Friday, July 2, 2010

Happy Birthday, Jean Craighead George!


July 2nd is the birthday of beloved children books author, Jean Craighead George. In her own words, she describes her writing:

I write for children. Children are still in love with the wonders of nature, and I am too. So I tell them stories about a boy and a falcon, a girl and an elegant wolf pack, about owls, weasels, foxes, prairie dogs, the alpine tundra, the tropical rain forest. And when the telling is done, I hope they will want to protect all the beautiful creatures and places.

To read more about the author, visit her web site.

The Water Library has some her wonderful books in its collection. Please contact askwater at aqua.wisc.edu to borrow any of them:

One day in the desert / by Jean Craighead George; illustrated by Fred Brenner. New York : Crowell, c1983.
Explains how the animal and human inhabitants of the Sonoran Desert of Arizona, including a mountain lion, a roadrunner, a coyote, a tortoise, and members of the Papago Indian tribe, adapt to and survive the desert's merciless heat.

One day in the tropical rain forest / by Jean Craighead George ; illustrated by Gary Allen. New York : Crowell, c1990.
Explains how the animal and human inhabitants of the Sonoran Desert of Arizona, including a mountain lion, a roadrunner, a coyote, a tortoise, and members of the Papago Indian tribe, adapt to and survive the desert's merciless heat.

The case of the missing cutthroats : an ecological mystery / Jean Craighead George. New York : HarperCollinsPublishers, 1996.
After Spinner Shafter catches a cutthroat trout in the Snake River, she and her cousin Alligator search the nearby mountains to determine where the endangered fish came from and how it survived.

Everglades / Jean Craighead George ; paintings by Wendell Minor. [New York] : HarperCollinsPublishers, c1995.
Describes the Florida Everglades, the evolution of this unique area, and the impact humans have had on its once-abundant life forms.

Julie's wolf pack / Jean Craighead George ; illustrated by Wendell Minor. New York : HarperCollins, c1997.
Continues the story of Julie and her wolves in which Kapu must protect his pack from famine and disease while uniting it under his new leadership.

The missing 'gator of Gumbo Limbo : an ecological mystery / Jean Craighead George. New York, NY : HarperCollins, 1992.
Sixth-grader Liza K., one of five homeless people living in an unspoiled forest in southern Florida, searches for a missing alligator destined for official extermination and studies the delicate ecological balance keeping her outdoor home beautiful.