Autumn Moon [Hardcover]

Jean Craighead George (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 31, 2003

Under an autumn moon:

Endure the devastation following a hurricane in the salt marshes along the Connecticut coast with a young buck under the September moon.

Search for food with an alligator in the Florida Everglades as the October moon rises.

Trek through the Alaskan tundra with a pack of wolves as the November moon selects its survivors.

In this series, acclaimed naturalist Newbery-winning author Jean Craighead George takes readers on a wondrous journey each season of the year as she captures the lives of North American animals in their natural habitats.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

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 red 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." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Peter Smith Pub Inc (January 31, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0844672416
• ISBN-13: 978-0844672410
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,515,494 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

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 and hasn't stopped yet. 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, 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.She attended Penn State University graduating with a degree in Science and Literature. In the 1940s she was a reporter for The Washington Post and a member of the White House Press Corps. After her children were born she returned to her love of nature and brought owls, robins, mink, sea gulls, tarantulas - 173 wild animals into their home and backyard. These became characters in her books and, although always free to go, they would stay with the family until the sun changed their behavior and they migrated or went off to seek partners of their own kind.When her children, Twig, Craig and Luke, were old enough to carry their own backpacks, they all went to the animals. They climbed mountains, canoed rivers, hiked deserts. Her children learned about nature and Jean came home and to write books. Craig and Luke are now environmental scientists and Twig writes children's books, too.One summer Jean learned that the wolves were friendly, lived in a well-run society and communicated with each other in wolf talk -- sound, sight, posture, scent and coloration. Excited to learn more, she took Luke and went to the Naval Arctic Research Laboratory in Barrow, Alaska, where scientists were studying this remarkable animal. She even talked to the wolves in their own language. With that Julie of the Wolves was born. A little girl walking on the vast lonesome tundra outside Barrow, and a magnificent alpha male wolf, leader of a pack in Denali National Park were the inspiration for the characters in the book. Years later, after many requests from her readers, she wrote the sequels, Julie and Julie's Wolf Pack.She is still traveling and coming home to write. In the last decade she has added two beautiful new dimensions to her words beautiful full-color picture book art by Wendell Minor and others and - music. Jean is collaborating with award-winning composer, Chris Kubie to bring the sounds of nature to her words.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fine reproduction of beautiful nature stories, January 25, 2002

By 

Isabel Harding (Atlanta, GA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Autumn Moon (Seasons of the Moon) (Paperback)

In 1969, the prestigious nature writer Jean Craighead George authored a series of thirteen books, each one focusing on a different season and an animal who survived during that time, all over the country. The books were called THE THIRTEEN MOONS and featured THE MOON OF THE ALLIGATOR, BEAR, CHICKAREE, DEER, FOX PUPS, MOLE, MONARCH BUTTERFLY, MOUNTAIN LION, OWL, SALAMANDER, WILD PIG, WINTER BIRD, and GRAY WOLVES (see my review of these books under THE MOON OF THE OWLS). These books featured simple black-and-white illustrations and went out of print. Two decades later in 1992 they made a comeback with lavish color illustrations, though they retained their poetic wording and intriguing subjects. But then the Thirteen Moons again went out of print. Now, to avid nature lovers' and readers' delight, they are back! The thirteen hardcover books have been compressed into four paperback ones, each one containing three or four stories about different animals, along with a few of the more recent color illustrations. The titles have changed; instead of the Thirteen Moons the series is now, perhaps slightly less majestically, Seasons of the Moon. AUTUMN MOON is the first to be released and features the MOON OF THE. . .DEER, ALLIGATORS, and GRAY WOLVES in their entirety. These outstanding stories pitting wild animals against the elements of nature are unforgettable. The descriptions are lively and very authentic. You can really see the young spike buck as he flees from the hurricane of September, feel the October humidity of the Everglades with the Florida alligator, and feel the chill in the air as the gray wolves trek through Alaska searching for food in snowy November. As for the illustrations, only a small portion of the ones from the reprinted 1992 versions are reproduced, and these hardly do the beautiful paintings any justice. Still, they do add to the stories, and it's nice that they were included. After reading AUTUMN MOON, be sure to read WINTER MOON, and SPRING and SUMMER MOON will be released in February of 2002. Ms. George has written nearly 80 other books for young readers. But the fineness of her nature writing is demonstrated in this amazing series.