📚 Book📚 Kids · Ages 7–10Adventure

My Side of the Mountain (1959)

About This Book

A boy named Sam Gribley runs away from his crowded New York City apartment to live alone on his family's abandoned land in the Catskill Mountains, where he hollows out a hemlock tree for shelter and trains a peregrine falcon named Frightful. The book reads like a field guide to self-reliance, packed with detailed descriptions of how Sam forages, hunts, and builds everything he needs from scratch. It makes wilderness living feel not just possible but deeply appealing.

Why It's a Classic

Jean Craighead George was a trained naturalist, and her expertise transforms what could have been a simple runaway story into something richly educational and deeply felt. Sam's journal-style narration is calm, observational, and precise, giving readers the sense that they could follow his instructions and do this themselves. The relationship between Sam and Frightful is the emotional heart of the book, portrayed with the kind of specificity that only comes from real experience with falconry. George also resists the temptation to moralize; Sam's choice to live alone is treated with respect, and the complications that arise feel organic rather than punitive. The detailed illustrations of Sam's tools, shelters, and traps add another layer of engagement, inviting readers to study and replicate them.

Fun Fact

George actually lived in the Catskill Mountains and tested many of Sam's survival methods herself, including building a shelter inside a tree. The book was a Newbery Honor selection in 1960 and was so popular that George received hundreds of letters from children planning their own wilderness escapes. She eventually wrote two sequels, including one told from Frightful the falcon's perspective.

Parent Note

Sam hunts and traps animals for food, which is described matter-of-factly and without graphic detail. The premise involves a child running away from home, which some families may want to discuss. The tone is gentle and contemplative throughout, making it accessible for readers as young as 8 or 9.