Library Happenings

Henning School

Minnesota author Gary Paulsen was born on May 17, 1939 in Minneapolis. He was raised for the first seven years of his life by his grandmother and several aunts.  He met his father at the age of seven, as his father was a career military officer serving in World War II. Mr. Paulsen moved often to new places and new schools, which didn’t allow for long term friendship making.  

At age 13, Mr. Paulsen received his first library card at the local public library and this opened his eyes to the world. As a teenager, he spent many hours in the woods as an escape to the problems at home. A carnival came through and at age 14 he left town when the carnival left town. He ended up graduating from Thief River Falls, MN high school and attended Bemidji College in the late 1950’s. Because he was so good at trapping and hunting, he was able to pay his first and only year of college tuition with money he earned from that. He then joined the army and eventually found employment with the aerospace industry. This was not worked that he liked but rather work that he was good at.

Mr. Tucket was Gary Paulsen’s first novel. When he realized that writing was his passion, he took off at a record pace, writing more than 40 books in a 12 year period.  When one of his books Winterkill was involved in a libel lawsuit, Mr. Paulsen quit writing for a while and went back to trapping. A friend gave him four sled dogs to use on his trap line route. This got him interested in dogsled racing and he ran the Iditarod with his dogs in  ‘83, ‘85’ and ‘06. If you are looking for books that will provide you with feelings of excitement, sadness, anticipation, and adventure, Mr. Paulsen has written a book for you.  

This week’s featured book is by Gary Paulsen and it is titled “Puppies, Dogs, and Blue Northers.” Because Mr. Paulsen is an experienced Iditarod racer, he is able to tell a story of his dog Cookie, who was also his lifelong companion. He tells of Cookie’s life, her final litter of pups, how the sled dogs learn to pull the sled and details of the wild Alaskan landscape. This is an unforgettable story. 

We hope that you will find yourself up our way and be interested in checking out a book by Gary Paulsen.

The State of Minnesota from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund through the Minnesota Historical Society has awarded the Henning Public School Library a grant in the amount of $9,325. This grant will provide over 449 books to the Henning Public School Library.

This  grant helps provide a quality learning experience for our local Minnesotans by providing exemplary library bound (as much as possible) books that feature depictions of various aspects of the State of Minnesota.  Students will develop knowledge, skills, and understanding about many areas of Minnesota by reading about Minnesota, its geography, heritage, culture, people, landforms, arts, sports, and more.  Books will be purchased for all ages of people who frequent the library. This grant will help represent diverse ethnicities and people as we are purchasing books that feature a wide variety of people who have contributed to Minnesota. 

In addition, because Minnesota history is a vital component of our middle school curriculum, we want a strong selection of books that depict Minnesota history, industries, contemporary Minnesotans, immigration, the contributions of indigenous people , Minnesota authors/illustrators, and state bird/fish/foods, etc