Jean Craighead George's father taught her to survive in the wild and to love the land. In addition to living in a tent, she has explored the Arctic, run from grizzlies and talked with wolves. In this fascinating biography, Jean Craighead George fans will enjoy the many real-life adventures of this popular author.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
Grade 4-6?If students have not yet read Jean Craighead George's books, this biography will surely entice them to do so. Cary has done a wonderful job of painting a portrait of the writer's gentleness and strength. She has captured the spirit of this indomitable woman without making her seem superhuman. As youngsters read of the places George has been and the experiences she has had, it becomes clear why her stories ring so true. For aspiring authors, the work that goes into writing a good story will become very real. George admits that her family was "unusual," yet they obviously paved the way for her career. A handful of black-and-white photographs are included. A great addition to any biography collection, and one that will appeal to reluctant readers.?Marilyn Fairbanks, East Junior High, Brockton, MA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A very nice biography of a true "Literary Legend" / lots of other biographical resources,
By Dwight Blubaugh "MichiBlue" (The only Eaton Rapids on Earth, MI, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Jean Craighead George (Meet the Author (Learning Works)) (Paperback)
Many biographies are not balanced in their timelines - they usually cover too much or too little about the subject's childhood or some other period in their life. Cary's biography does a nice job with pacing itself throughout George's life. The reader really gets to understand how Jean Craighead grew up to be the leading naturalist author for children and young adults, Jean Craighead George. It's too bad that this is the only biography (besides Jean's own memoirs) written about such an important author, but it makes up for it with its quality of research and writing.
For lots more background information on the author and other resources related to her, read on - if you just wanted a review of this book, you can stop here. George, now 86 (born July 2, 1919), continues to write books at a steady pace, and often travels, camps, and hikes with her grandchildren or others to do her consistently accurate research for her books. She is quickly closing in on the hundred mark for her published books (the actual number depends on how you count them, as some have been re-released as abridgements with new information added or changed as compilations, etc.). A good companion book to this (which I would read AFTER this one) is JOURNEY INWARD, Jean Craighead George's 1982 memoir, in which you see her growth toward independence in an unhappy marriage, and her growth as an author. It's very interesting to see George's thoughts and perspective in this book after reading the Cary biography. It would be better if the book covered more about George's growing-up years, but fortunately, the Cary biography does this. JOURNEY INWARD would be an empowering book for women raised in traditional male-dominated settings. Also recommended as companion books would be any of the four children's books by Jean's daughter, Twig George, and the many adult-level books by her older twin brothers, Frank (deceased) and John Craighead, both separately and together. The Craighead twins became very famous as teenagers, starting around 1939 as pioneers in falconry, and a bit later they did THEE original studies on the American grizzly bear, which they continued for decades, with achievements like engineering the first radio tracking collars. Jean's website (which is fantastic, by the way) has a link to Twig's website, and an internet search should turn up plenty of information on Jean's brothers. Or start by checking the reviews of their books here on amazon. Jean and her family (starting with her father) have been very important naturalists / writers for over 2/3 of a century now. Unfortunately, this Cary biography tells very little about the rest of Jean's family after she reached adulthood. I have found four video / DVD resources about George, but the first two are very rare. 1) Silver Burdett put out a 1990 video series for school use about writing, with each tape focusing on a different element of writing and featuring a different author (like Betsy Byars, Patricia MacLachlan, Mel Glenn - at least six tapes). "The Adventurous Spirit" (18 minutes) features Jean talking about journaling, interspersed with college-aged kids hiking and mountain climbing (and journaling about it). 2) "A Visit With Jean Craighead George" (27 minutes, 1994) was put out by her publisher. 3) Still in print, but very expensive, is the Tim Podell author series video, "Good Conversation with Jean Craighead George," with Podell interviewing George in and around her home. (27 minutes, 1991) I think this is one of Podell's first author videos, and it is decent, but not spectacular. 4) Fortunately, the final one of the four is recent, well-done, and reasonably priced, as well as being on DVD. Storyteller / A Year with Newbery Medal Winning Author Jean Craighead George (39 minutes, 2004) is available through Jean's website or Amazon. This was more of a long-term project of Jean, her family, and others who work closely with her, and at 39 minutes, goes much more in-depth than the others were able to. All profits go to the Craighead Environmental Research Institute, and the price is only about $16 or so. You can even see a clip from it on Jean's website. If you haven't read anything of JCG, the Cary biography would be a good place to start, along with JULIE OF THE WOLVES (1973 Newbery Medal), MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN (1960 Newbery Honor), and THE TARANTULA IN MY PURSE AND 172 OTHER WILD PETS (1996 - short stories about many of the pets Jean and her three children had while the kids were growing up). Jean's first six books were listed as being by John and Jean George (no Craighead in the name), so keep this in mind when searching for them on Amazon or elsewhere. Some of Jean's books are a bit dry and many of them are much more engaging, but they all teach lots of GREAT information on science / nature / wildlife. Any kids wanting to go into a science-related field would do well to get turned on to George's books, from picture books to scientifically accurate novels to non-fiction. Four of my students and I are scheduled to travel from mid-Michigan to George's house in Chappaqua, New York (near NYC), next April (2006) to interview her for an article. Hopefully, not too long after that, you will be able to do an Internet search of her name together with my name and find the unabridged transcript of our interview, as well as a complete chronological bibliography - check it out!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A fine biography,
By Isabel Harding (Atlanta, GA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Jean Craighead George (Meet the Author (Learning Works)) (Paperback)
Jean Craighead George is one of the most prestigious and one of the best children's authors of this century. She is my personal favorite, for she has taught me to love and respect our natural world. Her life is just as captivating and interesting as her books, for she herself has experienced the worlds of Julie Miyax Kapugen and Sam Gribley, and that is how she writes so well about them. While this book is a little dated--Ms. George has written dozens more books since its publication--every reader who, like me, has come to adore her books will want to know more about the author's extraordinary life. From early childhood she has loved nature and animals, and in her long, productive life that love has never faded. Like Sam in MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN, she ate wild foods and had pet birds. Grown up, she went to the North Slope of Alaska and communicated with those magnificent animals, wolves, like JULIE OF THE WOLVES. Before you read this book, it would be a good idea to read Ms. George's eighty or so others, so that you can truly be interested in this biography. I highly recommend this book for anyone, young or old, who loves and respects nature, animals, and the eloquent words of today's most distinguished and beloved children's nature writer.
4.0 out of 5 stars
A very nice biography of a true "Literary Legend" / lots of other biographical resources,
By Dwight Blubaugh "MichiBlue" (The only Eaton Rapids on Earth, MI, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME) Many biographies are not balanced in their timelines - they usually cover too much or too little about the subject's childhood or some other period in their life. Cary's biography does a nice job with pacing itself throughout George's life. The reader really gets to understand how Jean Craighead grew up to be the leading naturalist author for children and young adults, Jean Craighead George. It's too bad that this is the only biography (besides Jean's own memoirs) written about such an important author, but it makes up for it with its quality of research and writing. For lots more background information on the author and other resources related to her, read on - if you just wanted a review of this book, you can stop here. George, now 86 (born July 2, 1919), continues to write books at a steady pace, and often travels, camps, and hikes with her grandchildren or others to do her consistently accurate research for her books. She is quickly closing in on the hundred mark for her published books (the actual number depends on how you count them, as some have been re-released as abridgements with new information added or changed as compilations, etc.). A good companion book to this (which I would read AFTER this one) is JOURNEY INWARD, Jean Craighead George's 1982 memoir, in which you see her growth toward independence in an unhappy marriage, and her growth as an author. It's very interesting to see George's thoughts and perspective in this book after reading the Cary biography. It would be better if the book covered more about George's growing-up years, but fortunately, the Cary biography does this. JOURNEY INWARD would be an empowering book for women raised in traditional male-dominated settings. Also recommended as companion books would be any of the four children's books by Jean's daughter, Twig George, and the many adult-level books by her older twin brothers, Frank (deceased) and John Craighead, both separately and together. The Craighead twins became very famous as teenagers, starting around 1939 as pioneers in falconry, and a bit later they did THEE original studies on the American grizzly bear, which they continued for decades, with achievements like engineering the first radio tracking collars. Jean's website (which is fantastic, by the way) has a link to Twig's website, and an internet search should turn up plenty of information on Jean's brothers. Or start by checking the reviews of their books here on amazon. Jean and her family (starting with her father) have been very important naturalists / writers for over 2/3 of a century now. Unfortunately, this Cary biography tells very little about the rest of Jean's family after she reached adulthood. I have found four video / DVD resources about George, but the first two are very rare. 1) Silver Burdett put out a 1990 video series for school use about writing, with each tape focusing on a different element of writing and featuring a different author (like Betsy Byars, Patricia MacLachlan, Mel Glenn - at least six tapes). "The Adventurous Spirit" (18 minutes) features Jean talking about journaling, interspersed with college-aged kids hiking and mountain climbing (and journaling about it). 2) "A Visit With Jean Craighead George" (27 minutes, 1994) was put out by her publisher. 3) Still in print, but very expensive, is the Tim Podell author series video, "Good Conversation with Jean Craighead George," with Podell interviewing George in and around her home. (27 minutes, 1991) I think this is one of Podell's first author videos, and it is decent, but not spectacular. 4) Fortunately, the final one of the four is recent, well-done, and reasonably priced, as well as being on DVD. Storyteller / A Year with Newbery Medal Winning Author Jean Craighead George (39 minutes, 2004) is available through Jean's website or Amazon. This was more of a long-term project of Jean, her family, and others who work closely with her, and at 39 minutes, goes much more in-depth than the others were able to. All profits go to the Craighead Environmental Research Institute, and the price is only about $16 or so. You can even see a clip from it on Jean's website. If you haven't read anything of JCG, the Cary biography would be a good place to start, along with JULIE OF THE WOLVES (1973 Newbery Medal), MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN (1960 Newbery Honor), and THE TARANTULA IN MY PURSE AND 172 OTHER WILD PETS (1996 - short stories about many of the pets Jean and her three children had while the kids were growing up). Jean's first six books were listed as being by John and Jean George (no Craighead in the name), so keep this in mind when searching for them on Amazon or elsewhere. Some of Jean's books are a bit dry and many of them are much more engaging, but they all teach lots of GREAT information on science / nature / wildlife. Any kids wanting to go into a science-related field would do well to get turned on to George's books, from picture books to scientifically accurate novels to non-fiction. Four of my students and I are scheduled to travel from mid-Michigan to George's house in Chappaqua, New York (near NYC), next April (2006) to interview her for an article. Hopefully, not too long after that, you will be able to do an Internet search of her name together with my name and find the unabridged transcript of our interview, as well as a complete chronological bibliography - check it out!
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