It is a truth universally acknowledged that when a certain 18th century English author turns 250, worldwide fans who ardently admire and love her will want to commemorate this important milestone all year.

Today we’re celebrating Jane Austen’s birthday with a brand new historical fiction picture book and two teatime treats. Few writers have the distinction of being read and studied continuously for more than two centuries. We have Jane to thank for focusing on the internal lives of complex characters, and of course, her witty and ironic social commentary.

Because of my love for china, I was especially excited to read Jane and the Blue Willow Princess by Catherine Little and Sae Kimura (Plumleaf Press, 2025). Published especially to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Austen’s birth, this delightful story was inspired by a fragment of Blue Willow pattern china unearthed during a November 2011 archaeological dig at Steventon, where Jane spent the first 25 years of her life and drafted her first three novels.

As the story opens, we find Jane perched up in her treehouse calling down to her sister Cassy (who’s at her easel). She has so many story ideas she doesn’t know what to do.

Cassy is relieved when Mother appears in the garden carrying a tray with blue and white teacups and plates; Jane has been working hard and needs a break. As the three of them enjoy tea and cheese toasties (Jane’s favorite snack), Mother asks Jane about the story she’s writing for Father’s birthday.

Jane shares some of the ideas swirling in her head: a girl reading and writing in a treehouse who’s suddenly swept away by an enormous wind, a young lady on horseback caught in a rainstorm on her way to a “great house.” Mother suggests Jane write about “a family with many sisters.” All good ideas with many possibilities, and Jane appreciates her family’s encouragement.

As Mother loads the tea things back on the tray, Jane notices an interesting picture on the toasties platter, and asks to keep it outside with her awhile longer. Mother agrees, hoping it will help Jane write “a wonderful story for Father.” But as she’s studying the picture and trying to imagine her story, a stray ball her brothers are playing with hits and shatters the platter. Oh no!

Jane’s brothers are very apologetic and she knows her mother will be upset. But perhaps there’s a way the boys can make up for it. Jane returns to her treehouse and thinks again about the characters on the Blue Willow plate. She works hard at writing a play; Cassy can be the princess and the boys will have other roles.

On Father’s birthday, the children perform Jane’s play — her special gift — for their parents. Inspired by her mother’s tea set, it’s called, “The Blue Willow Princess,” about a princess who did not want to marry a prince. As the years pass, Jane continues to write her stories and eventually becomes famous, while Cassy paints and remains Jane’s biggest supporter.

Sae Kimura’s charming acrylic, pastel and colored pencil illustrations evoke times past, immersing the reader in Jane’s bucolic world. There is an impressionistic, dreamlike quality to the garden spreads with their pastel flowers and spring greenery. Jane’s treehouse sits amongst willow branches, the perfect spot for a young writer’s flights of fancy.

Readers will be able to admire the Blue Willow teacups and plates in several scenes leading up to the blue and white double page spread depicting the pattern’s characters and other design elements. We can easily see why Jane was fascinated by what she saw: a princess escaping over a bridge running toward the man she truly loves.

My favorite spreads are probably the one showing the Austens at tea with Jane imagining five sisters strolling down a country lane, and the one where that big wind has swept Jane and her papers away.

Kids will enjoy this enchanting tale about how Jane’s fertile imagination developed story ideas (which can come from almost anywhere, even a tea set!), and how much her loving sister Cassy supported her and her writing. They will see Jane as someone who loved storytelling from an early age, and may find it interesting that her family put on plays together. Though they may not get the references to Pride and Prejudice, certainly adult readers will smile in recognition and perhaps encourage them to read Jane’s novels when they’re older.

Back matter includes more info about Jane and Cassandra Austen, as well as an Author’s Note describing what inspired her to write the book + a few details about the Blue Willow pattern. Caroline Jane Knight, Austen’s fifth great niece and Founder of the Jane Austen Literacy Foundation, provided the book’s epigraph (a portion of the book’s proceeds will be donated to the Foundation).

And now, it’s time for tea!

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☕️ A WARM CUPPA WITH JUMBLES AND CHEESE TOASTIES 🧀

To celebrate Jane, Chef Le Lapin Rotund and his furry kitchen helpers first wanted to try a recipe from Pen Vogler’s Tea with Jane Austen (CICO Books, 2016). This diminutive volume contains 23 treats inspired by Austen’s writings, all based on authentic recipes from the Regency era adapted for modern-day cooks.

You may know that during Jane’s time, tea was mainly consumed twice a day: at breakfast and after dinner. Though it might also be served at other times, it was usually a simple affair and not an elaborate “afternoon tea” as we now know it (this was not “invented” until 1840, about 20 years after Jane’s death).

One of Jane’s chief responsibilities was to oversee the household’s tea and sugar, which was kept under lock and key (the Austens purchased their black imported-from-China tea from Twinings in London). Every morning around 9 a.m., Jane prepared a light breakfast: tea with toast, buns, or pound cake (occasionally hot chocolate).

Jane also enjoyed tea after dinner; at home it was a chance to invite neighbors over for an evening of lively conversation, games, or music. Tea was also served at larger social events like formal dinner parties, dances, and fancy balls. At dinner parties, tea was served once the gentlemen had returned to the drawing room to join the ladies. The menu included sweets such as rout cakes, gingerbread, cookies (biscuits), tarts, iced desserts, and candied fruits. In her letters to Cassandra, sweet-tooth Jane often described the delectables she enjoyed at the many balls and parties she attended.

JUMBLES

It’s easy to imagine Jane reaching for a jumble cookie after a lively round of dancing. One must keep one’s energy up, after all. 🙂 In Mansfield Park, we learn Fanny enjoyed biscuits after (or instead of) dinner, and in Emma, Jane writes that Mr Woodhouse offered them to Mrs Bates with tea (along with baked apples and wine).

Jumbles were originally made from a stiff dough and tied in knot shapes. By Georgian times they were simply dropped from a spoon and baked on cookie sheets. Vogler’s adaptation is from Eliza Acton’s Modern Cookery for Private Families (1845).

We like the ease of preparation and the bright flavor of lemon rind. Basil and Cornelius polished off four each, warm from the oven. Now, where is my dance card?

ABOUT THOSE CHEESE TOASTIES

After devouring their jumbles, Basil and Cornelius were curious to try the cheese toasties mentioned in Jane and the Blue Willow Princess (as you probably know, they insist on eating everything they read about). Besides, the cheese toasties look scrumptious in Sae’s paintings, especially served on Blue Willow china. 🙂

After a little research, Chef Rotund learned that Austen family friend Martha Lloyd, who lived with Jane, Cassandra, and Mrs Austen in Bath, Southhampton and at Chawton Cottage, had included a Toasted Cheese recipe in the “household book” she maintained between 1798-1830. This handwritten manuscript recipe book was handed down through generations and also contains medical remedies, providing an interesting insight into their home life.

Not only does Martha’s household book tell us what the Austens themselves liked to eat and cook, some of the same foods appear in Jane’s letters and novels (White Soup, for example, was served at the Netherfield Ball in Pride and Prejudice).

Martha’s Toasted Cheese recipe calls for only five ingredients. A British staple for centuries, it’s like an open faced grilled cheese but with egg and mustard, or a form of Welsh Rarebit without the ale and Worcestershire sauce (also popular in the 18th century).

“Grate the Cheese & add to it one egg, & a teaspoonful of Mustard, & a little Butter … Send it up on a toast or in paper Trays.” 

In August 1805, while Jane was visiting her sister-in-law Elizabeth Bridge’s family farm in Goodnestone Park, Elizabeth’s brother Edward unexpectedly arrived late for dinner, prompting Jane to report this in a letter to Cassandra: “It is impossible to do justice to the hospitality of his attentions towards me; he made a point of ordering toasted cheese for supper entirely on my account . . . “

Jane also mentioned toasted cheese in Mansfield Park, when Fanny Price visits her childhood home and references her brothers:

“Fanny, fatigued and fatigued again, was thankful to accept the first invitation of going to bed; and was off, leaving all below in confusion and noise again; the boys begging for toasted cheese.”

Thus it’s fair to assume Toasted Cheese was one of Jane’s favorites, and that she likely enjoyed Martha Lloyd’s version of it. As grilled cheese is considered to be the most popular sandwich in the U.S., it’s nice to feel this connection with Jane and the 18th century. Some things don’t change: comfort food is always welcome, the simpler the better.

The resident bear chefs had fun making their own mini cheddar toasties. After Basil and Cornelius made quick work of them, they enthusiastically reread Jane and the Blue Willow Princess, with plans to write their own play, just like Jane did.

Here’s my version of the recipe, just right for two people or one very hungry bear. As you’ve probably guessed, this is a flexible recipe when it comes to choice of bread, cheese and type of mustard (both wet or dry will work). A mild or medium cheddar or Monterey Jack works well because they melt easily. Give these a try when you need a little comfort food, or munch on them while reading one of Jane’s novels. Yummers!

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JANE AND THE BLUE WILLOW PRINCESS
written by Catherine Little
illustrated by Sae Kimura
published by Plumleaf Press, June 2025
Historical Fiction Picture Book for ages 6-10, 40pp.

♥️ More info on Instagram:

Author Catherine Little (@books.beyond.bedtime) 

Illustrator Sae Kimura (@esalalamu)

Publisher Plumleaf Press (@plumleafbooks)

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💙 🎈👸 SPECIAL BOOK GIVEAWAY 🤴🏻🎉💙

The publisher is generously offering a brand new copy of Jane and the Blue Willow Princess for one lucky Alphabet Soup reader. For a chance to win, please leave a comment at this post no later than midnight (EST) Wednesday, December 31, 2025. You may also enter by sending an email with JANE in the subject line to: readermail (at) jamakimrattigan (dot) com. Giveaway open to residents of the U.S. and Canada only, please. Good Luck!

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♥️ Resources to help you celebrate Jane’s 250th birthday:

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🌺 🍰 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JANE! 🎂 🎉

What’s your favorite Austen novel?

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*Interior spreads text copyright © 2025 Catherine Little, illustrations © 2025 Sae Kimura, published by Plumleaf Press. All rights reserved.

**Copyright © 2025 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.