The Published Works of Jean Little

Birdie for Now

2008-07-13T07:13:48Z

Novel, Orca, 2002, 154 Pages

One minute she was not there and the next she had dashed in among them, her dangling leash sailing through the air after her. Her silky coat rippled in the breeze and she had incredible ears, black and tall, shaped like butterfly wings. Her feathery tail curled up over her back one minute, streamed out behind her the next and, a second later, tucked itself out of sight between her legs.

To Dickon, that tail shouted, "I want to be friends I'm running away I'm afraid."

He understood the little dog completely. He, too, had felt confused and desperate.

Dickon wasn't happy in his old home or his old school. He hopes that in his new neighborhood he will meet children who never knew his old, hyper self, who will like him for who he is now. And he hopes for a dog of his own. Dickon's mother calls him Birdie. She feeds him milk from a teddy bear mug. She worries if he's out of her sight for a moment and she knows how filthy and vicious dogs can be. Dickon is delighted to discover that the Humane Society is right on the other side of the fence behind the new house, but only by disobeying his mother will he ever get close to a real dog.

Dancing Through the Snow

2008-07-13T08:46:56Z

Novel, Scholastic, 2007, 239 Pages

Ten-year-old Min has had a long history of foster care since being abandoned in a public washroom at age three. When Min is dumped by her latest foster mother just before Christmas, Jess Hart, a former Children’s Aid doctor who knows min and sees past her hardened shell, decides to take her home for a couple of weeks to see how the two of them get along. Jess has long had thoughts of a becoming Min’s official foster mother, or even adopting her. On their way to find a Christmas tree, Min finds a young dog that’s near death and brings it home. As the dog’s timidness and distrust of people begins to lesson, Min realizes how much she has herself been “walling” people out. Min starts to open up, makes some new friends and event stands up to her old nemesis, the bullying and taunting Laird. This is a story of and abandoned dog helping and abandoned girl open her heart and let in a new family. Jean Little’s incredible gift for portraying emotion and creating real people shines in this touching novel.

Different Dragons

2008-07-13T06:46:20Z

Novel, Penguin, 1986, 123 Pages

Ben is apprehensive about staying over at his aunt roses house while his parents are away. but with the promise of a big surprise, ben reluctantly agrees to at least give it a try. only, when the surprise arrives, it is not what ben expects at all. At the door is a labrador retriever named gully. the only problem is that ben is afraid of dogs. Dogs jump at people, bite people, and even kill people! And even though gully seems friendly, ben decides he will never be friends with a dog. but when ben finds himself alone with gully in a scary situation, he starts to rethink his fear. perhaps he will be able to survive the whole weekend at Aunt roses with gully running around after all.

Forward, Shakespeare!

2008-07-13T08:38:33Z

Novel, Orca, 2005, 144 Pages

Seeing-eye pup, Shakespeare, conquered many fears in Rescue Pup. Now he is back, about to be matched up with a blind boy, ready to begin his working life. Tim is enraged by his blindness and wants nothing to do with a guide dog. But he is no match for Shakespeare.

Jean Little is one of Canada's most beloved writers for children. She is also blind and currently living with her third Seeing Eye dog. Three times, she has traveled to the Seeing Eye headquarters in New Jersey to train with a dog, first Zephyr, then Ritz and now Pippa. For years she has thought about writing a book about the training of a Seeing Eye dog. Now she has done it, but Shakespeare is not just any dog.

Forward, Shakespeare! is the second of two books in a series.
Book one is Rescue Pup.

From Anna

2008-07-13T04:43:33Z

Novel, Harper, 1972, 201 Pages

Anna has always been the clumsy one in the family. Somehow she can never do anything right! She bumps into tables, and she can't read the blackboard at her school. Her perfect brothers and sisters call her "Awkward Anna." When Papa announces that the family is moving from Germany to Canada, Anna's heart sinks. How can she learn English when she can't even read German? Nothing could be worse than this!

But when the Soldens arrive in Canada, Anna learns that there is a reason for her clumsiness. And suddenly, wonderfully, her whole world begins to change.

His Banner over Me

2008-07-13T06:50:26Z

Novel, Penguin, 1995, 207 Pages

Based on the Jean's mother’s childhood. Winner of the IODE Violet Downie Award.

For as long as she can remember, Flora Gauld has lived in Taiwan, but now her family is going home to Canada, a place she has only seen in pictures.

At first she’s a bit intimidated by all the cousins she meets in Kippen, Ontario, but after a while she begins to feel at home. Then her parents explain that they must go back to Taiwan, where they work as missionaries. Flora will be left behind with her aunt and uncle, whom she hardly knows, in yet another town. She is given the special responsibility of looking after her younger brother, William—but who will look after her?

With time, Flora is buoyed by the love of her Aunt Jen and her "adopted" family, but then the Great War begins, and Flora’s world is turned upside down.

Based on the true story of Jean Little’s remarkable mother, His Banner over Me brings a distant time and place to vivid life.

Home from Far

2008-07-12T23:37:09Z

Novel, Little Brown & Co, 1965, 157 Pages, Out of print

After the death of her twin brother, a girl learns to look to the future in this gentle, absorbing story.

Kate

2008-07-13T04:39:21Z

Novel, HarperCollins, 1971, 167 Pages

By no means a stereotype, Kate Bloomfield is a confident, sensitive, tomboy who loves to write poetry. Even her Jewish father and non-Jewish mother leave her more confused about her heritage than ever. It’s only when she discovers that arch-enemy Sheila Rosenthal is Jewish that Kate explore her own family background. As Jean Little leads her protagonist to an old family feud in Kate, she discovers a secret that almost costs Kate her best friend.

Listen for the Singing

2008-07-13T04:52:37Z

Novel, Stoddart, 1977, 262 Pages

Winner of The Canada Council Children’s Book Award

As the world around her braces itself for World War II, a young Canadian girl with impaired vision prepares to begin public high school.

Look Through My Window

2008-07-13T04:33:33Z

Novel, Harper & Row, 1970, 258 Pages

When Emily's parents move to an eighteen-room house so that her four unpredictable cousins can live with them, life for Emily, an only child, is never again the same.