Children's Fiction Orphans & Foster Homes
Dancing Through the Snow
- Publisher
- Scholastic Canada Ltd, Independent Publishers Group
- Initial publish date
- Sep 2012
- Category
- Orphans & Foster Homes
- Recommended Age
- 9 to 12
- Recommended Grade
- 4 to 7
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9780545989657
- Publish Date
- Oct 2009
- List Price
- $8.99
-
eBook
- ISBN
- 9781443119870
- Publish Date
- Sep 2012
- List Price
- $8.99
Classroom Resources
Where to buy it
Description
Jean Little's poignant novel about an abandoned girl, and the dog who helps teach her how to trust again.
Ten-year-old Min has had a long history of foster care since she was abandoned at age three. Now, let go by yet another foster family, Min continues to build a protective wall around herself. Her newest caregiver, a former Children's Aid doctor, sees past Min's hardened shell and tries to find a way to reach her...and does, finally, by taking in a sick, neglected dog that has escaped from a puppy mill. While watching the dog recover and open its heart to its new owners, Min comes out of her own shell.
Readers will rejoice as Min opens her heart and allows herself to be a part of a loving family, to make friends and to finally stand up to the taunts of a bully, whose hurtful words have contributed to her lack of self-esteem.
About the author
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, Little by Little, and continues her story in Stars Come Out Within. 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 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, and Mine For Keeps. Listen for the Singing was the Canada Council Children's Literature Award winner in 1977. Mama's Going to Buy You a Mockingbird was the CLA Book of the Year in 1985.
Jean Little's first book, Mine for Keeps, 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.
http://www.jeanlittle.com/
Librarian Reviews
Dancing Through the Snow
After living with four foster families, Min’s not surprised to be back at Children’s Aid the week before Christmas. She wishes for a miracle and finds an injured dog that needs one, too. Can an abandoned dog help an abandoned girl open her heart and let in a new family?Source: The Canadian Children’s Book Centre. Best Books for Kids & Teens. 2008.
