Jean Craighead George ~ a brochure by Sierra

Jean Craighead George was born on July 02, 1919 and raised in Washington D.C.  She decided to be an author when she was in third grade.  The first pet she had was a turkey vulture, which got her interested in writing about birds.  She has had over one hundred seventy three pets, not including cats and dogs, over the years.

She has three children, Craig, Luke, and Twig.  Craig and Luke became environmental scientists and Twig is now an author who writes children's books.  Jean's whole family was said to be, "students of nature."  They were all naturalists.

Jean and her brothers went camping with their parents to observe nature.  Jean's parents were entomologists, which is a scientist who studies bugs.  When Jean came home she wrote about what she experienced in nature.  In junior high her writing became larger poems and then small stories.

She loves the outdoors.  Jean says that My Side of the Mountain has always been one of her favorite books.  Ms. George does a lot of research to write her books and they are very realistic.

In the 1940's Jean was a part of the Washington Post and a member of the White House press corps.  In 1991 Jean was the first winner of the School Library Media Section of the New York Library Knickerbocker Award for Juvenile Literature. 

She now lives in Chappaqua, New York.  Jean is now a grandmother who happily read to her grandchildren.