Showing results by author "Jean Craighead George" in All Categories

Sam Gribley is terribly unhappy living in New York City with his family, so he runs away to the Catskill Mountains to live in the woods - all by himself. With only a penknife, a ball of cord, 40 dollars, and some flint and steel, he intends to survive on his own. Sam learns about courage, danger, and independence during his year in the wilderness, a year that changes his life forever.

Frightful, the peregrine falcon who first appeared in My Side of the Mountain, is back. Her amazing journey through life continues in the face of many rousing wildlife adventures. Will she survive the wilderness, even though she was raised by a human? When an old friend rescues her from captors, Frightful soars into the unfamiliar woodlands and searches for home. Before finding her mountain, she adopts a nest of motherless peregrine chicks.

Oksi - the daughter of the legendary falcon, Frightful - does things her own way. And when a poacher climbs the steel girders of a bridge to Frightful's nest, Oksi's refusal to act like her brothers keeps her from being captured. Unfortunately Frightful (who can't count) thinks the man has stolen all of her babies, and she abandons the nest. Luckily Frightful's friend, Sam Gribley, comes to Oksi's aid.

Borden Watson goes to the giant redwood forest for one reason: to shoot spotted owls. They are the reason his dad has lost his job as a logger, and Borden hates them. But when he comes across a baby owl that has fallen out of its nest, Borden can’t resist the tiny, elflike creature. And luckily this owlet doesn’t have spots, so it must be a barred owl - not the enemy. Borden takes the little owl home and names it Bardy. Before long, Bardy wins over each member of Borden’s owl-hating family.

June Pritchard and her pet sparrow hawk, Zander, are both caught between following the rules and spreading their wings to fly. June Pritchard spends every summer with her aunts, uncles, and cousins in the big Victorian house that belonged to her grandfather. But the summer she turns 13, something has changed. Her mother is imposing new rules on her, and she starts to feel the thrill - and burden - of growing up. When June is given a sparrow hawk to train as a pet, she takes on the task, eager to prove she can be reliable.

The adventures of Julie's wolves continue as a new wolf leader takes over the pack. The black alpha Kapu, whom Julie once nursed back to health, is a natural leader. Kapu is strong and wise, but if his pack is to survive, he must lead it through many dangers: near starvation, rabies, rival wolves, and worst of all, humans. The wolves share a strong sense of community, including a deep love of pups, and an understanding of the ancient ways necessary to their survival.

Something about the Okefenokee Swamp of Southern Georgia has always called to 14-year-old Jack Hawkins. But when a nervous mama gator takes a bite out of his handmade canoe, Jack finds himself stranded on a remote island, forced to find his own food and shelter - and to unravel a mystery that reaches far into his past and could change everything he thinks he knows about himself.

Early in the morning, young Tepui walks through the Venezuelan tropical rain forest. Colorful birds call from the treetops, and a tribe of monkeys plays in the branches. But Tepui doesn't have time to enjoy the animals he loves so much. He is going to the Science Laboratory to talk to his scientist friends.

Newbery Award-winning author Jean Craighead George is beloved for her classic tales about wildlife, such as My Side of the Mountain. When Charlie learns about the Native American belief that ravens can cure sickness, he brings home a nestling to help his ill grandfather. Together Charlie and Granddad care for the bird and learn valuable lessons about life and death, responsibility, and protecting nature.

Vison the mink has fought for everything—food, shelter, survival—almost from birth. The largest of his litter, he bullied his smaller sisters and was the first to venture out of the den. Returning home after hunting one day, Vison and his mother are cornered by Urocyon the gray fox. With no way out, Vison’s mother attacks the fox with full force, allowing Vison to escape. Back in the den, the mink kits wait for their mother, but she does not return. Bored with his weak sisters, Vison abandons them and leaves the den for good.

In 1848 in Barrow, Alaska, a young Eskimo boy witnesses a rare sight - the birth of a bowhead, or ice whale, that he calls Siku. But when he unwittingly guides Yankee whalers to a pod of bowhead whales, all the whales are killed. For this act, the boy receives a curse of banishment. Through the generations, this curse is handed down. Siku, the ice whale, returns year after year, in reality and dreams, to haunt each descendant. The curse is finally broken when a daughter recognizes and saves the whale, and he in turn saves her.

Luck follows the long migration north to Siberia of a young sandhill crane rescued from a six-pack holder in the Texas marsh by the girl who names him. The Wolves Are Back covers the topic of the persecution, near-extinction, and ultimately, the restoration of wolves in the United States.