Frightful's Daughter Meets the Baron Weasel
For this follow-up to Frightful's Daughter (2002), George returns to the natural setting and themes of My Side of the Mountain (1959). Sam Gribley may coexist peacefully with the peregrine falcon Oksi and the small predator he calls the Baron Weasel, but the weasel's attraction to Oksi's young eyases (chicks) puts the two animals at odds. After several clever but failed attempts over the course of weeks, the Baron Weasel does at last reach the high nesting box—but before he can seize either of the eyases, his arrival startles them into taking their first flights. Sam, dressed in buckskin, puts in an occasional appearance, but otherwise there's little sign of human presence in San Souci's verdant, open forest landscapes. Without anthropomorphizing, both the author and the illustrator make this nature tale and its animal participants accessible and inviting to young readers. Peters, John