Jane Austen

Hello. My name is Jane. I grew up in a big, busy house in the beautiful English countryside. My house was always full of books and happy laughter. My very best friend was my big sister, Cassandra. We played together all day long. We loved to run in the green fields and play pretend. I loved reading stories from all the books in our house, but my favorite thing to do was make up my own stories. I would tell my family funny tales about silly people and big adventures. When they would giggle, it made my heart feel so warm and happy. I knew that stories were like magic, making everyone feel joyful.

When I was a little older, a long time ago, in the year 1800, my father gave me a special gift. It was my very own little wooden desk. I would sit by the window, watching the birds sing and the leaves dance on the trees. I had special notebooks where I wrote all my stories down. I wrote about fancy parties where everyone danced in beautiful clothes. I wrote about friends who were very quiet and sensible, and other friends who had very big, loud feelings. I loved writing stories about people who learned how to be kind to each other and fall in love. It made me feel happy to create worlds where friendship and love were the most important things of all.

Guess what happened when I grew up. My secret stories were put into real books for everyone to read. At first, I didn't tell anyone that I was the one who wrote them. It was my fun secret. It made me smile to know that people I didn't even know were reading my tales and feeling happy. I grew very old and then my time on Earth ended, but my stories got to live on forever. Even though I lived a long, long time ago, children and grown-ups still read my books today. I hope my stories about love, friendship, and laughter make you smile, too.