Eleanor Frances Lattimore (1904–1986)

On openlibrary.org.

Charming old-fashioned story of an eight year old girl in the middle of the family with three brothers. Her mother and aunt want her to be more ladylike, her grandmother empathizes with her desire to wear blue jeans instead of skirt, and by book's end she finds a way to claim her own identity as a real person, with both feminine & boyish interests.

Short & sweet. As a child I would have read this over and over, especially because I too had two brothers and no sisters... it show more would have been a comfort read. show less

Definitely vintage... today's parents would not let their children have so much freedom. And the girls were much more in the background & more domestic, with no way for a child reader to know if that's representative of the time, the culture, or that family.

However, it's a fun read, still relevant and valuable, and most of all amusing, to modern families.
Surprisingly culturally friendly: Little Pear is first a bold, impulsive, loving & lovable little boy, second he is from a small Chinese show more village of about a century ago... and nothing strikes me as racist or stereotypical or derogatory at all. I also enjoyed the first book and will copy this review there.

Read both from scanned copies on Open Library. show less

Definitely vintage... today's parents would not let their children have so much freedom. And the girls were much more in the background & more domestic, with no way for a child reader to know if that's representative of the time, the culture, or that family.

However, it's a fun read, still relevant and valuable, and most of all amusing, to modern families.
Surprisingly culturally friendly: Little Pear is first a bold, impulsive, loving & lovable little boy, second he is from a small Chinese show more village of about a century ago... and nothing strikes me as racist or stereotypical or derogatory at all. I also enjoyed the sequel and will copy this review there.

Borrowed both from open library. show less

Strange, uneven story about a girl who runs away, trying to walk to where her father is now living. She is led by her brother's cat, maybe? Very dated as well.