Notes From Little Lakes: The Story of a Family and Fifteen Acres

by Mel Ellis, Suzanne Ellis (Illustrator), Ted J. Rulseh (Editor)

Mel Ellis describes how he and his wife and their five daughters (The Rebels) turned a tract of pastureland into a haven for trees, flowers and wildlife. In the lore of nature and the environment, Little Lakes is as familiar and as important as Aldo Leopold's Sand County.

Hardcover

First published July 1, 1998

About the author

Mel Ellis was a prolific, venerable writer and observer of the Wisconsin landscape. He crafted outdoor columns for The Milwaukee Journal for 15 years, wrote short stories, edited a field column for Field & Streeam for 12 years, penned magazine pieces for national media and three of his 18 books became Disney TV movies.

Ellis was Wisconsin born and bred. His "Notes From Little Lakes" columns from the Milwaukee Journal (1957-73) and the Wisconsin Sportsman (1976-82) chronicle nature observations and family life at an old frame house on 15 acres in Waukesha County. Ellis's columns and essays have been collected, edited and reissued in a new book you can savor in 10-minute respites and on long, winter nights. "Notes from Little Lakes" was published by The Cabin Bookshelf, Waukesha, late last year and should be available at bookstores statewide.

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

Being written in and about the natural landscape of an area of Wisconsin near which we live, I wanted to give this a good review but the writing style was, to me, disjointed and distracting. Others may like it though.

[Bruce Whitmore · Rating 4 out of 5]

For relaxed reading. Observances of nature's animals, flora and his family through the years.

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

For relaxed reading. Observances of nature's animals, flora and his family through the years.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book to read during your lunch hour. Living in the area that he wrote about makes one glad that there are still spots not uprouted by bulldozers -- places where one can sit and listen to the wind through the trees and birdsong. What a wonderful way to bring up children -- with nature and all the lessons one can learn from experiencing nature rather than just reading about it. Reading the book made my yearn for living in the country ache a bit more.

[Kriscrowe · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm marking this as read, although I didn't finish it. This was one of our book club choices and it was a collection of his writings for the Milwaukee Paper in the 70s. It was his reflections on nature and the little sanctuary they created just outside of Milwaukee, which was nice to read in little doses. He is a very observant, poetic writer and these would be great as examples for English class, but not something I wanted to curl up with and read through.

[Tamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy reading about life in small towns, especially those towns I have lived near. This book is just that..essays centered around the Muskego, WI area. This also took me back to a simpler time.