Biography:
Born in Washington,
D.C. and raised in a family of naturalists, Jean George has centered
her life around writing and nature. She attended Pennsylvania
State University, graduating with degrees in English and science.
In the 1940s she was a member of the White House press corps and
a reporter for the Washington Post. Ms. George, who has
written over 90 books - among them My Side of the Mountain
(Dutton), a 1960 Newbery Honor Book, and its sequels On the
Far Side of the Mountain and Frightful's Mountain (both
Dutton) - also hikes, canoes, and makes sourdough pancakes. In
1991, Ms. George became the first winner of the School Library
Media Section of the New York Library Association's Knickerbocker
Award for Juvenile Literature, which was presented to her for
the "consistent superior quality" of her literary works.
Her inspiration for the Newbery Medal-winning Julie of the
Wolves evolved from two specific events during a summer she
spent studying wolves and tundra at the Arctic Research Laboratory
of Barrow, Alaska: "One was a small girl walking the vast
ad lonesome tundra outside of Barrow; the other was a magnificent
alpha male wolf, leader of a pack in Denali National Park ...
They haunted me for a year or more, as did the words of one of
the scientists at the lab: 'If there ever was any doubt in my
mind that a man could live with the wolves, it is gone now. The
wolves are truly gentlemen, highly social and affectionate.'"
The mother of three children, Jean George is a grandmother who
has joyfully read to her grandchildren since they were born. Over
the years Jean George has kept 173 pets, not including dogs and
cats, in her home in Chappaqua, New York. "Most of these
wild animals depart in autumn, when the sun changes their behavior
and they feel the urge to migrate or go off alone. While they
are with us, however, they become characters in my books, articles,
and stories."
www.jeancraigheadgeorge.com
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Bibliography:
Galapagos
George (HarperCollins, 2004)
Charlie's Raven (Dutton, 2004)
Tree Castle Island (Sagebrush, 2003)
One Day in the Prairie (Sagebrush, 2003)
Spring Moon (2002)
Summer Moon (2002)
Autumn Moon (2002)
Winter Moon (2002)
On the Far Side of the Mountain (Sagebrush, 2001)
Case of the Missing Cutthroats (Eco Mysteries) (Sagebrush, 2001)
Incredible Animal Adventures (Sagebrush, 2001)
Vulpes the Red Fox (Sagebrush, 2001)
The Cry of the Crow (Sagebrush, 1999)
Dipper of Copper Creek (Sagebrush, 1999)
Everglades (Sagebrush, 1999)
The Firebug Connection: An Ecological Mystery (Sagebrush, 1999)
Look to the North: A Wolf Pup Diary (sagebrush, 1999)
One Day in the Alpine Tundra (Sagebrush, 1999)
One Day in the Desert (Sagebrush, 1999)
Shark Beneath the Reef (sagebrush, 1999)
There's an Owl in the Shower (Sagebrush, 1999)
Elephant Walk (Disney Press, 1998)
Dear Katie, the Volcano is a Girl (Hyperion, 1998)
Giraffe Trouble (Disney, 1998)
Rhino Romp (Disney, 1998)
To Climb a Waterfall (Philomel, 1995)
The Thirteen Moons Series (HarperCollins, 1993, 1968) * 13 books
in the series
Summer of the Falcon (1991)
The Talking Earth (1983)
Journey Inward (Dutton, 1982)
The Wounded Wolf (HarperCollins, 1978)
The Wentletrap Trap (Dutton, 1977)
Hook a Fish, Catch a Mountain (Dutton, 1975)
Julie of the Wolves (1972)
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