Jean Little is a Canadian author born on January 2, 1932. Her work has mainly consisted of children's literature, but she has also written two autobiographies: Little by Little and Stars Come Out Within. Little has been partially blind since birth as a result of scars on her cornea and is frequently accompanied by a guide dog. Jean Little was born in Taiwan. Her parents were Canadian doctors serving as medical missionaries under the United Church of Canada. The Little family came home to live in Canada in 1939, moving to Guelph in 1940. Although Jean was legally blind from birth, she attended... elementary and secondary school in regular classes. She went to the University of Toronto and got her BA in English Language and Literature. After teaching disabled children for several years, Jean Little wrote her first children’s novel, Mine for Keeps, about a child with cerebral palsy. It won the Little, Brown Canadian Children’s Book Award and was published in 1962. Since then, Jean has had 44 other books published. She has written novels, picture books, poetry, short stories, and two autobiographical books.
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