Dune Boy: The Early Years of a Naturalist

by Edwin Way Teale

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Genres: Nature, Biography, Nonfiction, Memoir

Paperback

First published December 1, 1986

About the author

Edwin Way Teale was an American naturalist, photographer, and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer. Teale's works serve as primary source material documenting environmental conditions across North America from 1930 - 1980. He is perhaps best known for his series The American Seasons, four books documenting over 75,000 miles (121,000 km) of automobile travel across North America following the changing seasons.

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

We read this for Ambleside year 5 instead of wild animals i have known by ernest thompson seton (which i LOVED, but was hard emotionally for my tender-hearted girl).

we could have not replaced it with anything, but this book was a delight, and its really important to me that my kids learn about nature in fun, beautiful, meaningful ways and not in the fear-mongering ways science was taught when i was in public schools in the 90s (acid rain, depletion of the rainforests, hole in ozone layer). to paraphrase richard louv (last child in the woods), if kids dont first love nature, why do they want to save it. I want my children to marvel at God's creation and to love and wonder at and be curious by nature, not to pumped full of fear about the world. (how many kids throwing tomato soup at mona lisa and protesting "on behalf of the earth" REALLY know the earth, really LOVE it?)

this is the delightful story of a boy visiting his grandparents' farm in the summers at the southern end of Lake Michigan in the Indiana Dune country at the end of the 1800s/beginning of the 1900s. He was given freedom to explore and get into scrapes, to work hard and learn life lessons, to explore his love of nature and literature, with supportive and admirable and funny and real grandparents in the background.

its just oozing love of nature and life and literature and i adored it. it makes me ache for a lost world.

[Aaron Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just think - there was a day, in the early 20th century when young Edwin Way Teale walked underneath the shade of Lone Oak. Later, he wrote this incredible book detailing his adventures and the wonderful stories of Gram and Gramp. And now, here I am reading his book. This is a wonder to me. Dune Boy recounts American childhood as it should be. In many ways, it mirrors my own childhood lived years later and a few miles to the east. The outdoors have shaped me too. I can only hope to recount them as Edwin Way Teale did. This was an absolute joy to read.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Go back to a time when life was hard but peaceful. A time when you knew all your neighbors,and read books to each other.A time when character defined who you are. Imagine living in a wooded environment close to huge sand dunes overlooking Lake Michigan. Just think about living among animals;flowers;and a setting that cultivates creativity and curiosity.Read about an oasis,so close to Chicago,yet so distinctly different with time standing still in the wooded swamp.A classic tale so beautiful in it's simplicity and charm.A story to warm your heart about the value of grandparents and life in Furnessville,Indiana,which is just as beautiful today.

[Heather Ummel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excited to discover Teale and this book. Teale, an important naturalist, recounts his childhood growing up in Indiana dune country on a farm just outside Michigan City. He’s an excellent writer and brings the reader along on the journey of watching a boy’s interests in nature and writing that led to his career. Apparently this used to be a well-known book and as with many such books that I find, I can’t figure out what led to him being forgotten. This book reminds me a lot of one of my favorite books, Fields of Home, by Ralph Moody (but with a much nicer grandfather!) I think I might have a new author obsession.

[Joel Brain · Rating 4 out of 5]

A special book.
Teale recreates the magic of being a boy. There's a love he has for the boy he was way back then. And it serves to reminds me of the love I have for the boy I was when I was 10. I think he probably does that for other readers as well.
His grandparents are rich characters that encouraged and supported him. His love for them comes through.

Two or three of the chapters explore the romance he had for aviation when flying machines were just starting to take to the air. Reminded me of the obsession I (and many others my age) had with space and being an astronaut back in the 60's.

The end kind of fizzles as he throws a lot of little memory snippets into the last couple of chapters but somehow it's forgivable cause you've come to like the author. An editor might have been useful.

If you like this you might like another memoir written about those same years in a boys life -Ralph Moody wrote The Wild Country (also called Little Britches)

[Rachel Snowden · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have really enjoyed the nature writings of Teale that I have read, so I picked this up initially thinking it might be nature writing focused on our region, which was exciting. But, what it actually is was totally different but a surprise delight. This is a memoir of his childhood times spent on the farm of his grandparents in the Dunes region. It was funny and nostalgic without being sappy and just an utter delight. I loved it! And, it made it especially wonderful to have a little glimpse into the history of our area and what it was like in those years.

[Janna Odenthal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book with some laugh-out-loud moments. I could very much relate since I grew up in his hometown area and raised my son in the dune area that the author visited each summer. Interesting, there is a house with a plaque in the dunes area that tells about the author and his visits, as mentioned in the book. A fun read.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little bit of nature writing, a little bit on the early history of aviation, and a lot on farm life in northern Indiana in the early 1900s. Includes several lists of books that influenced his interest in stories and writing. The early chapters make good reading for young boys, and the later chapters turn more into memoir territory.

[Esther · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am left wanting more. I think Edwin and Nellie Teale must have been incredibly private people. I know nothing about Nellie's early years, and as for this brief foray into Edwin's early years...did I mention that I am left wanting more?

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though I know many of the names in this story (making it more personal), it is one of great memories. Kids today don't know what they're missing!

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like "Little House on the Prairie", I'd call this "Farmhouse in the Midwest" for boys. This would make a great chapter a night read aloud for boys (especially) ages 8 - 10.

[Anastasia Tuckness · Rating 5 out of 5]

Teale tells of his boyhood--the trees on the farm, the airplane he built, the storms, the exhibition in town he walked to. Thoroughly enjoyable.

[Steven Shook · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book by natural history writer Edwin Way Teale provides 30 chapters of vignettes of Teale's summers spent on his grandparents' small farm at Furnessville in Porter County, Indiana. In many respects, several of the stories told foretell Teale's profession as an adult. There are numerous stories and comments concerning wildlife and nature made throughout the book. Other stores, such as those concerning early flight and Teale's own experimental flights, really have nothing to do with natural history. They are, however, very entertaining to read.

Furnessville is located about one mile inland from the shores of Lake Michigan, where the Indiana Dunes rings the lower portion of the lake. Henry Chandler Cowles, considered by many as the father of the study of ecology, did much of his academic-oriented plant succession work at the Indiana Dunes. It is very likely that Teale, even as a young boy, would have known of Cowles, which may have spurred Teale's interest in natural history.

Teale's writing style is simple and lucid, resulting in a rather fast read. Note that nearly all of the individuals mentioned in this book were real people that lived and worked in and around the small community of Furnessville. With the exception of the development and expansion of three highways in the area (US Routes 12 and 20 and Interstate 94), little has changed in the general area that Teale describes in his book.

[Alysia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book as part of the Dow Gardens book club. I would probably rate this at a 2 1/2 stars if I could. This is the memoir of the summers and holidays that Edwin Way Teale spent with his grandparents in the early 1900s in their farm in Northern Indiana near Lake Michigan. I enjoyed reading as the first part of the early 20th century was unfolding in front of him. He tells of the early airplanes, cars, his first typewriter, his first camera, and many other firsts of that time.

I would go with 2 1/2 because at times, I felt that the narrative of this book was at times boring. I found myself skimming through a couple of chapters. Maybe I am just not the best reader of the adventures of a 8-16 year old boy.

But other parts of the book, I found very interesting. Especially the passages about one of the early aviators that came to the sand dunes nearby to test out some of the first flying machines in the late 1800s. Edwin Way Teale got to interview one of the Wright brothers many years later and discovered that the early aviator that flew near his grandparents home was a forerunner to the Wright brothers.

This book reminded me a little of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. If you are interested in learning how the early settlers near the Great Lakes lived, then I would recommend this book.

[Elizabeth Olson · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the turn of the 20th century, the author spent his summer adventuring through dunes, woods, and his grandparents farm at the edge of Lake Michigan. Cumulatively, these charming tales of small scale adventure paint a picture of a boy becoming a naturalist and a writer.

[Adrienne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read the first 5 chapters aloud to my daughter and we were bored. I like his other books, but was not crazy about how he wrote this one. It is not a good read aloud.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

An inside look at what life was like in the Dunes along Lake Michigan before man moved in.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Growing up in the Indiana Dunes, becoming.a naturalist and writer.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It was a delight from start to finish.