Jean Craighead George
(1919 - 2012)
Jean Craighead George was born in a family of naturalists. Her father, mother, brothers, aunts and uncles were students of nature. On weekends they camped in the woods near their Washington, D.C. home, climbed trees to study owls, gathered edible plants and made fish hooks from twigs. Her first pet was a turkey vulture. In third grade she began writing. She has written over 100 books.
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, 1973. 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 received 20 other awards.
For her lifetime contribution as a children’s writer, she was U.S. nominee for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1964.
Here is her website: http://www.jeancraigheadgeorge.com/
Bibliography
My Side of the Mountain (1959)
Sam Gribley takes to the woods and lives by himself for a year.