Frightful's Daughter Meets the Baron Weasel [Hardcover]

Jean Craighead George (Author), Daniel San Souci (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 4, 2007 | Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

Sam Gribley lives in the hollow of a hemlock tree, deep in a mountain forest. His animal friends include Frightful the falcon and her offspring and the mischievous Baron Weasel, among others. As winter approaches, both Frightful’s daughter and the Baron Weasel have hungry families to feed, and Sam discovers that the Baron has his eye on the baby falcons. What is a friend to do? This is another mesmerizing, heartwarming tale of a boy’s life in the forest from the greatest living writer of nature stories for children, accompanied by majestic artwork sure to delight fans old and new.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

For this follow-up to Frightful's Daughter (2002), George returns to the natural setting and themes of My Side of the Mountain (1959). Sam Gribley may coexist peacefully with the peregrine falcon Oksi and the small predator he calls the Baron Weasel, but the weasel's attraction to Oksi's young eyases (chicks) puts the two animals at odds. After several clever but failed attempts over the course of weeks, the Baron Weasel does at last reach the high nesting box—but before he can seize either of the eyases, his arrival startles them into taking their first flights. Sam, dressed in buckskin, puts in an occasional appearance, but otherwise there's little sign of human presence in San Souci's verdant, open forest landscapes. Without anthropomorphizing, both the author and the illustrator make this nature tale and its animal participants accessible and inviting to young readers. Peters, John

About the Author

Jean Craighead George lives in Chappaqua, New York.

Daniel San Souci lives in Oakland, California.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Juvenile; First Edition edition (October 4, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525472029
• ISBN-13: 978-0525472025
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 8.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #306,162 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

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The falcons have come full circle., October 29, 2007

By 

Dwight Blubaugh "MichiBlue" (The only Eaton Rapids on Earth, MI, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Frightful's Daughter Meets the Baron Weasel (Hardcover)

This fifth installment in the Sam Gribley / My Side of the Mountain chronology is a beautifully illustrated (by two-time Caldecott Honorist Daniel San Souci) picture book. Earlier books in the series are MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN (1959), ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN (1990), FRIGHTFUL'S MOUNTAIN (1999), and FRIGHTFUL'S DAUGHTER (2002), a picture book also illustrated by San Souci. As with the previous books, this installment deals with Sam Gribley and "his" falcons.

While almost 50 years have passed since the first book, Sam Gribley is still the same ageless boy of MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN, still living in his hollow hemlock tree. While Frightful's daughter, Oksi, and her mate, Falco, are raising their two eyases (chicks) in a high nest box constructed by Sam, Baron weasel repeatedly seeks to catch the two young birds as food for his own offspring. When he finally succeeds in gaining entry to the nest box, the two young falcons, previously reluctant to take wing, suddenly achieve their first flight to escape this predator. They fly off toward the river and its cliffs, "where peregrine falcons belong," bringing us full circle back to the habitat of their great-grandparents, the cliff dwelling falcons of MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN from whom Sam steals the young eyas he names Frightful. This book could certainly serve as a satisfying conclusion to the series, but it's doubtless that George's legions of fans would welcome yet another book in the ongoing saga.

1.0 out of 5 stars daughters book series, December 7, 2011

By 

kelly c. barrett (NORTH LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, US) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Frightful's Daughter Meets the Baron Weasel (Hardcover)

My review would have to be not good. Purchases on 3 or November and it is now the 3 of December. Recieved other purchases within ample time. Even emailed company. Nothing yet.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Book, December 22, 2008

By 

M.Halsted (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Frightful's Daughter Meets the Baron Weasel (Hardcover)

The books arrived in great shape. They were bigger than I expected. My 10 yr old nephew was glad to have them, but I think he would have preferred they were smaller and paper back, not hard cover.
Over all, beautifully illustrations