Paulsen's wife, young son, friends, and acquaintances are mentioned in this autobiography. However, other than Paulsen, there are no human characters; the major characters in Woodsong are animals. Some are the sled dogs and the other domesticated animals that live around Paulsen's home.

Others are the wild creatures that Paulsen sees when they appear at his home or when he meets them in the woods.

Paulsen provides a personality for each of the domestic animals by describing its actions. There is Hawk, the banty hen, who adopts the ruffed grouse eggs that Paulsen finds in a nest after the grouse hen is killed. Fred, the yard dog, expresses his dislike of diets by biting the author on the leg. Among the sled dogs, there are Cookie, who teaches a lesson about trust; Columbia, who plays a trick on Olaf; Storm, who is an "honest...