<p Jean Little was born in Taiwan in 1932. Her parents were both doctors. Jean grew up in Ontario and graduated from the University of Toronto. She was born with a severe eye problem and is severely visually impaired. A special "talking" computer assists her with her writing. She has a retired seeing-eye dog named Ritz and a new one named Pippa, with whom she travels. The author focuses on her experiences from the time she was a child through young adulthood in her autobiography, <em Little by Little</em , and continues her story in <em Stars Come Out Within.</em The books, which will appeal to children 10 and older, are both humorous and poignant as Jean describes living… with a disability and the ridicule she sometimes experienced as a result, as well as her love for the world of reading and books. Jean's books include <em From Anna, Listen for the Singing, Stand in the Wind, Mama's Going to Buy You a Mockingbird, Hey World, Here I Am!, Look through My Window, Emma's Yucky Brother, The Belonging Place,</em and <em Mine for Keeps</em . Listen for the Singing was the Canada Council Children's Literature Award winner in 1977. <em Mama's Going to Buy You a Mockingbird</em was the CLA Book of the Year in 1985.<br <br Jean Little's first book, <em Mine for Keeps</em , won the Little, Brown Children's Book Award in 1962 and was republished by Viking Penguin in 1995. It tells the story of Sally Copeland, a 10 year old with cerebral palsy, and her adjustment to being home after spending several years in a special school. You'll find that several of the themes in this book appear in a number of the author's other books: dealing with a handicap and the responses of others, fitting in, and adjusting to new situations and surroundings.<br <br <a href="http://www.jeanlittle.com/" http://www.jeanlittle.com/</a </p <p </p