New Releases by Jean Little

Away at school, Sally Copeland has always dreamed of going home, but now that she’s there, she feels frightened and unsure of herself.Will her brother and sister accept her? Will she be able to do things for herself? And what will it be like to go to a regular school and be the only one with cerebral palsy?

A warm story about friendship and migration from the incomparable Jean Little. Jane and Maya are very different. Maya is a quiet girl and a refugee, new to this country, while chatty and outgoing Jane has lived in the same place her whole life. The girls become instant friends. When they learn about endangered species in school, they decide to do their own small part to help by supporting migrating monarch butterflies. Together they plant a milkweed garden to feed and shelter the tiny creatures, then watch in amazement as a monarch hatches and grows before leaving on the long journey to Mexico. After all the butterflies have departed, Maya shares her own migration story -- her family''s long journey to Canada. Maya wishes the monarchs safety in their new home too. In her heartwarming final story, Jean Little weaves a simple tale of childhood curiosity into larger themes of immigration, friendship and the wonder of the natural world. A true gift of a story from a Canadian treasure.

Harry tries and tries to get rid of his hiccups. He tries drinking a glass of water upside down, he tries putting an ice-cold key down his back, he gleefully tries eating a spoonful of sugar. But nothing works! In this charming picture book, written by children''s literature legend Jean Little and illustrated by award-winning illustrator Joe Weissmann, Harry is afflicted with a case of the hopeless hiccups. It''s not until Harry has a surprise encounter with a different sort of neighbor that it seems like Harry might finally get some relief...hiccup, hiccup...

The bestselling, award-winning picture book is now available in board book! On a stormy winter night in the barn, a donkey, sheep and cow recall the important contributions their ancestors made the night Jesus was born. Pippin the pig''s ancestors were NOT at the manger, so when Pippin asks, "But what did the pigs do?" she is told, "Pippin, face it. Pigs have nothing worthy to offer." But after Pippin runs away from the unwelcoming barn, she saves the day when a young mother wandering with her baby gets lost in a snowstorm and needs help and shelter. This sturdy board book edition has been revised for the younger set, while keeping the soul of the story, and gently teaching readers that everyone has something to offer.

Inspired by the real-life story of Helen Keller and the servant girl Martha Washington! How did Helen Keller manage before Annie Sullivan came to teach her language? This fictionalized story of two very different girls in the South, two decades after the Civil War, builds on the mentions of Martha Washington in Keller''s autobiography and reimagines their relationship. Martha, Helen''s constant companion, is the cook''s daughter -- a black girl, just a few years older, and the person who best understood Helen''s attempts at communication. Charged with keeping the unruly younger girl occupied and out of trouble, Martha is sometimes bullied, sometimes a co-conspirator, and often Helen''s rescuer. She is with Helen as Annie teaches her words and language, even on the miraculous day when Helen understands that the water running over one hand, and the word W-A-T-E-R that is being spelled into the other, are connected -- the event that freed Helen to communicate with the wider world. When Jean Little revisited Keller''s The Story of My Life, she became fascinated with the few mentions of Martha and wondered what it might have been like to be in Martha''s place and to be given the difficult task of minding Helen -- a girl so different, in a position of privilege and yet dependent on her. Could the two girls forge a friendship? Jean Little''s fascination with that personal dynamic has evolved into a remarkable story of two girls navigating through the world, Hand in Hand.

When a frightened girl and boy arrive on the Twiss family''s doorstep to escape the Blitz, Charlotte wonders how she will keep her war guests from missing their parents back home, or from cowering every time a plane flies overhead. Though the war is being waged across the Atlantic, Charlotte begins to feel its danger, as her brother George defies their parents and enlists in the Navy. After months of receiving letters from overseas, suddenly there is no word from him — has the unthinkable happened and George''s ship been sunk by a German submarine? Charlotte Twiss''s diary shows her innermost feelings about her life on the Canadian homefront, as she helps her war guests "settle in" and wonders whether her brother is safe from harm.

Featuring stories from nine outstanding Canadian authors, this anthology is the perfect Christmas gift for Dear Canada readers, both old and new! A Time for Giving includes ten tales of Christmas, following the most recent Dear Canada diarists "the Christmas after" their diary ends. Johanna Leary is reunited with her brother after they were separated at Grosse-Île; Mary Kobayashi spends a second Christmas at a Japanese internment camp; Rose Rabinowitz finds some surprising challenges in her new country, and many more! A Special Gift is a story from Ojibwe writer Ruby Slipperjack to preview her upcoming Dear Canada (coming in Fall 2016!), set the winter before the diarist is sent to Residential School. Contributors include Jean Little (Exiles from the War and All Fall Down), Barbara Haworth- Attard (To Stand on My Own), Sarah Ellis (That Fatal Night), Susan Aihoshi (Torn Apart), Norah McClintock (A Sea of Sorrows), Karleen Bradford (A Country of Our Own), Janet McNaughton (Flame and Ashes), Carol Matas (Pieces of the Past), and Ruby Slipperjack.

Celebrate the love between mother and child in this new board book edition of the sweetest story of all! One by one, baby animals are born on the farm. Frolicking barnyard babies put smiles of love on their mothers'' faces, and each time a new animal is born, another mother yearns for one of her very own. When a new human mom shows off her own baby, it''s the sweetest one of all . . . because it''s her very own. A warm-hearted story with gently humorous rhymes, this sturdy board book is the perfect gift for a new baby''s bookshelf.

A young girl survives the deadliest landslide in Canadian history — but a family secret could call into question everything she thought she knew about her life before the disaster. After her father dies, Abby and her family move west to live with relatives who run a hotel in the mining town of Frank, Alberta. Abby keeps busy helping out at the hotel, being chief caregiver to her little brother with Down Syndrome, and learning Morse Code at the telegraph office. When the devastating Frank Slide buries much of the town, Abby must do all she can to help. But a long-buried family secret emerged just before the disaster — and she must wait for the dust to settle before getting the answers she so desperately wants. Inspired by two of her own relatives, one who helped run a telegraph office in the late 1800s and another who shares Abby''s story (and her family secret), Jean Little crafts a compelling story rich with emotion and historical detail.

Jeremy is not having a good summer. His best friends have moved away, and he has to stay at the cottage with only his little sister Sarah and his Aunt Margery. His parents have remained in the city so his father can have an operation. When Jeremy finally sees him again, he finds out that his father has cancer and isn’t going to get better. Suddenly, Jeremy’s life has completely changed. But then he finds an unlikely friend in Tess, who knows what it’s like to lose someone. As his friendship with her grows, through good times and bad, Jeremy discovers that his father has left him something that will live forever …

I was asked by my son John and daughter Jan to fill in some of the gaps in the history of the family. So a few years ago I started to tell the story as I perceived it from my point of view. Often I had to stop, because parts of it took me back and I experienced the feelings I had then. Some of the secrets I learnt later in life, other secrets are still uncovered. Would they have made any difference if I had known what they were? I do not know . This seemed an appropriate time to have my family history and my story published as I am 85 and just retired from my business.

A holiday treat for fans of the Dear Canada series, and all lovers of historical fiction! See how love brings this family even closer together at Christmastime. Eliza''s brothers both enlisted to fight in World War I. On the Home Front there were coal shortages, rationing, heart-stopping news of soldiers missing or dead. While praying for her brothers'' safe return, and longing for her very own friend, Eliza''s greatest comfort was the warmth of her exuberant and loving family. But Christmas Day 1919 brings a new challenge. This short story was originally published in Dear Canada: A Christmas to Remember, a collection featuring many of Canada''s top writers for children, including Sarah Ellis, Karleen Bradford, Carol Matas, and more. New readers will adore this stand-alone holiday tale, while fans of the series will recognize the voice of Eliza, whom they first met in the award-winning Dear Canada book Brothers Far from Home. Collect all 12 Dear Canada Christmas stories this season and enjoy a very happy holiday!

A holiday treat for fans of the Dear Canada series, and all lovers of historical fiction! Share in the excitement leading up to Christmas morning. During the euphoria towards the end of World War I, a different enemy stalked the land, killing by the hundreds and thousands. First Fee''s twin Fanny, then her older sister Jemma, caught the dreaded Spanish Flu. Fee''s family struggled to pick up the pieces, to put the War behind them, to face an even deadlier enemy. But finally, there is bright spot on the Macgregor family''s horizon. This short story was originally published in Dear Canada: A Christmas to Remember, a collection featuring many of Canada''s top writers for children, including Sarah Ellis, Maxine Trottier, Carol Matas, and more. New readers will adore this stand-alone holiday tale, while fans of the series will recognize the voice of Fee, whom they first met in the award-winning Dear Canada book If I Die Before I Wake. Collect all 12 Dear Canada Christmas stories this season and enjoy a very happy holiday!

Jean Little''s poignant novel about an abandoned girl, and the dog who helps teach her how to trust again. Ten-year-old Min has had a long history of foster care since she was abandoned at age three. Now, let go by yet another foster family, Min continues to build a protective wall around herself. Her newest caregiver, a former Children''s Aid doctor, sees past Min''s hardened shell and tries to find a way to reach her...and does, finally, by taking in a sick, neglected dog that has escaped from a puppy mill. While watching the dog recover and open its heart to its new owners, Min comes out of her own shell. Readers will rejoice as Min opens her heart and allows herself to be a part of a loving family, to make friends and to finally stand up to the taunts of a bully, whose hurtful words have contributed to her lack of self-esteem.

Fee uses her diary to record all of her fears when the Spanish Flu rages through Toronto. It comforts her when she almost loses her twin sister, and when it actually takes their older sister Jemma.

With more than 200,000 books in print, Dear Canda has fast become the historical fiction series for young girls. Jean Little''s latest addition is the diary of a young girl observing her world change as war rages thousands of miles away. It has been two long years since Eliza''s beloved older brother, Hugo, went away to war. Caught up in his enthusiasm, she couldn''t understand her parent''s less-than enthusiastic reaction. Now that her other brother Jack has also enlisted, she yearns for the safe return of both brothers. If only she had a friend that she could talk to about her feelings....

Make a wish and the sky''s the limit in this delightful rhyming story from the incomparable Jean Little. If wishes were ice cream, our cones would be doubles.If wishes were soapsuds, we''d blow shining bubbles. In this charming new picture book, children and their wild imaginations take centre stage! In a true celebration of wishers and dreamers, Jean Little entertains readers with bouncy rhymes depicting kids'' favourite wishes -- from puppies to pancakes; and sundaes to snowflakes. Governor General''s award-winning Canadian illustrator Geneviève Côté infuses each page with her inventive illustrations, literally turning each spread into a carnival of fun! If wishes were stories, there would only be one -- this one!

Celebrating 10 years of Dear Canada. Through the years. Across the country. Make history your own. In honour of Dear Canada''s 10th Anniversary, this gorgeous 10 book collection features Canadian readers'' 10 favourite books over the years - including the brand new Dear Canada: That Fatal Night The Titanic Diary of Dorothy Wilton. Included in the collection: Dear Canada: A Desperate Road to Freedom Dear Canada: No Safe Harbour Dear Canada: Exiles from the War Dear Canda: If I Die Before I Wake Dear Canada: Not a Nickel to Spare Dear Canada: Days of Toil and Tears Dear Canada: Orphan at My Door Dear Canada: Blood upon Our Land Dear Canada: Turned Away Dear Canada: That Fatal Night

Through the diary of 10-year-old Victoria Cope, we learn about the arrival of ragged Mary Anna, one of the thousands of impoverished British children who were sent to Canada at the beginning of the century. Mary Anna joins the Cope family as a servant and is treated well, but she has to cope with the initial apprehension of the family members and the loss of her brother, Jasper, who was placed with another family. Victoria vows to help Mary Anna find her brother, so they can be a family once again.

One by one, the baby animals are born on the farm, each making another barnyard mother yearn for a baby of her own. A warm-hearted, gently humorous story about a mother''s love.

In a stable in Bethlehem, five animals -- a donkey, a camel, a cat, a sheep and a puppy; scared, tell how they got there. When the soldiers of King Herod come seek Jesus, the puppy comes out of hiding just in time to prevent the stable-boy of tell them where they could find Mary and Joseph. A touching story Christmas tells how a lost puppy freedom to save the child Jesus.

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.

A wise, tender, and funny summer adventure story from one of Canada''s most beloved writers for children. On a flight from Vancouver to Toronto, two girls meet, forming an unlikely friendship. Tall, athletic Samantha is going to spend the summer with a family friend while her father is in South America. Alexis, a shy girl who likes books, is being sent to a horse farm to learn how to ride while her mother and stepfather are travelling in Australia. As they talk, Sam and Alex realize they''d each rather be doing what the other is: Sam''s elderly hostess runs a bookshop, and the family Alex is staying with is young and boisterous. By the time their flight lands in Toronto, the girls have hatched their plot. They''re going to trade places for the summer. After all, the people they''re going to visit have never met them, and their own parents are far away and hard to contact. But will they manage to pull it off? For how long? And with what consequences?

First published: Markham, Ont.: Viking Kestrel, 1986.

Pet wanted Max wants a furry pet. Emma wants a pet too, but she''s allergic to animals with fur. When Emma finds the perfect animal, will Max like his sister''s strange pet?

Shakespeare is a Seeing Eye puppy. But before the time comes for him to train with a blind person, he must spend six months with a girl who has never learned to love. He does all he can to teach her, but the job places him in some dangerous situations and by the end of the story he has earned the title Rescue Pup. Rescue Pup is the first of two books in a series. Book two is Forward, Shakespeare!

Nell makes two wishes on her birthday, but the next day they show little sign of coming true. Everyone in her household is busy and wants her out from underfoot and no one is willing to help her find her lost cat. In the end she finds more than a cat and she makes her own wishes come true with the help of a row of tall, bright, smiling sunflowers.

A keen observer of emotional nuance as well as human foibles, Little creates vivid images of children within the verse. --Booklist.