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.

Anne of the Library-on-the-Hill

Written by Catherine Little

Illustrated by Sae Kimura

Plumleaf Press

978-1-7381-6524-7

32 pp.

 Ages 6-10

August 2024 

This year we will commemorate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Lucy Maud Montgomery, the author of Anne of Green Gables. There will be several titles released to observe this anniversary, some fiction, some non-fiction, and Anne of the Library-on-the-Hill celebrates Anne of Green Gables with a wholly fictionalized story about another little girl named Anne, with an "e" of course.

 

Anne, of Anne of the Library-on-the-Hill, lives with her parents in Toronto, and regularly visits the Wychwood Library with her father, an artist. This library which she calls Library-on-the-Hill is a special place for her and father, and they both relish the plethora of books they borrow. Her mother is more of an industrious woman who worries that too much imagination might not be helping Anne.

From Anne of the Library-on-the-Hill, written by Catherine Little, illustrated by Sae Kimura

Then World War I arrives, and Father must leave home to serve. His absence, monumental in itself, results in additional changes to the household, with Mother taking on laundry work and no time to take Anne to the Library-on-the-Hill for books. Fortunately, one of Mother's customers, Mrs. Mary Beal shares her own children's old books with Anne. And when a new Library-on-the-Hill is opened, Anne's Mother ultimately gives Anne permission to visit it on her own.

From Anne of the Library-on-the-Hill, written by Catherine Little, illustrated by Sae Kimura

Sadly, the family receives bad news about Father from Vimy Ridge. Missing her father terribly, Anne is comforted when her mother shares a special book that Anne's father had gifted her early in their marriage. Yes, it is Anne of Green Gables, published in 1908.

From Anne of the Library-on-the-Hill, written by Catherine Little, illustrated by Sae Kimura

There's still more that happens to the Anne of Catherine Little's story, including an encounter with the famous author herself, but suffice it to say that our Anne takes wisdom from Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne that supports her through life's good days and bad.

“I believe the nicest and sweetest days
are not those on which anything very
splendid or wonderful or exciting happens
but just those that bring simple little
pleasures, following one another softly,
like pearls slipping off a string.”

                                                                           ~ From Anne of Green Gables

 

Our two Annes, that of Lucy Maud Montgomery's story and that of Catherine Little's, share some commonalities though their stories are completely different. They both had father figures who encouraged their passions for imaginative endeavours and maternal figures who were more pragmatic. The women weren't mean; they were just prudent. Not surprising that Matthew and Anne's father both had soft spots for their Annes and defended them tactfully to the women in their lives. Beyond the characters themselves, Catherine Little intersperses her story with known experiences from Montgomery's life including her friendship with Mary Beal and attending an event that included Nellie McCLung. By borrowing elements of Anne of Green Gables to feed her story of Anne of the Library-on-the-Hill, Catherine Little pays homage to the much beloved story while giving us a whole new story. If you didn't know about Anne of Green Gables –though Catherine Little provides plenty of background information about Anne and L. M. Montgomery to get you caught up–this Anne and her library and her life would still captivate.

The art of Anne of the Library-on-the-Hill has been created by Sae Kimura, who also illustrated Catherine Little's earlier books, Twelve in a Race and Dragon's Dilemma. Using a variety of media, including acrylic, gouache, watercolour, and pencil crayon, Toronto's Sae Kimura gives an ethereal sense to Anne of the Library-on-the-Hill, which works well for a story set in the mid-late 1910s to early 1920s. The reality of Anne's life is never in question but the richness of her imagination and passion for life is always evident, in the colours of her surroundings, in the brightness of her reading, and the joy she derives from being with her father, visiting the library, and more.

From Anne of the Library-on-the-Hill, written by Catherine Little, illustrated by Sae Kimura

Celebrate Anne of Green Gables and Lucy Maud Montgomery by reading a picture book that honours both while creating something that is wholly its own. With Anne of the Library-on-the-Hill, Catherine Little and Sae Kimura remind us of the anchor that reading can be in a child's life and also the pillar that Anne of Green Gables is in both the CanLit world and internationally.

Dragon's Dilemma

Written by Catherine Little

Illustrated by Sae Kimura

Plumleaf Press

978-1-73889826-8

32 pp.

Ages 5–10

December 2023

 

When Catherine Little told us of the Emperor's Great Race, a story often told to children for the Lunar New Year, in Twelve in a Race (2022), we learned that there were twelve animals whose positions lead to the Chinese Zodiac: a pig, a dog, a rooster, a monkey, a goat, a horse, a snake, a dragon, a rabbit, a tiger, an ox and a rat.  This is the dragon's story.

From Dragon's Dilemma, written by Catherine Little, illustrated by Sae Kimura

Seeing his competition, Dragon comes into the race convinced that he would win.

I am by far the biggest, by far the fastest, 

and I am the only one who can fly! (p. 13)

As the emperor  begins the race, the dragon takes to the skies and surveys his competition, seeing who is faster and slower, and all the while assured of his victory. So, while the other animals raced along the ground, Dragon decides he has no need to rush and would take in the sights of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World: the Grand Canyon, Parícutin Volcano, Guanabara Bay, the Northern Lights, Victoria Falls, Mount Everest, and the Great Barrier Reef.

From Dragon's Dilemma, written by Catherine Little, illustrated by Sae Kimura

From his final stop on Mount Everest, Dragon spots the animals in the final leg of the race and prepares to swoop in to victory. But, as he passes over the parched mountainsides and dried rice fields, he is spotted by villagers who are sure the dragon has arrived to help them out, because "We Dragons are kind, and we try to help when we can." (p. 24) And even though he intends to help after the race, children singing a song to praise him compels him to deliver, via many trips, water from the river to their parched lands.

From Dragon's Dilemma, written by Catherine Little, illustrated by Sae Kimura

Resuming the race, he is moved to see Rabbit struggling and blows him across the finish line before taking his own place, coming in fifth. Though disappointed in his showing in the race, Dragon can still recall the impact of his good deed and the appreciation of the villagers.

From Dragon's Dilemma, written by Catherine Little, illustrated by Sae Kimura

Though many Asian-Canadians will know the story of the Emperor's Great Race and the Chinese Zodiac, it was a new one to me. The story of how the animals' behaviours impacted their placement (see Twelve in a Race) is riveting and learning more details of Dragon's race result is all the more compelling. He may have been disappointed by his fifth-place result but for young readers there is far more to the story. Catherine Little not only introduces the Seven Natural Wonders of the World to readers but she teaches the decency of benevolence and compassion. Dragon is initially quite confident, even overly assured of his success. He could have swooped in and won the race handily. However, he was able to put aside his hubris and do good, even at a cost for himself. And that good will would sustain him, as it often does all of us, through a time of disappointment.

 

Dragon's Dilemma is Catherine Little's second collaboration with illustrator Sae Kimura, a Japanese-born, Toronto-residing multidisciplinary artist who creates stories with acrylic gouache, pencil crayons or watercolour, as well as puppets and silkscreen (Check out her website at https://www.esalalamu.com/ for a more complete bio.) While keeping the realism of the animals and known landmarks, Sae Kimura introduces fantastical elements that give her illustrations a dream-like quality. Her dragon is exotic in colours and form, and her landscapes, from pink-tinged clouds and textured lands, are wonderfully evocative of a different and unreal time. 

 

The Lunar New Year on February 10, 2024 will herald the Year of the Dragon so the Dragon's Dilemma, as well as Twelve in a Race, will be perfect accompaniments for the festivities whether at home, at school, or in the community. And take a lesson from Dragon that, given the choice of selfish achievement or benevolent charity, compassion should always lead.

Twelve in a Race

Written by Catherine Little

Illustrated by Sae Kimura

Plumleaf Press

978-1-486936687

38 pp.

Ages 3-12

March 2022

 

I know many of us our preparing for our holiday celebrations and that those celebrations will take many forms. One celebration that will be observed very soon will be the Lunar New Year which will take place on January 22, 2023. Twelve in a Race may have come out earlier in 2022 but reviewing it now seems a perfect opportunity to get it some deserved attention before the upcoming Chinese New Year celebrations.

From Twelve in a Race by Catherine Little, illus. by Sae Kimura

The theme of Catherine Little's Twelve in a Race is the origin story of the twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac as they participated in a race set by the emperor.

Some started fast,

others were slow.

Courage and wits

were tested from "Go!" 

Along raging rivers,

over mountains and dunes,

The animals ran for

many moons.

From Twelve in a Race by Catherine Little, illus. by Sae Kimura

As the animals race, their attributes–and those we associate with the different years of the Zodiac–impact their standing in the competition. Rat is persuasive and smart, Horse is cheerful, independent, and quick, and Monkey is agile and clever. For each, Catherine Little gives positive attributes and follows the correct order of the Chinese Zodiac as the myth prescribes. It's charming and informative and I suspect every child will be looking up their sign. (A zodiac appends the story with years from 1996 through 2031 so children and young adults and even future kids are covered. Oldies such as myself probably already know our signs–I was born in Year of the Pig–or can look them up online.)

 

Toronto's Sae Kimura gives us illustrations that take us to a Chinese countryside of luscious, stylized plants and water. The landscape components are shaped with softness and give further movement to the racers. Even the clouds float with purpose and delicacy in the bright sky. Though I don't know why, I think Sae Kimura's Japanese heritage–she was born in Odawara, Japan–contributes to the tradition of the story of Twelve in a Race. She instills a traditional majesty to her characters and an art deco essence to her borders of meandering geometric shapes.

From Twelve in a Race by Catherine Little, illus. by Sae Kimura

Toronto author Catherine Little tells me that she wrote Twelve in a Race to help her biracial son learn about the Chinese side of his heritage that didn’t portray Chinese culture as “foreign” and I believe that she has succeeded in doing so. The story honours the myth of the zodiac and makes it accessible for all children to learn a traditional story while finding themselves in it. Knowing your zodiac sign is just the beginning.