The Moon of the Chickarees

The 13 Moons

by Jean Craighead George, Don Rodell (Illustrator)

As April arrives in Montana's Bitteroot Valley, the rusty-brown chickaree observes the arrival of spring by nurturing her newborn babies and using her explosive voice to defend her territory and seed storehouses.

Genres: Nature, Nonfiction, Animals

48 pages, Library Binding

First published April 1, 1992

About the author

Jean Craighead George wrote over eighty popular books for young adults, including the Newbery Medal-winning Julie of the Wolves and the Newbery Honor book My Side of the Mountain. Most of her books deal with topics related to the environment and the natural world. While she mostly wrote children's fiction, she also wrote at least two guides to cooking with wild foods, and an autobiography, Journey Inward.

The mother of three children, (Twig C. George, Craig, and T. Luke George) Jean George was a grandmother who joyfully read to her grandchildren since the time they were born. Over the years Jean George kept one hundred and seventy-three pets, not including dogs and cats, in her home in Chappaqua, New York. "Most of these wild animals depart in autumn when the sun changes their behaviour and they feel the urge to migrate or go off alone. While they are with us, however, they become characters in my books, articles, and stories."

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too bad the cover design is not available on the book description. It is an endearing American red squirrel and the book is about its life. It is part of a 1960s series called Thirteen Moons, and each moon presumably gives as equally wonderful descriptions of the life of the animals represented by the moons. I picked up this 1992 re-issue in a used bookstore and loved it.

There are gorgeous illustrations by Don Rodell in this edition.