<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
Andrew Clements was born in Camden, New Jersey on May 7, 1949. He received a bachelor's degree in literature from Northwestern University and master's degree in teaching from National Louis University. Before becoming a full-time author, he taught in the public schools north of Chicago for seven years, was a singer-songwriter, and worked in publishing. He is well known for his picture book texts, but it was his middle school novel, Frindle, that was a breakthrough for his writing career. Frindle won numerous awards including the Georgia Children's Book Award, the Sasquatch Children's Book Award, the Massachusetts Children's Book Award, the Rhode Island Children's Book Award, and the Year… 2000 Young Hoosier Book Award. His other works include The Landry News, The Janitor's Boy, No Talking, Things Not Seen, Things Hoped For, and Things That Are.No Bio