Caddie Woodlawn (1935)

Fun bundle of reminiscences, folky, homey but to my mind ultimately slight on re-reading. ( )

They made a TV movie of this when I was in third grade. I remember I did a book report on this and drew a picture of the cover and one of the girl's in class accused me of tracing it. I was so mad! LOL ( )

They made a TV movie of this when I was in third grade. I remember I did a book report on this and drew a picture of the cover and one of the girl's in class accused me of tracing it. I was so mad! LOL ( )

From the moment I started reading the book, I couldn't put it down. Caddie's adventurous and kind spirit had me engrossed from the beginning to the end. The story is set in Wisconsin during the Civil War. The Woodlawn family moved to Wisconsin from Boston; although the family is well established in their new town, mother misses Boston terribly and longs for the days when the little steamer comes in so that she can keep up with her family and news back in Boston. Caddie, the main character, is the third of seven children and loves to work outside with the boys. Throughout the story, Caddie is a tom boy and is very close with her two brothers, but her mother frequently reminds her that she must become a lady. Although Caddie has many adventures throughout the story, my favorite was when the town heard a rumor that indians were going to massacre them all and burn down their homes. They all go and stay at the Woodlawn's place. The men become impatient and decide that they are going to attack the indians before the indians can attack them. Caddie's father had befriended the indians especially Indian John so this thought made Caddie very upset; so Caddie went to Indian John to warn him. The indians, aware of the danger and the desire to remain peaceful, left the area; but, before they left, Indian John stopped by and left his scalp belt and dog with Caddie to keep until they come back. We see how kind Caddie is when she uses her silver dollar that she received from Uncle Edmund to buy the Hankinson children- whose mother left them because their father was embarrassed that he married an indian- candy, handkerchiefs, and combs just so that she could make them happy and smile. The conclusion was great... tears flooded my eyes when Nero (the family dog that went to live with Uncle Edmund and ran away) came home. ( )

I missed this one entirely as a child. While it's absolutely exceptional for it's year of publication, 1935, in portraying a strong, female character, I could not help but feel that the talk her father has with her towards the end of the book was ultimately sexist. He tells her essentially that it is a female's responsibility to teach males how to be better people. I was somewhat disappointed. ( )