If you like Hank, you'll like Wilder Good, too.--John R. Erickson, author of Hank the Cowdog

Meet 12-year-old Wilder Good, who lives with his parents and little sister, Molly, in a small town in southern Colorado. When he's lucky, he gets to go hunting with Gale Loving, a 72-year-old elder at the church the Goods attend, and a good friend and mentor to Wilder. They make sort of an odd pair, an old man and a boy, but they fit together pretty well in the outdoors. (Though sometimes Wilder still can't help but wonder what kind of a name Gale is for a grown man.)

Wilder plays basketball, is active in his 4-H club, likes to read--his hero is Teddy Roosevelt--and does all the things that seventh-graders do. (He has a secret girlfriend, too.) He's a Dallas Cowboys fan. But mostly he loves the outdoors, hunting in the Colorado Rockies with Gale or his dad, or at his grandfather's Texas ranch.

Wilder is on the threshold between being a kid and beginning to grow up, and he's trying his best to figure out just what it means to join that grownup world. There's a lot to learn, and he's grateful to have rock-steady Gale to guide him.

In The Elk Hunt, Wilder accompanies Gale into the mountains in search of his first elk. It's a special day for Wilder in many ways--the biggest game he's ever hunted, and the first chance to use his grandfather's Winchester .270. He's determined to succeed with high marks.

Hunting elk is an exciting and demanding pursuit, but even after Wilder and Gale are headed home, there's still danger to face--that's when nature decides to really test Wilder's resolve.

S. J. Dahlstrom lives and writes in west Texas. He has numerous magazine credits for his writing and photography. The Adventures of Wilder Good is his first series. His writing draws on his experiences as a cowboy, husband, father, and founder of a boys' ranch.

When thirteen-year-old Wilder and his friends Sunny and Corndog go down to the river for a horse ride, something panics Corndog into running away. Wilder and Sunny reluctantly return home without him, and the next day a strange man comes to Wilder's house looking for Corndog. He seems to know an awful lot about the small, red-haired, foster kid's past. So Wilder, Sunny, and another friend, Big, set out to find Corndog before someone else does. If they succeed, can the group of friends convince Corndog to trust the world enough to rejoin it?

Spur Award finalist S.J. Dahlstrom has brought this coming-of-age tale to life through his natural, easy writing style and stunningly beautiful descriptions. I have been a Wilder fan from the start, and each subsequent adventure only gets better.―Rocky Gibbons, Roundup Magazine

What if everything you thought about deer hunting was wrong? That the biggest deer wasn't always the best one.

Wilder is back on his grandad's ranch in West Texas and a run-in with his dangerous neighbor, Saul, spins Wilder's head like the blizzard that hits the ranch the day before Thanksgiving. Along with his sister, Molly, Wilder must rethink his ideas about what a trophy is, and how he relates to the wild landscape around him.

Winner of the Western Heritage Award for Juvenile Book

Winner of the Will Rogers Medallion Award for Young Readers

Finalist, Western Writers of America Spur Award for Juvenile Fiction

The Green Colt is told beautifully, with grace and quiet power, and shows S. J. Dahlstrom to be a big new talent. I highly recommend this wonderful book.--Nancy Plain, award-winning author and vice-president of Western Writers of America

Twelve-year-old Wilder Good likes basketball, 4-H club, hanging out with his friends, and reading. But, more than anything, he loves to be outdoors.

In this fourth book of the series, Wilder is back at his grandfather's ranch in West Texas. Papa Milam gives him an unexpected gift--his very own 'green' colt to break. Wilder is excited to begin, but he quickly realizes that even getting near the colt is much harder than he expected. So Papa hires Tequito, a Mexican vaquero, to help. Tequito doesn't speak much English, and at first Wilder is intimidated. But the vaquero is both gentle and firm with the colt, and soon they're making good progress. Wilder sees how skilled Tequito is with horses, and learns that American cowboying has its roots in a much older Mexican tradition.

Breaking his new colt is a challenge, but--as Wilder discovers--it's only the beginning of the joy and pain of owning a horse.

Award-winning author S. J. Dahlstrom delivers a powerful story with a timeless theme. A welcome addition to any child's bookshelf.

S. J. Dahlstrom lives and writes in West Texas. He has numerous magazine credits for his writing and photography. The Adventures of Wilder Good is his first series. His writing draws on his experiences as a cowboy, husband, father, and founder of a boys' ranch.

If you like Hank, you'll like Wilder Good, too.--John R. Erickson, author of Hank the Cowdog

I am a big fan of this series. Last fall I included The Elk Hunt in my list of favorite books of 2013, and Texas Grit is every bit as insightful and positive as the first one.--Glenn Dromgoole

Dahlstrom writes about ranch life with flair and specific detail.--WORLD magazine

Will Rogers Medallion Gold Medal Winner - 2015

In Texas Grit, Wilder spends a week in West Texas at his grandfather's ranch, while his mother and father travel to Denver to see her doctors.

Wilder finds it hard to leave his parents. Papa Milam is a cowboy, gruff and sometimes a bit intimidating, yet grandfather and grandson care for each other very much--and find they actually have lots to learn from each other, too.

Wilder works cattle on horseback and explores the rough ranch country with Papa. One night they start out to hunt for whitetail deer in the cottonwood bottoms but end up encountering a rattlesnake instead. A few days later, four cowboys arrive at the ranch to help with the branding of Papa's new calves. Wilder gets the opportunity to join the crew and takes his place alongside the grown men in the strenuous and sometimes dangerous work of herding, roping, and branding.

Wilder does a lot of growing up over the week, and together he and Papa experience the kind of adventures that only a place like Texas can provide.

S. J. Dahlstrom lives and writes in west Texas. He has numerous magazine credits for his writing and photography. The Adventures of Wilder Good is his first series. His writing draws on his experiences as a cowboy, husband, father, and founder of a boys' ranch.

If you like Hank, you'll like Wilder Good, too.--John R. Erickson, author of Hank the Cowdog Winner of the Will Rogers Medallion Award, silver medal for Western Fiction for Young Readers Every boy has it in his soul to make the big trip. Alone, into the wild. Wilder feels the call after reading about an obsidian deposit on a forgotten bluff in the Spanish Peaks Wilderness. If he can find the glassy, black, volcanic rock, he'll be able to replace his family's most cherished heirloom. Wilder wants to prove that he can make the journey alone, but his parents make him bring his best friend Big, and a new kid called Corndog. With no adults to turn to, can the three boys face the rigors of the outdoors--and each other?

If you like Hank, you'll like Wilder Good, too.--John R. Erickson, author of Hank the Cowdog

Lamplighter Finalist 2017-18 (Triple Crown Awards)

If you've read the first two books about Wilder Good, you already know he's 12 years old and lives with his parents and little sister, Molly, in a small town in southern Colorado. He's on the threshold between being a kid and beginning to grow up, and he's trying his best to figure out just what it means to join that grownup world. There's a lot to learn, and Wilder is grateful to the adults in his life who guide him.

In this third installment of The Adventures of Wilder Good, Wilder and his secret girlfriend, Sunny Parker, set out with Wilder's mentor, Gale Loving, for a day of fly fishing on the Rio Grande. But in the Colorado wilderness an afternoon of fishing and fun can shift suddenly to a life-and-death challenge. When Gale is injured, Wilder and Sunny must take charge. Together, the two learn what it is to aid and protect a friend. With no one to turn to, they have to make their own decisions and rely on their own skills as darkness falls and they prepare to spend the night in the canyon tending to Gale.

I am a big fan of this series. Last fall I included The Elk Hunt in my list of favorite books of 2013, and Texas Grit is every bit as insightful and positive as the first one.--Glenn Dromgoole (a review of Wilder Good 2: Texas Grit)

Dahlstrom writes about ranch life with flair and specific detail.--WORLD magazine (a review of Wilder Good 2: Texas Grit)

S. J. Dahlstrom lives and writes in west Texas. He has numerous magazine credits for his writing and photography. The Adventures of Wilder Good is his first series. His writing draws on his experiences as a cowboy, husband, father, and founder of a boys' ranch.

Thirteen-year-old Wilder has spent his boyhood watching men like his grandpa Papa Milam . . . and wanting to be like them. Now he is leaving on a two day cattle drive through river and canyon country with his aging Papa and another older man, Red Guffey. In big ranch country full of livestock and wild animals, Wilder is forced to recognize that his own instincts and abilities may have become greater than those of his heroes. ​

Does praying for rain work? Thirteen-year-old Wilder Good asks his grandfather, Papa, that question on a spring break visit to his ranch in West Texas. The ranch is mired in another drought and when Wilder's cousin from New York, Frankie, accidentally starts a wildfire, chaos erupts. Wilder and Frankie witness Papa struggle through the weariness from fire, drought, and loss, and face family myth and folklore for the first time. Wilder and Frankie discover adventure in every canyon from wild pigs, horses, cattle; and are left to wonder at the danger and beauty of a landscape and lifestyle that can both kill and create.