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Lassie: The Mystery of the Bristlecone Pine
Illustrated by Larry Harris
Paperback
First published January 1, 1968
1 person is currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
Steve Frazee
108 books5 followersSteve Frazee was born in Salida, Colorado. He began making major contributions to Western pulp magazines with stories set in the American West as well as a number of North-Western tales published in Adventure. Not surprisingly, many of Frazee's novels have become major motion pictures.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 18, 2015
I inadvertantly "inherited" this book from one of my brothers so I guess I can say I own it now. We first got this book back in the early 1970s and I instantly became obsessed with it and the whole Forest Ranger thing. I haven't read it for probably 40 years so I'm now seeing it with a whole new perspective, but I think the book holds up really well even thought it was published in 1968, and I still enjoyed this book very much.
December 9, 2016
Gotta love Lassie! Stories about this famous collie are always good, educational, and just plain fun to read. I recommend this book to everyone ages 9+.
December 10, 2019
its a decent book but i want to be done with it because i am ready to move on to something else
December 6, 2017
This was one of a set of books I got back when I was a kid. I remember being so excited to find out there was such a thing as Lassie books because that was my favorite TV show. This particular book was that much better because it was a "Cory" book. Cory being my favorite companion to Lassie on the more modern TV show. (Keep in mind this was back in the 1970s)
Re-reading this book as an adult, I am astonished at how much I'd missed when I'd read - and re-read this series as a child. The story is simple - Cory, a park ranger, finds a runaway boy who insists his name is Bristlecone Pine. What follows is a story about what a park ranger does, a lot about forestry in general, and a story filled with adventure about two boys enjoying a summer outdoors while this mystery is unraveled.
And of course there is always Lassie.
Reading now I can't help but wonder how much of this book was originally intended to be a story for adults. There's just so much detail - and it's all so fascinating - that I really just dove into this book and enjoyed it immensely. I wish now I'd read this perhaps again as a teenager as it might have changed my career goals somewhat. I'm too old to become a park ranger now, but there's certainly a thrill to the job that makes me wish I'd taken my passion for the outdoors and found a way to live with that.
Lassie of course is brilliant. She is always there when things get rough - and knows just how to help. I wish I could go back now and re-watch these episodes. Maybe they're on DVD somewhere? Lacking that these books are really wonderful things. This one hits my favorites shelf for sure!
Re-reading this book as an adult, I am astonished at how much I'd missed when I'd read - and re-read this series as a child. The story is simple - Cory, a park ranger, finds a runaway boy who insists his name is Bristlecone Pine. What follows is a story about what a park ranger does, a lot about forestry in general, and a story filled with adventure about two boys enjoying a summer outdoors while this mystery is unraveled.
And of course there is always Lassie.
Reading now I can't help but wonder how much of this book was originally intended to be a story for adults. There's just so much detail - and it's all so fascinating - that I really just dove into this book and enjoyed it immensely. I wish now I'd read this perhaps again as a teenager as it might have changed my career goals somewhat. I'm too old to become a park ranger now, but there's certainly a thrill to the job that makes me wish I'd taken my passion for the outdoors and found a way to live with that.
Lassie of course is brilliant. She is always there when things get rough - and knows just how to help. I wish I could go back now and re-watch these episodes. Maybe they're on DVD somewhere? Lacking that these books are really wonderful things. This one hits my favorites shelf for sure!
March 31, 2019
A fun Lassie adventure! The story makes you feel patriotic, makes you desire to take good care of God's green earth, and might even make you want to do something like... become a Park Ranger like Cory! It's a well-written story too. Kids and adults alike can enjoy it. I really feel like it actually has depth in the plot, and it's not some silly story for the publisher to have made some quick bucks off. It's a quality story about Lassie and the great outdoors.
However, the one thing that actually irked me about the story is the character of Chub. Everything about him screams "stereotypical fat kid". He talks about food in every scene... It's a tacky gimmick to employ in a story, but I assume there's nothing to blame but the decade of when it was written, as it would be too daring for someone to write about a character in this way in the modern day.
Note to parents: The story includes topics relating to divorce, step-parents, and kids running away, hiding and tricking their parents, etc.
However, the one thing that actually irked me about the story is the character of Chub. Everything about him screams "stereotypical fat kid". He talks about food in every scene... It's a tacky gimmick to employ in a story, but I assume there's nothing to blame but the decade of when it was written, as it would be too daring for someone to write about a character in this way in the modern day.
Note to parents: The story includes topics relating to divorce, step-parents, and kids running away, hiding and tricking their parents, etc.
June 26, 2018
Lassie was always a favourite in my family, my father and i used to watch the show (he had some on tape) and read the books together when i was small. When i turned 10, he gifted me 2 of his original Lassie authorised adventure books!
I love the way that we slowly learn the truth about Briss and watch him overcome his fear of Lassie. The character of Bristlecone was really well written as he could have very easily been a whiny and irritating character, instead Frazee gave us beautiful character development and made the whole cast and adventure memorable.
I love the way that we slowly learn the truth about Briss and watch him overcome his fear of Lassie. The character of Bristlecone was really well written as he could have very easily been a whiny and irritating character, instead Frazee gave us beautiful character development and made the whole cast and adventure memorable.
December 29, 2021
Quite enjoyed reading this again as an adult. It's easy to love Lassie, and the characters in here felt reasonably real. I think this would be a good read even for young people today.
December 20, 2025
I enjoyed this book & agree that not just kids but adults should read it. A lot of interesting aspects of forestry & soil conservation.
February 6, 2017
I really enjoyed this book !! I give it the maximum of five stars !! It held my interest , had a good plot , and had likeable characters whom you could relate to and enjoy . The character of " Bristlecone Pine " could easily have been a very annoying character , but was instead portrayed as a real character ; not a cookie cutter cut out !! The other characters , such as Chub and Corey Stuart were handled well . And, of course , Lassie herself has several moments of sheer heroism . I would heartily recommend that you read this book !!
August 27, 2014
Seems I've never been able to get out of the way of a good dog story . . . I mean, I can remember walking with my sister to the movie theater in Mineola, from Williston Park, Long Island, NY, sometime in the early '50s and catching a matinee of an obscure canine saga. Ha ha, I'd mention the title but maybe not today.
Now, of course I've been a Lassie fan for some time, and it so happens that I was able to cross off one of the items on my bucket list by visiting the Bristle Cone Forest this month, and with my canine pal, Chee Kough . . . so, when I ran across this title, how could I pass it up? It didn't disappoint, right up there with an issue of 'Boys Life' which I read quite a bit as a youth, along with the Hardy Boys' mysteries, eventually moving on to Arthur Conan Doyle, etc. even Edgar Allen Poe, or was it just another Vincent Price vehicle, that would play at that Mineola Theater, I think House of Wax, one of the first 3-D flicks, also viewed there, maybe the Roger Corman series of Poe stories as well. It's all a bit foggy now. I was seven when my mother shut down my access to the 'horror' genre when after seeing 'The Creature of the Black Lagoon' I had trouble sleeping . . . more on that later ;)
But getting back to Lassie and Bristlecone Pines . . . total fun.
Now, of course I've been a Lassie fan for some time, and it so happens that I was able to cross off one of the items on my bucket list by visiting the Bristle Cone Forest this month, and with my canine pal, Chee Kough . . . so, when I ran across this title, how could I pass it up? It didn't disappoint, right up there with an issue of 'Boys Life' which I read quite a bit as a youth, along with the Hardy Boys' mysteries, eventually moving on to Arthur Conan Doyle, etc. even Edgar Allen Poe, or was it just another Vincent Price vehicle, that would play at that Mineola Theater, I think House of Wax, one of the first 3-D flicks, also viewed there, maybe the Roger Corman series of Poe stories as well. It's all a bit foggy now. I was seven when my mother shut down my access to the 'horror' genre when after seeing 'The Creature of the Black Lagoon' I had trouble sleeping . . . more on that later ;)
But getting back to Lassie and Bristlecone Pines . . . total fun.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews