June 09, 2025

Jane and the Blue Willow Princess

Written by Catherine Little
Illustrated by Sae Kimura
Plumleaf Press
978-1-069093523
40 pp.
Ages 6-10
June 2025 
 
The name of Jane Austen is forever linked with her Regency novels of Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, and more, though she wasn't credited with their authorship during her lifetime. But how Jane Austen became the writer she did is purported to have its origins in her family and childhood, and Jane and the Blue Willow Princess is but one story of how she might have drawn inspiration from that place and time.
From Jane and the Blue Willow Princess, written by Catherine Little, illustrated by Sae Kimura
Catherine Little's story of little Jane takes readers to a family home in the late 1700s England where children entertained themselves and would take tea outdoors on Blue Willow fine china. In this story, Jane talks with her older sister Cassandra whom she calls Cassy about her many ideas for her writing. Though young readers might not recognize key scenes from her books, like a young lady on a horse getting caught in the rain or a family with many daughters who walk the countryside and confide in each other, these are the basis of Jane's ideas. But on this day, she is considering what to write as a birthday gift for her father.
 
While enjoying their tea, Jane is fascinated by the scenes depicted on the plate. She sees a fleeing young woman on a bridge, an attentive man on a boat, a wealthy or important man looking agitated, and lush outdoor scenes. Within the chinoiserie design of the plate, even after it gets broken by a stray ball, Jane finds inspiration.
From Jane and the Blue Willow Princess, written by Catherine Little, illustrated by Sae Kimura
With that plate in mind, Jane creates a play about a Blue Willow Princess who chooses not to marry her prince. Jane and her siblings perform her play for her father's birthday and takes a step forward in launching her writing career.
From Jane and the Blue Willow Princess, written by Catherine Little, illustrated by Sae Kimura
This year marks the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birth and there will undoubtedly be many events and commemorations to celebrate the author. As with many historical figures, some information is known but there are always gaps that offer opportunities for fictionalized accounts and Jane and the Blue Willow Princess is one such imaginative story. Catherine Little, whose earlier books include Anne of the Library-on-the-Hill, Dragon's Dilemma, and Twelve in a Race, gives us a lovely story about a child who finds inspiration in a plate. And anyone who writes will understand that creativity can find a germ of an idea anywhere, whether in personal experiences with others, in local happenings, or in a plate. For Jane Austen, she found her ideas very close to home.
 
Sae Kimura, who illustrated all of Catherine Little's earlier picture books, has a style that is very well matched to a historical picture book. There's a lightness of line and colour that transports us hundreds of years ago to a time when girls wore simple empire silhouettes and boys wore breeches and waistcoats. But she also gets the whimsy in there with Jane's  imagination as her writing takes her on flights of fancy.
From Jane and the Blue Willow Princess, written by Catherine Little, illustrated by Sae Kimura
A foreword comment to Jane and the Blue Willow Princess from Caroline Jane Knight, the fifth great niece of Jane Austen, submits that Jane's storytelling with her family was important in helping her to write the novels that she would complete later in life. With everything around her providing her with fodder for her writing, even a Blue Willow Princess, Jane Austen took her readers and her audiences to the places of her imagination and delighted them with her fancy.

2 comments:

  1. Thank you for taking the time to read Jane and the Blue Willow Princess and write this lovely review. Your thoughts and insights are much appreciated!
    Catherine

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    Replies
    1. You're welcome, Catherine. Always pleased to review another of your picture books.

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