Jim Kjelgaard

Jim Kjelgaard

On December 10, 1910, James Arthur Kjelgaard was born in New York City, the oldest of six children to a doctor and his wife. Raised in the country on farms, Kjelgaard loved nature, the outdoors, and animals. He attended school and still read everything he could, even the Scottish poet Robert Burns. Though energetic and active, Kjelgaard nevertheless suffered from what his brother Henry called "fits," episodes similar to epileptic seizures. These fits were diagnosed as a brain tumor. Doctors from John Hopkins Hospital drilled a hole in his head to relieve the pressure, and this procedure worked, allowing Kjelgaard the opportunity to continue living for a long while.

Kjelgaard's outdoors activities included fishing and hunting, while inside he wrote when he could. Building his own desk from a box, he typed out stories on an old typewriter. Rejection after rejection, magazines wouldn't accept anything he wrote until one day during his senior year in high school, Kjelgaard finally received an acceptance letter that rewarded him subscription to its magazine in lieu of payment. When Kjelgaard saw his story on the magazine cover the next month, he was thrilled. His success came during the Depression; however, he needed steady employment to help support his family. From working on a potato farm, to digging ditches, to guiding hunters, Kjelgaard did what he could to earn a living. Then came a job as a forest ranger. His experiences set the stage for his first book Forest Patrol. As more magazines accepted his stories, Kjelgaard was on his way to a writing career.

After marrying a lady from Milwaukee and moving there, Kjelgaard entered the World War II era. With his health issues, he couldn't enlist, so he worked in a torpedo plant during the day and wrote at night. After the war he became a full-time author, taking trips that led him all over America, from the Arctic Circle to Mexico City. Kjelgaard searched for an intriguing story. His love of dogs consistently provided a source of ideas, and his book Big Red made him famous. Later Disney adapted it into a motion picture with the same name. Continuing to write, Kjelgaard penned more books about nature and dogs, including Snow Dog and Stormy. Deeply interested in preserving forests and wildlife, his books portray this love of nature.

Later, with the onset of severe arthritis and another brain tumor, Kjelgaard felt life slipping away. Seldom leaving his home during his final year, he wrote eight books for children before taking his life to escape the chronic excruciating pain racking his head and body. In total, award-winning author Kjelgaard penned over forty books and hundreds of short stories. On July 12, 1959, he unfortunately committed suicide and passed away at his home in Phoenix, Arizona, at age forty-eight.

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28 Items found
Big Red
by Jim Kjelgaard
from Holiday House
Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Big Red
Junior Deluxe Editions
by Jim Kjelgaard, illustrated by Shannon Stirnweis
from Junior Deluxe Editions
for 4th-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Big Red
by Jim Kjelgaard
from Holiday House
Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$17.99
Big Red
by Jim Kjelgaard
from Holiday House
for 4th-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Big Red
G&D Famous Dog Stories
by Jim Kjelgaard, illustrated by Shannon Stirnweis
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Black Fawn
by Jim Kjelgaard
from Dodd, Mead & Co.
for 4th-8th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Coming of the Mormons
Landmark #37
by Jim Kjelgaard
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Desert Dog
by Jim Kjelgaard
from Bantam Books
for 5th-8th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Double Challenge
by Jim Kjelgaard
from Wildside Press
Explorations of Père Marquette
Landmark #17
by Jim Kjelgaard
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Hi Jolly!
by Jim Kjelgaard
for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Irish Red
by Jim Kjelgaard
from Yearling
Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$7.99
Irish Red
G&D Famous Dog Stories
by Jim Kjelgaard
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-7th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Lion Hound
Nose for Trouble
by Jim Kjelgaard
2nd Printing from Holiday House
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Outlaw Red
G&D Famous Dog Stories
by Jim Kjelgaard
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Outlaw Red
by Jim Kjelgaard
from Yearling
Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Outlaw Red
by Jim Kjelgaard
1986 printing from Bantam-Skylark
Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Rescue Dog of the High Pass
by Jim Kjelgaard; illustrated by Edward Shenton
from E.M. Hale and Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Snow Dog
G&D Famous Dog Stories
by Jim Kjelgaard
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Snow Dog
by Jim Kjelgaard
from Yearling
Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$7.99
Snow Dog
by Jim Kjelgaard
from Holiday House
Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Stormy
by Jim Kjelgaard
from Yearling
Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$6.99
Story of Geronimo
Signature Books #44
by Jim Kjelgaard, illustrated by Charles Banks Wilson
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Swamp Cat
by Jim Kjelgaard
Two Dogs and a Horse
by Jim Kjelgaard
from Dodd, Mead & Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
We Were There at the Oklahoma Land Run
We Were There #12
by Jim Kjelgaard, illustrated by Chris A. Kenyon
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
Wild Trek
by Jim Kjelgaard
from Bantam Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)