2nd January Jean Little (1932)

Jean Little is a Canadian author. I first met her work while reading her novel Mama's Going to Buy You a Mockingbird. I enjoyed it so much I went looking for more of her books and then read her autobiography Little By Little and Stars Come Out Within and came to appreciate why she writes family stories and stories about fear and or disability so well. Jean Little is only partially sighted and suffered terribly at school, so she uses her real-life experiences in her books. Her characters often have physical disabilities disabilities or confront psychological difficulties. Most of her better known books are novels for older readers but she has done picture books. There are three picture books in the library. The Revenge of the Small Small is a family story where the youngest member of the family, Patsy, constantly feels unappreciated, but finally has her revenge. Jess Was the Brave One is also a family story where Claire the older of the siblings is scared of everything and cannot understand why her younger sister Jess is not. Both of these books are illustrated by Janet Wilson. A third, Once Upon a Golden Apple is a very funny fractured fairy tale where everything is wrong. For instance Goldilocks lives with the seven dwarves, the Wicked Witch of the West needs rescuing and princesses kiss dragons. This is very different from Jean's usual stories, maybe because she wrote it with her niece, Maggie deVries who also acted as her assistant for a while, but who is now an author in her own right. It is illustrated by the other Canadian stalwart Phoebe Gilman.

4th April Maya Angelou (1928) Phoebe Gilman (1940 - 2002) Helme Heine (1941)

Maya Angelou is a revered American author, but she has not written many children's books. The one that is in our library though is not to be missed. It is My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken and Me. It is the story of Thandi, a South African girl, her mischievous brother and her pet chicken. The pictures are beautiful and they highlight the amazing mural art that is produced by the women of Thandi's tribe. Of course, it is borrowed more often than not by parents rather than children, but it allows for much discussion with children about how their lives differ from Thandi's.

Phoebe Gilman, is also American but she lived most of her adult life in Canada before her early death in 2002. She is best known by children because of her series of books about Jillian Jiggs. As the author/illustrator of these books they are extremely consistent. They can be relied upon to have great rhythm and rhyme, mischief and fun.

And thirdly, Helme Heine is a German author/illustrator. He would be best known to English reading children for Friends, a story about a rooster, a mouse and a pig who are best friends, but given that it is Easter and we are thinking eggs, I want to mention my favourite of his books, The Most Wonderful Egg in the World. It is probably out of print so you will need to find it in a library. Our copy is old and tattered, but the story is very fitting for the competitive children that I teach who are always into comparison. Three hens argue about who is the most beautiful and they are given the task of laying the best egg. This story is silly and message-laden all at once!