Frances Backhouse

Gr 4–8—Backhouse spent five months in British Columbia's North Coast, located in Ts'msyen territory, learning
"from the Gwich'in to the Diné, and from the Niitsitapi to the Yup'ik, each group has its own grizzly-bear stories,
songs, and dances." This defining text on a misunderstood species blends science, heart, and deep knowledge.

Very interesting. I would warn animal lovers who are squeamish that the hats in the title isn’t there due to a passing observation. While the overall theme is of interconnectedness and a paean to beavers, a good amount of time is spent with trappers, furriers and hat makers.

Fascinating history of the Beaver. No, I am not kidding, it's really quite interesting. if you don't have a high tolerance for the fur trade though, it may exceed your squeamishness factor -- not that it glorifies that trade by any means, but the author does really investigate as much as she can about it.

It was ok, but I can't quite put my finger on why I didn't really like it as much as other natural history books. Perhaps it was the first person perspective as the author learned more about beavers? Otherwise, a good overview of the relationship between beavers and people in a historical, fashionable, and ecological way, with a short sidestep into the paleontology of now extinct species.