Dipper of Copper Creek [Hardcover]

John George (Author), Jean Craighead George (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1996 | Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Prospecting for gold with his grandfather in the Colorado Rockies, Doug encounters the strangest bird he has ever seen, a water ouzel, and is forced to save the bird when an avalanche destroys its home.

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

Editorial Reviews

Review

“. . . stirs interest in animals and prospecting as well as in the dippers which are the chief characters. . . . The effect of heavy rains in the high mountains provides much danger and suspense.” —Chicago Daily Tribune

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover
• Publisher: Perfection Learning (March 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0780779029
• ISBN-13: 978-0780779020
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,793,072 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

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't rip this one apart, January 19, 2001

By 

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

This review is from: Dipper of Copper Creek (Mass Market Paperback)

One of the other reviewers on this page does not seem to know what he/she is talking about. The animals in the book do not talk. Instead, they are projected with dignity and accuracy. Jean Craighead George, author of the Julie books, the My Side of the Mountain books, and nearly eighty other wonderful nature stories for children, wrote DIPPER OF COPPER CREEK with her husband John George (they are now divorced), as well as VULPES THE RED FOX, VISON THE MINK, and other fine but, in my opinion, not appropriately recognized nature books. This is a wonderful book, and the story of a young boy becoming a man while his favorite birds become independent around him, is unforgettable. Any nature lover will appreciate this book. You must look deep into the poetic and beautiful text and know that this is indeed not a book to be ripped apart.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully Written, August 17, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Dipper of Copper Creek (Hardcover)

This was one of the most fantastic books I have ever read! I love the way Ms. George trys to see what is would be like from the Dippers' point of view. Keep up the good work! Dipper (*v*)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dipper of Copper Creek, April 1, 2004

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Dipper of Copper Creek (Mass Market Paperback)

The Dipper of Copper Creek is full of nature and surprises. Cinclus is a wonderful bird that has to find food for his new young. Ever since the boy was at his grampa's house, by a ghost town, he has always been on a search for Cinclus. He is suppose to help his grandfather dig to find gold, silver, or ore. They next find ore, a lot of ore.it is a very nice book.