Dancing Through the Snow

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.

JEAN LITTLE has been called “a Canadian treasure.” She wrote more than fifty books including some of Canada’s best-loved children’s books, such as From Anna, Listen for the Singing, Mine for Keeps, Orphan at my Door, and Pippin the Christmas Pig. Many of her books feature children who are orphaned, have a disability, or face other challenges. Jean’s books have been translated into a dozen languages and have won many awards, including a Canadian Library Association Book of the Year award, the Ruth Schwartz Award, the Canada Council Literature Prize, and the Boston Globe Horn-Book Honor Book Award. She was honoured with the Vicky Metcalf Award for her body of work, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal and the Order of Canada and was nominated for the international Astrid Lindgren Award eight times. Jean died in 2020.