an open forest valley. The wind is in your face and you don’t need to have your eyes open to enjoy the majesty. That’s what reading this book was like. I didn’t want the story to end! Peter is a generous buck, and I would’ve like to have seen his king-like posture and hospitality in real life.
June 2, 2021
Having recently discovered Helen Hoover, I'm working my way through all her books and I love them.
The first one I read was A Place in the Woods and I liked this one almost as much. The only thing I didn't like was that this one had kind of a self-righteous tone to it.
The author makes some pretty uncharitable remarks about some of the people who don't live up in their area as if everyone who doesn't live there year-round is just an intruder and is wrecking the natural habitat of the wildlife.
I found it a little hypocritical that the Hoovers had a lifestyle of feeding the wild animals, but that other humans who interact with the environment are ignorant or obnoxious. She seemed to think that their living there had a positive impact on the wildlife, but that a plane flying overhead, for example, was just irresponsible because it startled some animals.
At one point she does question whether or not they are doing the right thing by helping the animals by supplementing their food, but otherwise she seems to think that their interference is ok, while that of other people is not. She even admits that it's natural and good for populations of different species to be controlled so that they don't outgrow their resources, leading to mass starvation, but she seems irritated with hunters and, really, anyone that isn't handling everything the way they do.
I tried to ignore this tone as it seems somewhat natural that they would feel protective of their home and somewhat irritable toward the occasional visitor, but these comments were fairly frequent and they just seemed kind of tone deaf and arrogant to me.
That being said, I almost still gave the book 5 stars. I really enjoyed reading it and will continue to read through all her other books (and probably continue acquiring them to own the collection). Helen has a real gift for writing and Ade, her husband, contributed some wonderful illustrations. I am still thrilled to have discovered the Hoovers.
The first one I read was A Place in the Woods and I liked this one almost as much. The only thing I didn't like was that this one had kind of a self-righteous tone to it.
The author makes some pretty uncharitable remarks about some of the people who don't live up in their area as if everyone who doesn't live there year-round is just an intruder and is wrecking the natural habitat of the wildlife.
I found it a little hypocritical that the Hoovers had a lifestyle of feeding the wild animals, but that other humans who interact with the environment are ignorant or obnoxious. She seemed to think that their living there had a positive impact on the wildlife, but that a plane flying overhead, for example, was just irresponsible because it startled some animals.
At one point she does question whether or not they are doing the right thing by helping the animals by supplementing their food, but otherwise she seems to think that their interference is ok, while that of other people is not. She even admits that it's natural and good for populations of different species to be controlled so that they don't outgrow their resources, leading to mass starvation, but she seems irritated with hunters and, really, anyone that isn't handling everything the way they do.
I tried to ignore this tone as it seems somewhat natural that they would feel protective of their home and somewhat irritable toward the occasional visitor, but these comments were fairly frequent and they just seemed kind of tone deaf and arrogant to me.
That being said, I almost still gave the book 5 stars. I really enjoyed reading it and will continue to read through all her other books (and probably continue acquiring them to own the collection). Helen has a real gift for writing and Ade, her husband, contributed some wonderful illustrations. I am still thrilled to have discovered the Hoovers.
February 11, 2008
I read this book the first time as a preteen, when I was visiting my Grandmother one summer, always looking for something new to read. Her collection of Reader's Digest Condensed Books, was a much perused source. I found this book, and the story has stayed with me ever since. These last few years I've felt the urge to visit with Peter and his deer family again. I was thrilled to find the book back in print. (Order on-line from Amazon.)
While I'm reading this I feel like a true time-traveler within my own lifetime. This true story takes place in the early 1960's. Our narrator is living with her husband in her family's homestead in the pine woods of northern Minnesota. There is the "summer house", a wood frame building with no electricity and no insulation. Winters are spent in the 2 room log cabin (also no electricity, and I'm not sure about the plumbing situation yet). They don't have a phone or a car, and the nearest town is 30 miles away. In the summer they go shopping by taking a boat up the river to town (or catching a ride from a neighbor, the nearest is 5 miles away). In the winter all of the shopping (including grocery) is done by mail! And whatever they buy is left at their mailbox, a mere 3 mile hike down the road through the woods.
So Ade & Helen live as her grandparents lived 50 or 60 years earlier. (When you're living that rustic, it might as well be 100 years earlier.) But when I first read this book, in the same decade it was first published, no car or phone was not that unusual an occurrence and so left little impression on me. Forty years on, our lives have made a quantum leap in technology, and from here contemplating this simplicity of existence is a much different affair. I feel like I am reading about a family in the Little House years rather then the Eisenhower/Kennedy era.
While I'm reading this I feel like a true time-traveler within my own lifetime. This true story takes place in the early 1960's. Our narrator is living with her husband in her family's homestead in the pine woods of northern Minnesota. There is the "summer house", a wood frame building with no electricity and no insulation. Winters are spent in the 2 room log cabin (also no electricity, and I'm not sure about the plumbing situation yet). They don't have a phone or a car, and the nearest town is 30 miles away. In the summer they go shopping by taking a boat up the river to town (or catching a ride from a neighbor, the nearest is 5 miles away). In the winter all of the shopping (including grocery) is done by mail! And whatever they buy is left at their mailbox, a mere 3 mile hike down the road through the woods.
So Ade & Helen live as her grandparents lived 50 or 60 years earlier. (When you're living that rustic, it might as well be 100 years earlier.) But when I first read this book, in the same decade it was first published, no car or phone was not that unusual an occurrence and so left little impression on me. Forty years on, our lives have made a quantum leap in technology, and from here contemplating this simplicity of existence is a much different affair. I feel like I am reading about a family in the Little House years rather then the Eisenhower/Kennedy era.
October 25, 2015
Simple, quick read. I wouldn't say anything was earth shattering. Nice writing, but not unbelievably moving. Anyone who has spent time in the minnesota wilderness (or anywhere in the woods) and has a patience and love of being nature's voyeur might find this to be too simplistic. At times, the personification of the deer grew old, and for an author who touts respecting nature and animals, she doesn't follow her own advise as to not interfere with the natural course of things. I.e.: keeping wild animals wild.
Seemed to me a book perhaps written for youth to teach them respect of nature. For those of us who live and breath the wilderness, and love and respect deer enough to participate in quality deer management, this seemed pretty hokey.
Seemed to me a book perhaps written for youth to teach them respect of nature. For those of us who live and breath the wilderness, and love and respect deer enough to participate in quality deer management, this seemed pretty hokey.
March 24, 2014
Interesting combination of memoir, sentiment and ecological sensitivity. Hoover tends toward anthropomorphism, but always with keen observation to back up her analysis of deer behavior.
February 27, 2009
In the 1960s, Helen and Adrian Hoover shared their Minnesota cabin yard with a family of whitetail deer. The first to arrive was a starving young buck whom they named Peter. After Peter there came Mama, Pig, Brother, Starface, Little Buck, Pretty and Fuzzy. These four years are the basis of The Gift of the Deer.
These deer were not pets but the Hoovers did what they could to make a safe environment for them, free from hunters and with enough available food to last the long, harsh winters. While Helen journaled about their experiences, her husband sketched them. His sketches are included throughout the book along with a family tree.
The Gift of the Deer details the challenges of living in rural, wooded areas, especially during the long winters. There is much discussion of the planning needed to survive with enough fuel for cooking and heating and enough food for those times when the roads are impassible.
I enjoyed the first year (Peter's year) most but after a while the observations became more of the same. As the book continued I found myself skimming more and reading less. I kept reading mostly for the Adrian Hoover's illustrations.
These deer were not pets but the Hoovers did what they could to make a safe environment for them, free from hunters and with enough available food to last the long, harsh winters. While Helen journaled about their experiences, her husband sketched them. His sketches are included throughout the book along with a family tree.
The Gift of the Deer details the challenges of living in rural, wooded areas, especially during the long winters. There is much discussion of the planning needed to survive with enough fuel for cooking and heating and enough food for those times when the roads are impassible.
I enjoyed the first year (Peter's year) most but after a while the observations became more of the same. As the book continued I found myself skimming more and reading less. I kept reading mostly for the Adrian Hoover's illustrations.
December 4, 2016
Lovely, and especially interesting to me as a Minnesotan, lover of wildlife and wilderness, and budding naturalist. Not sure how it fits into the broader view of wild places during that era (1950s-1960s), as opposed to today...for example, gardening with native flowers isn't really on Helen Hoover's radar, and it's a bit disconcerting to read about somebody so appreciative and attuned to her far northern setting planting a garden of Sweet Williams (exotics native to Southern Europe) and such. But that is still the approach of conventional gardening in America even today so can't really fault her for that. Regardless, Hoover obviously was devoted to learning about and conserving native flora and fauna on her property, and the life she and her husband created for themselves feels peaceful and fulfilling. Peter the deer is the star of this tale, and I will love Helen Hoover forever for rescuing his life. However, I do not think "taming" wild animals (by hand-feeding, for example) or trying to interject ourselves into their lives really works to their benefit, so there were many moments of ambivalence for me in reading this memoir.
June 16, 2016
In vivid detail, Helen Hoover writes of the mystical beauty of undisturbed nature. She paints marvelous word pictures of the changing seasons, and the animals who inhabit the Minnesota wilderness that she has come to call home. This book is centered around her interactions with a small family of wild deer, who visit her log cabin for food, and the gifts she receives because of their presence in her life. Mrs. Hoover chronicles the development of the little deer family, from malnourished Peter's first visit on Christmas day through the birth and development of his twin fawns a few years later. With the respect of a true lover of nature, she captures the essence of each individual deer without imposing "human" characteristics upon the woodland creatures. In other words, she respects that there is something unique and beautiful within the animals, without adding unnecessary human qualities. This is the beauty of all her books.
April 14, 2019
If possible, I think I enjoyed The Gift of the Deer even more than Hoover's A Place in the Woods. It's a gentle recounting of her interactions with several generations of white-tailed deer in the woods of Minnesota. Her observations are thorough and fascinating, and her eye for the natural world and resulting writing reminds the reader of the beauty of that natural world and its inhabitants.
July 23, 2007
This was mom's book club pick and I loved it. It was a recounting of a Minnesota woman's experience with deer they befriended while they were living in a cabin in northern Minnesota. They were there for several years so got to meet several new generations of the deer. It was a touching, sweet story. Sad too. I really enjoyed it.
March 1, 2013
Deer lovers will embrace this book. I lived for a while with a deer family that spent many nights licking the salt from my driveway, and I found the author's involvement with Peter and his growing family understandable. There are some insights into the ways of the forest, though there are also some things the Hoovers do that did not seem to me consistent. Good writing.
January 4, 2017
I love Helen Hoover's books about life in northern Minnesota. Her portrayal of all the animals she and her husband encounter brings the creatures to life in a very unique way. This book is focused primarily on the deer that visit the cabin over the course of a few years. Hoover's prose is beautiful, and the illustrations by her husband are absolutely charming.
December 17, 2019
Helen Hoover had such an eye for the natural world and was able to describe what she saw and experienced in such a precise, gentle, and sensitive manner. I felt transported and could imagine the sights, sounds, and smells of the north woods. This is every bit as good as the author's other book, "A Place in the Woods."
March 4, 2011
A most unexpected, beautifully written, deeply refreshing, and highly informative personal and natural biography of the author and her husband and several generations of a whitetail family in northern Minnesota.
July 26, 2011
Oh what a wonderful book! The true story of a couple who lived in northern Minnesota and of their encounters and ensuing relationship with a family of deer. This was just a cozy-up-with-a-cup-of--hot-tea-and-a-blanket book, for sure!!!
January 18, 2017
I really liked this book about a couple who lives in the woods on the boarder of Canada and Minnesota. They live their dreams of pursuing writing and art. In doing so, they enjoyed the wildlife, in particular the deer. Such a sweet story. I love animal stories.
July 19, 2010
Nice book but was confused when the author condemned the tourists for feeding the bear, yet she and her husband feed the deers.
January 1, 2011
This is a kids book from the 1960's, and I read it then. It probably would seem quaint to kids these days, but at the time it was a treasure.
December 1, 2011
I can so connect with stories set in northern MN and WI woods. Helen Hoover is an outdoor writer that draws me back for rereads which is something I don't usually do.
November 2, 2019
I read this book in 7th grade and loved it then--loved it now. It appeals to my deep sense of connection with nature AND also reminds me of the deer I see every night on my drive to the gym :-)
July 4, 2013
My favorite book as a kid.
August 12, 2014
If you ever wanted to live in a little secluded village....real country.....where no one else was around for miles.....this is a very good story. An easy read and vicariously adorable.
February 13, 2015
It's odd to review a book that seems so full of life only to discover the author died 30 years ago. Cute but simplistic story of a couple living off the land and their encounters with deer.
April 13, 2016
This. Book. Has. Lost. Words. Still. I. Gave. It. A. 3. Stars. Every body. Loves. Deers. The. Title. Alone. Deserves. Something. Right.
July 18, 2017
A must read for every nature and animal lover. An excellent and very enjoyable read!!!
October 21, 2018
I am envious of the life these two were able to lead. I would love to have this experience.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews