George, Jean Craighead (1919-2012), was an American author known for her nature books for children. George wrote more than 100 books for young readers, including novels, nonfiction, and picture books. Her nature books have been praised for their scientific accuracy, realistic detail, and concern for the environment and the effect human interaction has on nature. George’s best-known works are animal studies and tales of young people who learn to survive in the wilderness. George illustrated many of her books.
George won the 1973 Newbery Medal, an annual award for the best children’s book by an American, for her novel Julie of the Wolves (1972). The novel tells the story of an Inuk girl who becomes lost on the tundra after running away from an unhappy marriage. She survives by learning the behavior of a pack of wolves and then communicating with them. George wrote two sequels, Julie (1994) and Julie’s Wolf Pack (1997). Her first novel, My Side of the Mountain (1959), is another popular survival story. It has two sequels, On the Far Side of the Mountain (1990) and Frightful’s Mountain (1999), as well as two related picture books, Frightful’s Daughter (2002) and Frightful’s Daughter Meets the Baron Weasel (2007).
George wrote many other picture books, such as The Wounded Wolf (1972), Dear Rebecca, Winter Is Here (1993), Lonesome George (2002), and A Special Gift for Grammy (published in 2013, after her death). She also wrote three ecological mysteries, Who Really Killed Cock Robin (1971), The Missing ‘Gater of Gumbo Limbo (1992), and The Fire Bug Connection (1993).
George’s nonfiction nature books include the “One Day” series, beginning with One Day in the Desert (1983). Her “Thirteen Moons” series introduces the world of various animals, including The Moon of the Owls and The Moon of the Salamanders (both 1967). These books were reissued as the series “Seasons of the Moon,” including Winter Moon (2001) and Summer Moon (2002).
Jean Craighead was born on July 2, 1919, in Washington, D.C. She graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 1941 and then worked as a newspaper reporter in Washington, D.C. She married John L. George in 1944. They divorced in 1964. From 1969 to 1980, Jean George worked as a staff writer and editor for Reader’s Digest, specializing in nature articles. She wrote an autobiography, Journey Inward (1982), and a collection of autobiographical stories about raising three children and 173 wild pets called Tarantula in My Purse (1996). George died on May 15, 2012.
