Born in Taiwan, celebrated children's author Jean Little (1932-2020) grew up in Ontario and graduated from the University of Toronto with an honors degree in English. A Member of the Order of Canada, Little received six honorary degrees and was awarded the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012. Her books have been translated into a dozen languages and have won numerous awards, including a Canada Council Children's Literature Award (now known as the Governor General's Literary Award); a CLA Book of the Year; the Little, Brown Children's Book Award; the Vicky Metcalf Award and a Boston Globe–Horn Book Award honor book.

Born in Taiwan, celebrated children's author Jean Little (1932-2020) grew up in Ontario and graduated from the University of Toronto with an honors degree in English. A Member of the Order of Canada, Little received six honorary degrees and was awarded the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012. Her books have been translated into a dozen languages and have won numerous awards, including a Canada Council Children's Literature Award (now known as the Governor General's Literary Award); a CLA Book of the Year; the Little, Brown Children's Book Award; the Vicky Metcalf Award and a Boston Globe–Horn Book Award honor book.