Another Author of the Month at MyShelf.Com
Author of the Month
Jean Craighead George [November 2003]
Chosen by Beverly Rowe
 
     I chose Jean Craighead George as Author of the Month because of her enormous contribution to children's literature.  Jean has always been an advocate of environmental responsibility and she manages to incorporate that theme into her marvelous stories.
 
      She says,"I write for children. Children are still in love with the wonders of nature, and I am too. So I tell them stories about a boy and a falcon, a girl and an elegant wolf pack, about owls, weasels, foxes, prairie dogs, the alpine tundra, the tropical rain forest. And when the telling is done, I hope they will want to protect all the beautiful creatures and places."
 
     Jean's father, mother, brothers, aunts and uncles were all naturalists and on weekends the family camped in the woods. They studied wildlife and gathered and ate edible plants.  Her first pet was a turkey vulture, but after she had children at home, they brought over 173 wild animals home; of course, they were always free to return to the wild when they were ready.  These animals gave her the characters in many of her books.

      Jean has a degree in Science and Literature from Penn State University.  She was a reporter for the Washington Post and has been a member of the White House Press Corps. When her children, Twig, Craig and Luke, were old enough to carry their own backpacks, they all climbed mountains, canoed rivers, and hiked deserts.

      Jean started writing in third grade and she is still at it. Jean has written over 100 books -- most of them are listed below.  Her book, Julie of the Wolves won the prestigious Newbery Medal, the American Library Association's award for the most distinguished contribution to literature for children, l973. My Side of the Mountain, the story of a boy and a falcon surviving on a mountain together, was a 1960 Newbery Honor Book. She has also received 20 other awards.  My Side of the Mountain (1969)  was made into a movie by Paramount Studios, and is now available on VHS.

Reviews

Fire Storm
By Jean Craighead George
Illustrated by Wendell Minor
Harper Collins - September 2003
0-06-000263-8 - Hardbound
Children/Fiction [Ages 4-8] 

Reviewed by Beverly J. Rowe, MyShelf.com
Buy a Copy

     Axel accompanies his Uncle Paul and Aunt Charlotte, along with the little dog, Grits, on a rafting trip down the Middle Fork of Idaho's great Salmon River. For three days they paddle along, enjoying the wild beauty and the animals, but it is the summer of 2000, the driest in 100 years, when fires burned out of control all over the West. Shooting the cascades and the waterfalls is great adventure, but Axel and his family get more adventure than they bargained for.

     Suddenly, a bolt of dry lightening streaks to the ridge above them, and dry pine trees explode into flame. They paddle on for another hour as smoke fills the river canyon, then begin to realize that there is fire all around them, and they must find a safe place immediately.

      This is an exciting story about a family fighting a battle with nature at her worst. Jean Craighead George gives us a riveting story of the danger of a fierce firestorm and then the regeneration that follows forest fires.

    Wendell Minor's illustrations are breathtakingly beautiful. This book would make a wonderful gift for that child you love to read to.

Booklist --AmazonCom--
Acorn Pancakes, Dandelion Salad and Other Wild Dishes
All upon a Sidewalk.
All upon a Stone
American Walk Book: Guide to the Country's Major Historical and Natural Walking Trails
Animals Who Have Won Our Hearts
Arctic Son
Beastly Inventions
Bubo: The Great Horned Owl
The Big Book for Our Planet
The Case of the Missing Cutthroats: An Ecological Mystery
Cliff Hanger
Coyote in Manhattan
Cry of the Crow
Dear Katie, The Volcano is a Girl
Dear Rebecca, Winter Is Here
Dipper of Copper Creek
Everglades
Everglades Wildguide: The Natural History of Everglades National Park, Florida (024-005-00497-1)
The Fire Bug Connection
Fire Storm
The First Thanksgiving
Frightful's Mountain
Giraffe Trouble
Going to the Sun
Gorilla Gang
The Grizzly Bear With The Golden Years
Gull Number 737
Hold Zero
The Hole in the Tree
Hook a Fish, Catch a Mountain
How to Talk to Your Animals
How to Talk to Your Cat
How to Talk to Your Dog
Jean George Volcanoes Book
Journey Inward (autobiography)
Julie of the Wolves - Newbery Medal Award
Julie
Julie's Wolf Pack
Look to the North : A Wolf Pup Diary
Masked Prowler the Story of a Raccoon
Meph the Pet Skunk
The Missing 'Gator of Gumbo Limbo
My Side of the Mountain
On the Far Side of the Mountain
Nutik & Amaroq Play Ball
Nutik, the Wolf Pup
One Day in the Desert
One Day in the Tropical Rain Forest
One Day in the Tropical Rain Forest (Recorded Musical Version)
One Day in the Woods
One Day in the Woods (Recorded Musical Version)
Red Robin Fly Up!
Rhino Romp
River Rats, Inc.
Shark Beneath the Reef
Snow Bear
Snow Tracks
Spring Comes to the Ocean
Summer of the Falcon
The Talking Earth
The Tarantula in My Purse : and 172 Other Wild Pets
The Thirteen Moons - 13 volumes
There's an Owl in the Shower
To Climb a Waterfall
Tree Castle Island
Vison, the Mink
Vulpes the Red Fox
Water Sky
The Wentletrap Trap
Who Really Killed Cock Robin?: An Ecological Mystery
The Wild, Wild Cook Book
The Wounded Wolf

2003's Honorary List

Jean Craighead George

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