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Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

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I'm June Simms. This week on our program, we remember the much-loved children's writer Jean Craighead George...

We also tell about a popular horse race in Virginia...

And we play new music by Beach House...

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Jean Craighead George

JUNE SIMMS: A well-loved children's book writer has died. Jean Craighead George wrote many books, including "Julie of the Wolves" and "My Side of the Mountain." Her stories often tell about the beauty and power of wilderness, and the young people trying to survive in it. Christopher Cruise has more.

CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: Jean Craighead George died on May fifteenth following a stroke. The writer had lived ninety-two years, much of that exploring the wilderness and its animals. She also spent a lot of time writing, producing more than one hundred books.

Jean Craighead George

Jean Craighead George was born in Washington, DC, in nineteen-nineteen. Her interest in nature and animals came early and maybe from her father. He worked for the National Forest Service. The family spent a lot of time in wooded areas along the Potomac River. Jean and her twin brothers learned how to build shelters and find food in the woods.

Her brothers trained falcons, one of the most powerful birds in the DC area. Jean Craighead George said the twins were among the first falconers in the United States. She also said that they gave her a falcon to train when she was thirteen years old. Later the main character in one of her books develops a close relationship with a falcon.

Jean Craighead George studied science and English at Pennsylvania State University. She worked as a reporter during the nineteen forties. She also married and had three children during this period.

She and her family started exploring wilderness areas all over the country. They also raised many animals, from huge tarantula spiders to owls and minks. And, of course, more traditional pets like dogs and cats.

The family had more than one hundred seventy animals, although not all at once. Jean Craighead George said the pets were always free to stay or go.

Her career in children's literature began in nineteen forty-eight with the publication of her first book, "Vulpes the Red Fox." Eleven years later came "My Side of the Mountain," one of the best loved children's books ever.

It tells the story of Sam Gribley, a boy who escapes the busy life of New York City. He goes to live in the wilderness of the Catskill Mountains. His home is a hollowed out tree.

Sam makes friends with several animals, including a falcon he calls Frightful. He hunts and fishes and finds plants to eat. He also steals deer that have been killed by hunters.

Jean Craighead George said she wrote "My Side of the Mountain" to tell about all the wonderful adventures she experienced as a child in the woods. The American Library Association recognized the book with a Newberry Honor in nineteen sixty.

In nineteen seventy-three, Jean Craighead George won a Newberry Medal for "Julie of the Wolves." She had earlier travelled to Barrow,本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。