Farley Mowat Books In Order

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Publication Order of Standalone Novels

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Farley Mowat
Farley Mowat was born on May 12, 1921 in Ontario, Canada and grew up in Richmond Hill to Angus Mowat (a librarian that fought during the Battle of Vimy Ridge) and Helen Lilian Thomson. When his family lived in Windsor, Farley started writing “mostly verse” from 1930 until 1933.

During the thirties, the Mowat family moved out to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where as a teen he wrote about birds in a column for the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. It was at this same time he wrote Nature Lore, his own nature newsletter. He also studied zoology at the University of Toronto but he never finished a degree.

In the summer of 1939 he took his first collection expedition to Saskatoon with Frank Banfield, a fellow zoology student where they collected data regarding the mammals and Mowat focusing more on birds.

He joined with the Canadian Army from July of 1940, originally commissioned as a lieutenant. He served until his discharge in 1945, at the end of the Second World War. At this time, he was a captain and had been considered for a promotion to major, which he declined as it would have meant volunteering to stay in the military until “no longer needed”. Mowat assumed this meant duty with the Canadian Army Occupation Force, but it might have also meant the conclusion of the war of Japan.

After he served, he went to the University of Toronto. His first book, called “People of the Deer”, was inspired by a field trip that he took to the Canadian Arctic that he made during his time at University. He was outraged by the conditions that the Inuit had to endure by living in Northern Canada. This book helped turn Mowat into a popular yet controversial figure.

He began a book tour of the United States to promote Sea of Slaughter, but was denied entry by customs agents at Pearson International Airport in Toronto. He believed that gun lobbyists were behind this denial, and came forward with these suspicions. In 1990, the law was overturned, and he wrote about his experience in a book called “My Discovery of America”, released in the year 1985.

Farley grew very interested in Dian Fossey, an American ethologist that studied gorillas and was brutally murdered in Rwanda in the year 1985. He wrote a biography on her and it was released in 1987.

Many of his books are autobiographical, like “Owls in the Family”, which is about his childhood. “And No Birds Sang” is about his experience fighting in Italy during World War II, and “The Boat Who Wouldn’t Float” was one of three books about his time spent living in Newfoundland.

“The Boat Who Wouldn’t Float” won the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humor and it made the 1972 L’Etoile de la Mer Honours List. He also won the Mark Twain Award, the Vicky Metcalfe Award, as well as the Curran Award (for contributions to understanding wolves). “Lost in the Barrens” won two Canadian “year’s best” book awards.

“Never Cry Wolf” (1983) “The Curse of the Viking Grave” (1992), “Lost in the Barrens” (1990), and “The Snow Walker” (2003), were each adapted into movies.

He died on May 6, 2014 at the age of 92, just a week before his 93rd birthday. Farley maintained his interest in Canada’s wilderness areas through his whole life and had been on a CBC Radio One program titled The Current, speaking out against the provision of Wi-Fi service in national parks.

“People of the Deer” is a stand alone novel that was released in the year 1952. In the year 1886, the Ihhalmiut people in northern Canada numbered seven thousand, however in the year 1946, when Farley started his two year stay in the Arctic, the population had dropped to only forty. With them, he had observed for the first time the phenomenon which inspired him for the remainder of his life: the millennia-old migration of the caribou herds.

He also witnessed the devastating and continual intrusions of the outsiders determined on exploitation, endured bleak and ceaseless winters, and suffered agonizing shortages of food.

This is a mournful reproach to those that would manipulate and destroy the indigenous cultures all around the world. Most of all, it is a tribute to the very last People of the Deer, those diminished Ihalmiuts, whose calamitous encounter with our civilization resulted in their unnecessary demise.

“Lost in the Barrens” is a stand alone novel that was released in the year 1956. Awasin (a Cree Indian boy), and Jaime (who is a Canadian orphan that lives with Angus), along with his uncle Angus Macnair (a trapper), grow enchanted by the magic of the great Arctic wastes. They go off on an adventure that proves much longer and much more dangerous than they ever could have thought possible.

Drawing on his knowledge of the ways of the wilderness and the implacable northern elements, Farley has created a memorable story of adventure and daring.

“The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be” is a stand alone novel that was released in the year 1957. This book tells the story about his boyhood spent on the Canadian prairies. Mutt’s pedigree might’ve been uncertain, however his madness was something indisputable.

He climbed ladders and trees, rode passenger in the open car wearing just goggles and displayed hunting abilities which bordered on the sheer genius. He was truly a marvelous dog, that was worthy of a strange boy that was growing up in an untamed and raw wilderness.

“Owls in the Family” is a stand alone novel that was released in the year 1961. Every kid needs to have a pet of some kind. Nobody could really argue with any of that. However what happens when your pet is an owl, and your owl terrorizes the entire neighborhood?

In this exciting tale for young readers, a boy’s pet menagerie, which in this case includes: a dog, magpies, crows, and gophers, gets out of control with two cranky pet owls being added to the group. The story of how Weeps and Wol turns the entire town upside down is a funny and warm one that bursts with suspense and adventure.

3 Responses to “Farley Mowat”

1. Tracy: 8 months ago

   I named my new puppy Farley Mowatt. Definitely reminiscent of the dog who wouldn’t be. I find myself educating the youth around me about what a great Canadian author Farley Mowatt was and his contributions to Canadian literature.

   Reply
2. Monique Tukker: 2 years ago

   This is the first time I’ve seen a listing of Farley Mowat’s books. When I was about 15 years old I was given a Reader’s Digest book with stories about animals (released in 1963 – the year I was born) and it contained a shorter version of The Dog that Wouldn’t Be. Now, 45 years later, I am finally able to read the entire book. And others that I was able to download from somewhere. 🙂

   When I was 15, it had only been one year since I lost my dog that I had known all my life. Of course my mother would say that he was the family dog and not mine, but the dog and me knew better. Reading about Mutt’s antics brought a much needed smile to my face. And I realized that both Mutt and Beer (dutch for Bear) were special, quirky dogs. Beer’s death is almost 46 years ago but sometimes I still miss him, and in my dreams we walk together again. Only people that had a special dog during childhood will probably know this feeling.

   Thank you very much for this listing!

   Reply
   • Graeme: 2 years ago

     You’re welcome 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to write that and sharing that story. Cheers

     Reply