WARNING: Hunting is talked about and guns are shown.
Not only do I talk about hunting and my experiences about hunting, it is mentioned and shown in the actual book, The Happy Hunter by Roger Duvoisin. When I saw it being promoted in an email, I thought maybe it would be about the act of hunting an animal as the old fashioned, classic looking images suggested an older mentality about the sport. But, even though the original book came out in the 1960s it has a familiarly modern take.
I grew up around hunters. My mom could out shoot my dad when they first met. Growing up, dad’s rifles were in a location that was inaccessible to me and my sister. But even then, we knew we did not touch them. Ever. And if we wanted to, we asked dad to show us, him never leaving our side. We used to have a deer or two hanging in the barn during hunting season. (I will say that venison is delightful if prepared right (both my parents had/have the touch) and if you put bear meat in a stew? Well, it tastes like steak.) I still tell the story of my cousin who had some friends over, my uncle’s deer on display and her friend saying, “That’s gross!” and my cousin replied, “That’s supper!”
So, I’m all for hunting and books about hunting. What I am not for is when an anti-hunting book/person gets lofty, preachy and does not understand that sometimes hunting is needed (that bear meat? It got us through a rough winter one year) and it’s bad hunters who give it a bad name. However, if you are not pro-hunting, I am fine with that, just respect that I am. Therefore, when I realized that our hunter of our story, dressed in his yellow, his rifle by his side, the squirrel in his sights will not pull the trigger, in fact goes out of his way to not hunt the animals (and will go home to beans and such for supper), I was a bit surprised, but pleased, too. You see, our Hunter hunts for the walk, the experiences, what he can see. And yes, there are one or two lines that get a little pushy (he chooses kindness is mentioned, alluding to the fact hunting is cruel) but overall, it is a nice, even cozy alternative to an actual traditional thought of hunting experience. The publisher description says our hunter is anti-gun and pro-vegetarian but both sides can enjoy
With that said, yes, guns are shown. They tastefully talk about the act of hunting. You never see anything gratuitous. The adult will see via the vintage colored and detailed images how the hunter “accidently” sneezed, sings a tune, says something that makes the animals “look up” and say, “Oh a hunter.” Also, my review is completely based on the fact that I only had a sample of everything. Yet, the pages I read (via online) seem to be an excellent example of what the reader will get. One page, however, does tell me that something might happen at the end that could be a bit emotional, but I think if you have a strong reader/listener and/or read with an adult, one will be okay. With that said, I’m going to find a finished copy as I’m terribly curious about what will happen.
