University of Guelph Library
The Jean Little Collection
Jean Little.
Jean Little was born in Taiwan on the 2nd of January 1932. In 1940 her family moved to Guelph. Although legally blind since birth, Little attended regular classes in elementary and secondary school and later studied under Northrop Frye at the University of Toronto, graduating with a BA in English language and literature in 1955. Internationally known as a popular children's author, Little has written more than thirty books for both young and older audiences. She has worked with disabled children for a number of years. She became a member of the Order of Canada in 1993, and was honoured locally in 1991 with the opening of Jean Little Public School in Guelph.
Book dedication to her mother.
The Jean Little Collection consists of several deposits which began in 1998. There are 92 diaries and notebooks written by her covering the period 1950-1993, with about a third of the notes containing first drafts of fiction and poetry. The archival section also features lecture notes, audio cassettes, photographs, newspaper reviews and articles, letters, booklets for limited circulation, drafts of publications, poetry, and memorabilia. Her correspondence contains letters to authors such as Rosemary Sutcliffe and Monica Hughes. The printed, published section includes more than 250 editions of her works in three main series: her printed English works; her foreign language editions; and her poems, essays, and short stories printed in anthologies from the United States and Canada.
Barney's Christmas Quest cover.
Jean Little's first work, December Twilight, was published in the magazine, Saturday Night. Among her more important works are: From Anna; Mama's Going to Buy You a Mockingbird, which won the Canadian Library Association Book of the Year in 1985; Hey World, Here I Am!; Little by Little; and Mine for Keeps, which won the Little Brown Children's Book Award in 1962. Listen for the Singing was the Canada Council Children's Literature Award winner in 1977. His Banner Over Me won the 1996 Violet Downey Book Award. Orphan at My Door recently received the Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children in 2002. Her works have been translated into several languages including French, German, Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, and Japanese (copies are available in the collection).
The Collection continues to grow with accessions made on a regular basis by Jean Little, who lives in Guelph and continues to write and entertain her readers in Canada and other countries. More than 400 recorded items in the collection are available for browsing by following this catalogue link.