Kjelgaard was born in
New York City,
New York on December 6, 1910. Jim's father, Carroll W. Kjelgaard, was a physician, happily married with five sons and one daughter. Kjelgaard was the fourth oldest. He and his siblings lived on a seven hundred and fifty acre farm in the
Allegheny Mountains of
Pennsylvania during his childhood. It was the outdoors which provided a playground for all the children. Dave Drakula, writing in
Jim Kjelgaard – From the Bigwoods to Hollywood, recounted a time when Kjelgaard and his brother Henry were outside playing when Kjelgaard spotted a bear. Kjelgaard and Henry climbed up the apple tree to escape the bear. Once the bear was gone Kjelgaard got down from the tree screaming and yelling as he ran into the house. In the meantime, Henry was too small to get out of the tree himself and was stuck there. The bear came back again and stared Henry down with Kjelgaard laughing in the distance. This is where Kjelgaard's first love of bears comes from and later appeared in his books such as
Buckskin Brigade (1947). As a child, Kjelgaard liked to read. Although his family was often low on money, Kjelgaard's parents always tried to support Kjelgaard and provide as many books for him as they could. The family's farming venture failed and Jim and his family moved to
Galeton, Pennsylvania. It was at that point that Kjelgaard began to show interest in writing. Kjelgaard made a desk out of a box so that he could start writing poems and stories on a typewriter. In addition, Kjelgaard was becoming an avid hunter, trapper, and fisherman, and his love for dogs was unlimited. Unfortunately, during this time Kjelgaard began to have symptoms of epilepsy. He was brought to
Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, where his problem was diagnosed as a tumor but he did not have to have surgery at the time. Kjelgaard was still able to continue on with his life and adventures and show his love for the outdoors. ==Career==