The Jean Little First-Novel Award is an annual Canadian literary award, administered by the Canadian Children's Book Centre, to recognize a Canadian author's first middle-grade novel.
Named in honour of the late Jean Little, the award was established by fellow children's authors and Little's friends, Sarah Ellis, Kit Pearson, and Maggie de Vries, who is also Little's niece. The award carries a monetary prize of $5,000. Jean Little (1932–2020) was an award-winning Canadian writer of more than 50 books for young readers.
The award is one of several presented by the Canadian Children's Book Centre each year; others include the Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children's Non-Fiction, the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People and the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award.