Jerome Kildee is a shy stonecutter who retires to the redwood forest to be alone. He finds, instead, friendship for the first time in his life. Delightfully simple, soothing, and serene, this little book takes the reader into the heart of an unassuming man who finds joy in the animals and children he learns to know; the reader has the sublime opportunity of gaining the friendships Jerome finds in spite of his self-imposed isolation. His quiet ways allow for the local animals and children to invade his space, and that is when the fun begins. Jerome learns to relate to a variety of personalities and resolve the issues in an unusual community of innocence. The descriptions of his little home will charm you enough to want to retreat there. For anyone who enjoys nature and self discovery, Kildee house is a book to savor. I have read Jerome's story about 30 times. I love sharing it with the people I care about because it has never failed to delight and satisfy its new friends.

This is a heartwarming story, very well written, about a man who builds a home on the side of a giant redwood tree. A family of skunks claim the house as their own, and the man is kind to them. Other forest animals visit, as well. The man doesn't have the heart to turn the animals away, nor can he turn away children from two fueding families. My eight year old son loved this book at bedtime. It's a gentle story written decades ago, in a gentler time. Highly recommended.

I loved horses as most little girls do, and this was my favorite book about them. I may be a little biased since my Uncle Monty wrote it.

Rutherford Montgomerie is always a good read. Yellow Eyes, the story of a Cougar is his best in my opinion, but Broken Fang is also excellent. The action is nonstop and the descriptions are great. Broken Fang and Yellow Eyes are the only two of his books I own, and they never get dusty on my shelf. The plot is compelling and the characters intriguing, even though they are mostly wild animals. Montgomery is one of the few nature tales authors who can really describe the mentality of an animal in a way that somehow seems to jibe with reality. These books got me hooked on reading, and I'm sure I will read them many times more.

I read this book repeatedly since my 4th grade. I learned much from the carcajou: although he looked clumsy he had a great stamina in walking and he was afraid of noone. Later on I also paid more attention to other characters in the story: two Native American trappers, two white traders and of course many other animals who all consider carcajou the boss.
This book is easy to read and you will read it at once, but will return repeatedly. This is not a fable, animals act like real animals and people act like real people. But you will see that nature, as it is, has many tricks in its sleeve.

I read this book when I was 10 (1961) and remember as if yesterday, the sensation generated in my gut, when the hunting dogs cornered Yellow Eyes, forcing him to make that spine severing leap which crippled the noble beast for the remainder of his life. I believe this single read provided me with the empathy I behold today, for wildlife and their never ending plight with encroching (so-called) civilization. I would highly recommend for any young reader. Just yesterday I was attempting to explain to a good friend and encountered a gaggle of goose bumps and that occasional welling eye. Montgomery instills compassion, respect, appreciation and love of life for all who read this beautifully written story. EN

I read Yellow Eyes many years ago in grade school and it really moved me. Montgomery excels at creating empathy. You really do see through the yellow eyes.

Now that I'm a father, I wanted to read it to my sons, but couldn't find the book. Fortunately, Amazon found a copy for me and I'm currently reading it to my 8 year old at bedtime. This is what has compelled me to write this review. I try to read just one chapter per night, but each night he begs me to keep going! I'm ordering another copy just for him - so he'll be able to read it to his sons.

Incidentally, as I'm re-reading it for the first time in at least 30 years - I realize that it is every bit as good as I remembered it.

I very highly recommend this one.

Yellow Eyes is the first book I can remember sellecting on my own, reading and getting all my friends to read. That was 1960, I was in the 4th grade. I haven't seen a copy of the book in almost that many years, but I can still remember the abandonment with which I read it. It was the first sweet dose in a lifelong addiction to reading for me and I can hardly wait to track down another copy. -M-