Have you ever taken a frog home that you found in the woods? I bet your mom told you to put it outside immediately. Well, if you went to the Georges' household, the setting of my story, that is all you would find! Tarantulas, crows, owls, fish, frogs, you name it and you will probably find it roaming freely in the house. Jean Craighead George, the mother and protagonist, was raised to love animals and keep them as her pets, so she brought up her three children the same way. You probably can't believe that someone would keep a skunk as a lovable pet, but they did!

The only animal you wouldn't hear about in their house was a bear! The Georges even had a pond, as real as one outside, in their house built by their neighbor who worked with cement. Read this book and find out why all the fish in their pond start dying. Find out why they had to get rid of a crow as viscous as a hunting dog, or how they found a baby bird as small as a cotton ball that could fit in a teacup. It is all in the amazing and funny book The Tarantula in My Purse. I learned a lot of interesting facts from this book, and other times I couldn't stop laughing. This book was absolutely terrific and fun to read!

I thought this book was amazing! The people in my story instinctively kept wild animals as pets! Even when you had to get a special permit, they got one. I think it is hard enough having just a dog as a pet. I could hardly imagine acquiring so many wild pets and having to research exactly what they need. What amazes me is that it wasn't just their mother that did all the work and research, it was the kids too! They helped out, and researched and cleaned up after their animals. The children would never, not do something because it was too messy or they were afraid. Twig, one of those children, had an owl, Yammer, which was soft, gray, and loved television. One day Yammer was watching television stiff as a board, he fell off his perch. Immediately, Twig picked him up and cuddled with him just like he was her baby brother!

This book taught me to be a little more responsible when caring for my dog. They never complained when caring for their many wild pets. I really thought this was a good book to see how you should be responsible when caring for your pet if you want more and more!

The protagonists, a family of four, loved wild animals. One of them was a hard working mother. She was divorced when her children were young, so she had to work extremely hard to keep her children and animals happy. Before Jean Craighead George had kids she would go places and research animals. This family of Jean and her three children, Twig, Craig and Luke all researched animals over the years and knew a lot about them, just by taking them as pets. From the beginning of this story, until the end when her kids left and were now adults, the Georges had over one hundred seventy-two pets! Whether they stayed for a day or a year, whether they were a bird or a snake, Jean Craighead and her family took good care of them.

I thought the characters in my book were very different from most people I know. It would take me a lot of time to get used to living in their household. I am not used to having wild animals saunter around my house. The whole George family seemed jaunty. Although they had lots of difficulties with their wild pets, they never seemed to be very solemn or act gravely. Many times, though, I thought it would be fun to play with all the baby chicks, turtles and birds. I liked how the characters got the animals to love them and do all these funny things every time they wanted to play or eat. Finally, I enjoyed how passionate they were about their pets. You never had to tell them twice to play with their animals, because that was all they did!

So, do you think you love animals? Well, you should read this book to see how much you could really love animals and find out interesting facts. This book was terrific, it taught good morals and made you laugh, it even taught you some cool facts. I encourage you to read this book.

All of Jean Craighead George's great nature books come from experience (she spoke with wolves, had a falcon, has seen the most magnificent places in our country) but this is the one that is entirely autobiographical (she did write an autobiography but it is out of print). Stories charming, hilarious, gross, and heartwarming grace the pages of this unputdownable book. Readers can truly enjoy this book if they read related stories like THE SUMMER OF THE FALCON, THE CRY OF THE CROW, and THERE'S AN OWL IN THE SHOWER. All will smile at the true-life details that contribute to those tales. While most of the nature takes place indoors, nature lovers will still learn further about birds, mammals, and insects. This is a truly enjoyable book for any animal lover and Jean Craighead George fan.

This book is amazing! It is a true story about Jean Craighead George's life with wild pets. If you like wild animals, you'll love this book! Jean is the narrator of the book as well as the author. I think she would make a great animal caretaker. I really liked this book and I think you would, too, if you tried it!

I found the paintings to be very inspirational. They are very earthy and feminine. I also liked the accompanying poems.

At fifteen, when I found this book, it changed my life. I did not know then about women's spirituality movements. I have since become aquainted, thrilled, disenchanted, and reaquainted. Through it all this book has been a touchstone. Craighead tells stories and images of God which are too idiosyncratic to have been manufactured to cater to a faddish movement. They are images of a journey, honestley, skillfully, and beautifully wrought, and I would reccomend them to any seeker of God. Craighead wrote that her belief in God the Mother flows like a river beneath her (other? churched) Christianity, nourishing it. This is a powerful image of how one's personal experience of God, and the communal, ritualized expression of that experience need not be reconciled, but can both be cherished. Buy this book. Buy this book for your thirteen year old, who is searching. Buy it at your local independant bookstore. Ciao.

This book reproduces 41 paintings in full color, full page with white borders. It also includes a black and white photo of the artist on the back cover. The text is by the artist and provides insight in into the paintings' meanings, both personal and on a universal level. In the form of prose-poems, the ideas expressed are full of touching memories especially those of the artist's grandmother. The paintings are full of female imagery, multi-cultural Goddess symbols, and also Roman Catholic imagery. It is a wonderful book for lovers of the Goddess (or God the Mother) but it is not for the Christian weary. The paper cover is a little flimsy for a book of this size, but the wealth of color reproductions make this book a good value.

First of all, I must say I was a bit disappointed when I got this book. I am a huge Jean Craighead George fan, but I am not so fond of the illustrations. I am much more fond of John Schoenherr and Wendell Minor, who illustrated the other Julie books. Also I don't think the same beautiful effect of the Julie novels is present in this young children's story. But overall, it's a fine addition to the Julie trilogy. Julie's story begins, of course, in the magnificent Newbery-Award winning JULIE OF THE WOLVES. Next comes the thought-provoking sequel, JULIE, and then, my personal favorite because of my love of wolves, JULIE'S WOLF PACK. It is in the latter that Nutik, the wolf pup, and his sister Uqaq are born and raised by Julie and her little brother, Amaroq (the main character in this story). The wolves try to take Nutik back, but Amaroq resists them. Nutik belongs to a human pack now, just as, for a long time, Julie, the human, belonged to a wolf pack. Or does he? I think one of the main reasons I actually appreciated this somewhat disappointing book was because it helps to extinguish cruel and misleading thoughts about wolves. Young children should grow up reading books like this instead of LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD, and older kids should read books like JULIE OF THE WOLVES, JULIE, and JULIE'S WOLF PACK. Whichever one of Ms. George's eighty or so books one reads, one always comes away with a feeling of a deeper respect and love for our natural world.

In an Eskimo village at the top of the world lives a little boy whose name is Amaroq, so named for the great wolf leader who saved the life of his big sister, Julie. One day Julie brings home a sickly wolf pup named Nutik.

When his big sister puts Nutik into Amaroq's arms, she tells her little brother to feed & tend the pup. She also warns her brother not to fall in love with Nutik as she has promised the wolf pack that when both pups are fat & well, they will be returned.

Amaroq says he is strong & sets about feeding the bedraggled pup. Together through a magical summer, pup & boy, frolic in the tundra of the land of the midnight sun.

When, at last, the sun does set & the long dark winter comes upon them & Nutik is strong & healthy, the wolf pack comes to the edge of Amaroq's village, calling Nutik home. Amaroq is not as strong as he once thought, especially when his beloved pup takes him out into the star filled night to meet his wolf family.

This is a poignant & magical look at the love between a boy & a wolf pup, at the rightness of our actions, the pain of duty & the rewards of responsibility.

Lovely, lovely read!

When she was younger and lost and starving, Julie was saved by wolves who shared their food and kept her safe and warm. Now many years later, Julie brings her brother, Amoraq, a small sickly wolfpup to feed and take care of. She tells him, "When he is fat and well, the wolves will come and get him." Amoraq looks into the golden eyes of the pup, Nutik, and it's love at first sight. "Don't fall in love, Amoraq", Julie warns him, "be strong." As time goes by and the three months of summer light begins to fade, Nutik becomes fat and healthy and soon the wolves call for him. At first, Amoraq takes Nutik and runs away. But soon, the wolves call again and Nutik knows it's time to go home where he belongs..... Jean Craighead George has written a memorable picture book introduction to her Julie and the Wolves books, a whole new generation will treasure. Her text, full of imagery and magic will capture your youngster's heart and Ted Rand's expressive illustrations of the Alaskan tundra will mesmerize children with their vivid beauty. Together, they've authored a special book of love, friendship and respect your kids will want to read again and again. And, just like her Julie books, Nutik the Wolf Pup is sure to become a classic in the years ahead.

I am a 12 year old girl. I thought this book was perfect. IT is about a young boy who moves to the woods to work at the limberlost. THere, he meets a girl. He enjoys being around her a lot. But a bad gang comes and tries to steal trees. Freckles must stop them. With a little help, he can! Read this book anyone my age would love it. It's one of those really good ones you can get into!

Suffering from the "unfairness of life" a young man makes choices. Abandoned at birth with only one arm, Freckles chooses to love....and love He does! He finds the world about him the object of his intense love. He finds the people about him worthy of love. Finally, he finds himself not worthy to love one special girl and is surprised in the end with her response. We are led into a magical world where love is not yet tarnished with selfishness. A joy to read again and again and a very special foundation to preteen and teen training in love.

This is the best book I have ever read! I am 13 years old, and have read the book twice. Gene Stratton Porter is a great writer, and has wonderful concepts. Freckles is a great roll model for boys and girls alike, and is so humble! He will not let the "Swamp Angel" marry him, because he has only one hand, is an orphan, and has no knowledge of "honerable birth" which he thinks is very important. I think anyone who has read this book will agree with me, that this is a wonderful book. If you liked this book, you will also like "A Girl of the Limberlost" the sequel to "Freckles". From 1 to 10, I give this book an 11!

I chose to read this book because I heard it was a good book and my friends recommended it. I also chose this book because I had read the other books of these series:My Side of the Mountain, and On the Far Side of the Mountain. I decided to buy this book from the Scholastic book company, where my friend had bought his. Frightful's Mountain is the third book in this series. Many people said jean Craighead George was a good author, too.
The main characters in the book are Frightful and Sam. Frightful had been cut loose from her jesses, and was let go. She decided to live in the wild because Sam would not take her back to his mountain. Finally, she starts to live as normal peregrines would, and was said to be beautiful and graceful. Sam is a wilderness-loving teen who decides to run away to the Catskill Mountains. He learns how to survive, and learns a lot about the wilderness.
I liked this book because it talks about birds and nature. I also learned about plants that were edible and not. Some sections the book became boring, but other parts were fun to read. I also enjoyed learning about peregrines. I believe the time I used to read this book was worth it.

If you have read "My side of the Mountain" or "On the Far Side of the Mountaain" then you will throughly enjoy this book. If you have read the previous books than you may be wondering, "What ever happened to Frightful?" Well this book tells it all. Frightful is a peregrine falcon that was hand raised by Sam Gribley. After being set free by Sam becuase he couldn't keep an endangered speices, Frightful had many adventures. This book tells how it would be if you saw the world through Frightful's eyes. I would highly recomend it to anyone who has read the other books or not. You don't need to read the previous books for this captivating story to make sense!

Frightful is the third book of the series My Side of the Mountain. In the begining Sams sister Alice frees Frightful from mean people. She is lost trying to find Sam Gribly. She is hunting for food when all a sudden a male falcon shows off by swooping upside down and touching her talons. She mates with him{Chup} who had a mate because three nestlings are in the nest. Lady,Duchess and Drum. Two males and one female. Then they grow up and try to hunt by themselves by practicing on Frightful and Chup. They can not handle them practicing on them so they both sleep in two different places. Later on in the story it is migrating season so all the birds went southward to a warmer place so they could survive with food. Frightful did not migreate because she had stayed with Sam the whole year round in the same places. She has no food so she goes to find her hunting pal who is a dog named Mole. She gets to the house but no dog no owner. She flies to a house she sees and lands nearby and sees Mole coming towards the steps bleeding and limping. She sees food he usualy shared but he snarled at her. Frightful saw Duchess by the house. Two men who probably caught Duchess came outside with a net they captured birds showed them to people and hurt the bids after. The net was to capture, and they were going to capture Frightful. They captured Frightful and went in the house Frightful wiggle until she was free at last. She saw a nearby telephone wire and landed on it to purch she got shocked and burned. She fell all the way down to the grouned. An nice man came by saw Frightful and picked her up. Her feathers were burnt on the edges and she was shocked. The man held her. Frightful was dead. This is not the end so the peolple who read this you will need to read the rest of Frightful's Mountain

I think the book is cute for children! The book made me want to know a little bit more on gray wolves, they are so pretty! I love how you write nature books, I wish you would write more books on butterflys! Gorgeous book!

i really like this book, if you are a fan of wolves, this would be your bible.

This fine story is another example of Jean Craighead George's close bond with nature, elegant writing, and her grandchildren. The Newbery Medal-winning author has written several picture books for her grandchildren--ARCTIC SON, a magnificent book, tells the story of her grandsons Luke and Sam who live in Alaska; DEAR REBECCA, WINTER IS HERE is written in the same format as DEAR KATIE, THE VOLCANO IS A GIRL, and that book, which I liked better, is the story of Katie's sister Rebecca asking the grandmother (Ms. George, we presume) what winter is all about. DEAR KATIE, THE VOLCANO IS A GIRL, is an intriguing tale, in which Katie and her grandmother go to Hawaii to see the great Kilauea Volcano. As the fire explodes around them, the grandmother remarks, "A volcano is a geophysical phenomenon," to which young Katie responds, "The volcano is a girl." So begins a daylong quest to find the truth behind the mysteries of Kilauea. Katie tells her grandmother the story that the native Hawaiians tell, of a fiery goddess who is mad at her sister, the tidal waves. The grandmother insists that the secrets of the volcano is explained using pure science. Following their journey, Daniel Powers's colorful illustrations go along nicely with Ms. George's writing. Young children, especially, will find the pictures exciting. In the end, the grandmother writes to Katie telling her that the legend and the scientists' story are the same. Ms. George has a gift for sharing legends and culture with her readers--in her young adult novels, the JULIE OF THE WOLVES books, she describes with great detail the lives of Inupiat Eskimos, and in SHARK BENEATH THE REEF, the story of a little-known town in seaside Mexico. If you're wondering why I gave this book only 3 stars, the reason is because I think Ms. George's other picture books are more satisfying. I wouldn't recommend this book to people who love Ms. George's nature writing--her other picture books, such as the ones mentioned above, are better. Of course, she has written almost 100 books for children, young adults, and even grown-ups, so there's an endless supply to choose from.

In reading this book, I am reminded of how often I have found that myths that explain how the world works are often merely a symbolic explanation that when cut down to bare bones are exactly the same as science claims. My belief that religion and science have no need to clash is reinforced. They are two different explanations for the same fact. Religion and science can work together, in fact. Science answers our need for an intellectual explanation and religion fulfills our spiritual nature. For me, science has never undercut my faith as it only reinforces the miracle of our world.

I also find it amazing that these ancient myths have such basis in fact. It seems to me that the workings of this world our something a human being can know inately and are not solely the knowledge of the wild animals.

We used this as a teaching story at our local Unitarian Universalist sunday school, showing that Humanist and Pagan beliefs can indeed coexist. In this story, the girl tells her grandmother about the Goddess Pele and Her sacred mountain, while the grandmother tells the girl about volcanoes and geological activity. At the end of the book, the grandmother says "I told you the scientific story, and you told me the religious story, and *they were the same*".

Beautiful illustrations and very respectful treatment of Pele and Her mountain. Highly recommended.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was so exciting but also used many interesting facts about crows and their lives. This was a very emotional story with sad happy and funny parts. This book reflects on Jean Craighead Georges life. I would definitley give THE CRY OF THE CROW a high rating!

The cry of the crow, by Jean Craighead George, didnt really catch my attention in the beginning of the book. For the first few chapters it was kind of slow and not too exciting. Basicly it wasnt the kind of book that I was used to reading. However, after a while into the book, I started to like it. Even though it was still slow, I enjoyed the story about how she raised and kept the baby crow to herself with almost no help. Although the ending was a bit sad, i liked it. I recomend this book to anyone who would like to enjoy an unforgetable story.

The Cry of the Crow is a great book that others would enjoy reading. It has many interesting facts about crows. I learned that crows could talk if words were imitated over and over. This book has a wonderful theme that others could learn from. The main character learns her lesson in the end. Overall,the Cry of the Crow is a terrific book.

Our book group read Owl in the Shower by Jean Craighead George. We think this book is appropriate for grades 3-5. This book's genre is fiction based on the real world issue of spotted owls. It's tone is a light story about a serious issue. The stroy takes place on the Pacific Coast of Northern California. The story's main charactar is Borden,the kid who found an owl and named it Bardy. He found the owl when he was hunting spotted owls. Bardy is a young spotted owlet that Borden mistakes as a Barred Owl because he doesn't have his spots yet. Leon is Borden's dad. He is a logger who lost his job because the government made them stop because the spotted owls are at the edge of extinction. He used to hate spotted owls but Bardy imprinted on him. We liked this because it taught us many facts about owls. We also liked it because it talks about a friendship between Leon and Bardy. We recommend this to people who like owls. We give it 3 and a half stars because it is a little slow and steady.

Hi, my name is Cassie. I like the book There's an Owl in the Shower. It is about a boy who didn't like spotted owls because his dad lost his logging job. One day he found an owl he doesn't think he is spotted owl and takes him home. He and his family fall in love with the owl. Borden even teaches the owl to fly! I really like this book because I like owls. If you like owls, you'll like There's an Owl in the Shower.

Though somewhat geared toward kids (like, say, ages 10-12, ideally; older people will enjoy it too), this book is mature. It has the occasional picture (not usually taking up an entire page, however), and the print is kinda big. But it's of a good length overall and is a pretty thick book. One of the best animal stories I've ever read, "There's an Owl in the Shower" is my favorite book by Jean Craighead George. I know most people like "Julie of the Wolves" or other stories better, but I like the way there is the fierce competition between the owl lovers (led by science teacher and enviornmentalist Paul James), and the owl haters (led by Leon.) The main character is Borden, a young boy who despises spotted owls because his father Leon, a tree cutter, lost his job due to a government act to save the endangered owl species. Borden saves an owlet that he thinks is a barred owl, but who turns out to be a spotted one. Leon falls in love with "Bardy" in spite of himself, even though he knows he is a spotted owl. Through this story, I rooted for my team, the Owl Lovers. The owl haters were horribly cruel. They hung spotted owls from lampposts and wore bumper stickers like "I like spotted owls fried." They made posters like "People not owls. Support your local spotted owl-from ropes." On the other hand, there were the owl lovers who fought to "save the spotted owl." And of course, they were the good guys who won out. The book teaches good lessons about protecting the enviornment, animals, and forests. Owl haters continuously made comments throughout the story about how the owl lovers cared more about owls than about people. The book clearly shows that caring for both can be done at the exact same time. Great reading material.