Children’s author Jean Little passed away on April 6, 2020. She was 88.

She had published over 50 books during her career including favourites, From Anna, Mama’s Going to Buy You a Mockingbird , and her first, Mine for Keeps which was published in 1962.

Little, who was visually impaired since birth, wrote novels that focused on children’s issues and the obstacles they had to overcome.

She told me character and story inspirations came from memories of her own childhood and her time as a special education teacher.

Jean Little lived a few blocks away from me in Guelph, Ontario.

When I was around the age of 10, I knocked on her door to say hello. It would be the first of two
occasions we sat in her living-room to talk.

This interview was conducted during my first year of college.

At the time, Little had 15 books published, 13 were novels and two books were poetry.

While my interview focuses on Jean’s life up to 1986, the links below offer a longer read of her vast career as a writer.

CBC Books

Guelph Mercury

Publishers Weekly