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Biography:
Jim Kjelgaard, a thoughtful, painstaking writer, began his literary career with short fiction and outdoor articles, chiefly for the adult magazine trade. He turned to juveniles about 1940, after he came to Milwaukee from Galeton, Pa. His interest in Milwaukee was stirred through a correspondence with an appreciative reader named Eddie Dresen. The reader liked Mr. Kjelgaard's magazine pieces. Mr. Kjelgaard learned eventually that "Eddie" was a diminutive of Edna and, in 1939, he met Edna in person. They were married here shortly afterward. The author, a husky and plain spoken person, was an outdoorsman and spent much of his leisure hunting, trapping, and fishing in Wisconsin. His knowledge and love of nature was evident in his writing.
Wrote of Father Marquette
One of his books, "The Explorations of Pere Marquette," told about the priest-explorer who early visited the state. He remembered many Milwaukee and state friends in dedicating his books. Mr. Kjelgaard's first juvenile work was Forest Patrol. It appeared in 1941. Six years later his book about an Irish setter, called Big Red, won the principal medal in the junior book awards of the Boys' Clubs of America. His books were among Junior Literary Guild selections. His works were lauded by critics as education as well as entertaining and adventurous. The are regarded highly by librarians and teachers. Snow Dog, the story of a Canadian huskie, was a notable book. Fire Hunter, a prehistoric animal tale, was another. More recently, he had written stories with an Arizona setting. Recent stories were Desert Dog, Wolf Brother and Wildlife Cameraman.
First Story Brought $5
Mr. Kjelgaard grew up in the Pennsylvania mountains, went to a country school and shot his first deer, when he was 8. Later, he went to a town school and for two years took Syracuse University extension courses while he worked at a factory in Endicott, N. Y. He had already sold his first story (for $5) to an outdoor magazine. The author always had insisted that "you can't write down to kids." He told how "kids spot weaknesses in a juvenile book that would get by in a book for adults." His philosophy was: "You have to struggle to get up to the kids' level." Mr. Kjelgaard spoke to many gatherings for young readers in the Milwaukee area and was a guest on many public library sponsored programs.
(From http://home.sprintmail.com/~charterbus/obituary.htm)
Works by Jim Kjelgaard:
Jim Kjelgaard, a thoughtful, painstaking writer, began his literary career with short fiction and outdoor articles, chiefly for the adult magazine trade. He turned to juveniles about 1940, after he came to Milwaukee from Galeton, Pa. His interest in Milwaukee was stirred through a correspondence with an appreciative reader named Eddie Dresen. The reader liked Mr. Kjelgaard's magazine pieces. Mr. Kjelgaard learned eventually that "Eddie" was a diminutive of Edna and, in 1939, he met Edna in person. They were married here shortly afterward. The author, a husky and plain spoken person, was an outdoorsman and spent much of his leisure hunting, trapping, and fishing in Wisconsin. His knowledge and love of nature was evident in his writing.
Wrote of Father Marquette
One of his books, "The Explorations of Pere Marquette," told about the priest-explorer who early visited the state. He remembered many Milwaukee and state friends in dedicating his books. Mr. Kjelgaard's first juvenile work was Forest Patrol. It appeared in 1941. Six years later his book about an Irish setter, called Big Red, won the principal medal in the junior book awards of the Boys' Clubs of America. His books were among Junior Literary Guild selections. His works were lauded by critics as education as well as entertaining and adventurous. The are regarded highly by librarians and teachers. Snow Dog, the story of a Canadian huskie, was a notable book. Fire Hunter, a prehistoric animal tale, was another. More recently, he had written stories with an Arizona setting. Recent stories were Desert Dog, Wolf Brother and Wildlife Cameraman.
First Story Brought $5
Mr. Kjelgaard grew up in the Pennsylvania mountains, went to a country school and shot his first deer, when he was 8. Later, he went to a town school and for two years took Syracuse University extension courses while he worked at a factory in Endicott, N. Y. He had already sold his first story (for $5) to an outdoor magazine. The author always had insisted that "you can't write down to kids." He told how "kids spot weaknesses in a juvenile book that would get by in a book for adults." His philosophy was: "You have to struggle to get up to the kids' level." Mr. Kjelgaard spoke to many gatherings for young readers in the Milwaukee area and was a guest on many public library sponsored programs.
(From http://home.sprintmail.com/~charterbus/obituary.htm)
Works by Jim Kjelgaard:
- Forest Patrol (1941)
- Rebel Siege (1943)
- Big Red (1945)
- The Fangs of Tsan-Lo (1945)
- Buckskin Brigade (1947)
- Snow Dog (1948)
- Kalak of the Ice (1949)
- A Nose for Trouble (1949)
- Wild Trek (1950)
- Chip the Dam Builder (1950)
- Irish Red, Son of Big Red (1951)
- Fire-hunter (1951)
- The Explorations of Pere Marquette (1951)
- Trailing Trouble (1952)
- Outlaw Red, Son of Big Red (1953)
- The Spell of the White Sturgeon (1953)
- The Coming of the Mormons (1953)
- Haunt Fox (1954)
- Cracker Barrel Trouble Shooter (1954)
- Lion Hound (1955)
- The Lost Wagon (1955)
- Desert Dog (1956)
- Trading Jeff and his Dog (1956)
- Wildlife Cameraman (1957)
- Cochise, Chief of Warriors (1957)
- Double Challenge (1957)
- We Were There at the Oklahoma Land Run (1957)
- Wolf Brother (1957)
- Swamp Cat (1957)
- Rescue Dog of the High Pass (1958)
- The Land is Bright (1958)
- The Black Fawn (1958)
- The Story of Geronimo (1958)
- Hi Jolly (1959)
- Stormy (1959)
- Ulysses & his Woodland Zoo (1960)
- Boomerang Hunter (1960)
- The Duck-footed Hound (1960)
- Tigre (1961)
- Hidden Trail (1962)
- Fawn in the Forest & other Wild Animal Stories (1962)
- Two Dogs & a Horse (1964)
- Furious Moose of the Wilderness (1965)
- Dave and his Dog, Mulligan (1966)
- Coyote Song (1969)
