Little Women, Fall 2025

It is a dream come true to share that my illustrated edition of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women is now officially* published (*the books ended up arriving at our warehouse a little early, and we saw no harm in sending out preorders ahead of time- so if you’re reading this and ordered a copy, you might already be holding one in your hands!) 

To call this project a lifelong dream come true really isn’t an exaggeration. Little Women has been one of my favorite books since I was a little girl- growing up, I couldn’t get enough of it, and after re-reading the original, I moved on to the “Portraits of Little Women” spin-off series (if you grew up in the 90s, you might be familiar!) I remember watching the 1994 version of the movie with my mom at Christmas time, marveling over how Jo could choose anyone over Christian Bale’s Laurie (as an adult, this part makes a little more sense now).

Like the titular characters, I am one of four siblings, and feel very lucky to have grown up in a tight-knit family. From my first read of the book many years ago, I found things I admired about each of the four March women. I saw a little bit of myself in each sister, and still do- in this regard, I think I’m in good company, and think that it’s probably one of the reasons the book is still so beloved over 150 years since its original publication date. 

As a teenager, I even wrote in my diary that if I ever had a daughter, I hoped to name her Josephine (after Jo March).  While my husband Dylan and I ended up going in a different direction re: baby names, he knows how much I love the book, which brings me to last fall, when he brought me home a very old (1911) edition he found at an estate sale. When I opened the book, I found a pressed four-leaf clover from the original owner, and knew I had come upon something really special. 

After launching my book-themed “Classics” series this past March, I realized I wasn’t ready for that chapter (see what I did there!) of my work to be over. I mentioned this to Dylan, and said that it might be fun “some day” to illustrate my own edition of a classic book. He immediately wanted more details, asking which book I’d illustrate, to which I answered without hesitation “well, if I did it, it would have to be Little Women.” As he asked me more about what this hypothetical edition would look like, I realized I had a pretty distinct picture in my head already- the book would be clothbound and foil-stamped, like the antique copy he’d found. It would feature a fully-illustrated dustjacket, with full-color illustrations, too. I wanted to illustrate an alphabet to use as a font for headers throughout the book. I wanted illustrated endpages! And finally, I wanted it to be printed in the USA. 

While I was dreaming about my laundry list of specifications, Dylan was (unbeknownst to me, at first) reaching out to printing companies within the US, getting quotes and figuring out logistics. When he came to me with his research, I initially shut him down- the order minimums were too high, it was too big of an investment, etc. etc. etc. I am very risk-averse, especially for an entrepreneur, and I just didn’t see how this was going to be feasible. But- but!- I couldn’t stop thinking about it as I worked on other projects, and after one particular day of thinking about “what if?”, as I walked to pick my daughter up from school, I came across a four-leaf clover. It was the first one I’d found outside of my in-laws’ house in Michigan, and while I know that in this huge world with all its intricacies, whether or not I chose to move forward with this project wasn’t really going to make all that much difference, it felt like such a sign to take the risk and go for it. 

After rereading/listening to the book (if you haven’t listened to the audiobook version with Laura Dern as the narrator, I would highly recommend!), I started working on the illustrations. The illustrated alphabet used throughout my edition is inspired by the alphabet sampler found in May Alcott’s (Louisa’s youngest sister, who was the model for Amy March) bedroom at Orchard House. I used the room photography from the Orchard House website as inspiration for the scenes in the book that take place in the house, and ordered several books on American clothing design/textiles from the 1860s to help me imagine what the girls would have worn. I was able to visit Orchard House in person last month, and was so excited to see everything in person for the first time. The one thing I got very wrong was Meg’s wedding/wedding dress- I painted the ceremony outside in the yard, while Anna Alcott (Louisa’s older sister, and the model for Meg) married inside the house, and I drew her in a white dress- when I was at Orchard House, I got to see Anna’s actual wedding dress, which was gray (I illustrated it correctly on the paper doll bookplate, though!). 

The final piece of my book illustration-puzzle was the four-leaf clover, which I scanned and added to the book jacket. From now on, four leaf clovers will always remind me of Little Women (the four March sisters, the four leaf clover I found in the book Dylan gave me, and the four leaf clover I found on the day I decided to move forward with the project!) 

Someone asked me recently to name my favorite March sister, and while there is something in each one of them that personally resonates (Meg’s desire to be a mother, Jo’s ambition, individuality, and quick temper, Amy’s artistic interests and love of pretty things), it might surprise you to hear that my favorite (if I had to choose!) is Beth. For me, Beth is the heart of the story- her love of home (in both the figurative and literal sense), quiet integrity, and gentle spirit are really something special. I got pretty choked up illustrating the scene where she dies- but I feel like her sisters really carry her memory with them and honor her throughout the rest of the book (and their lives!) in a really beautiful way. 

If you have made it this far- thank you! I never know if anyone other than my mom reads these artist statements, and this one is particularly long, but in a funny way writing them brings me closure at the end of each project, and this was a particularly special one. As always, I am beyond grateful for your support- without it, this project never would have seen the light of day, and I’m so proud to share it with you all today.