Jean Craighead George

Raised in Washington, D.C., she grew up in a family that loved the outdoors, and that early closeness to wildlife shaped her writing for the rest of her life. She studied science and literature at Pennsylvania State University, and her books became known for blending careful observation of nature with exciting, accessible storytelling.

Over a long career, she wrote more than one hundred books for children and young adults. Many readers first met her through My Side of the Mountain, a Newbery Honor Book, and Julie of the Wolves, which won the 1973 Newbery Medal. Again and again, she returned to themes of survival, independence, and respect for the wild.

Her stories have stayed popular because they never treat nature as just background scenery. Whether writing about mountains, wolves, birds, or remote northern landscapes, she invited readers to pay attention to the living world and imagine their own place in it.