In the book My Side of the Mountain, who is Mrs. O'Brien?

Interesting question! In the book My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George, Sam Gribley encounters many new animals, including Mrs. O’Brien.

In the book, Sam expressed his fear of becoming lonely during the wintertime. Although he read extensively about people becoming lonely in the winter, this experience did not happen to Sam.

Instead of being lonely, Sam watched the different animals. For example, he watched a group of chickadees and named the chickadees. He named one of them Mrs. O’Brien. Subsequently, he humanized them through his imagination and observations. As the text reveals:

“Then there were Mrs. O’Brien, Mrs. Callaway, and Mrs. Federio [all chickadees]. On Third Avenue they would all go off to the market together first thing in the morning, talking and pushing and stopping to lecture to children in gutters and streets.”

Thus, Sam was not lonely because he utilized his imagination and spent time with the animals. For example, he often watched Mrs. O’Brien, the chickadee, who lived near Sam.