Take Wing

by Jean Little, Jerry Lazare (Illustrator)

When Mrs. Ross is hospitalized, everyone in the Ross household must finally face the long ignored problem that seven-year-old James is not a baby, a slow learner, or lazy, but mentally retarded.

Genres: Canada, Fiction

176 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

Jean Little (January 02, 1932 - April 06, 2020) was a Canadian author, born in Taiwan, but who lived most her life in Guelph, Ontario.

Little's work mainly consisted of children's literature, but she also wrote two autobiographies: Little by Little and Stars Come Out Within.

She is a Member of the Order of Canada and a recipient of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal.
Jean Little Public School, in Guelph, Ont. is named in her honour.

Little had been partially blind since birth as a result of scars on her cornea and was frequently accompanied by her guide dog. While her death occurred during the onset of the pandemic, it was not attributed to COVID-19.

Reviews

[Rachel Downing · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. It got a little “lengthy” in places. But the ending made it worth it.

[Ellen H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-reading the Jean Little books of my youth and I'm really surprised by how well they hold up. They're startlingly well-written for "issue books" -- written at a time when there weren't so many "issue books", and the issues were often different than you'd see to day in tween literature -- and they make me realize where my standards for good writing came from -- from reading both classics of children's lit and from reading well-written books of the time as well.

[CLM · Rating 4 out of 5]

A friendship is a fragile thing
Like the dust of the moon on a butterfly's wing
Presuming on it is like trying
To keep a butterfly from flying
You cup your hands, try not to clutch
But it is crippled by your touch
By all the self-involve demands
Implicit in your closing hands
...
It has the courage to take wing