Mother Carey's Chickens

My spouse got a weird crossword puzzle clue: "Mother Carey's Chickens". The answer, apparently, was "petrel", a flying water bird. It seems that the "stormy petrels fly out over the seas to show the good birds the way home". Who knew? Well, I Googled and found this book, which dates from 1911. Given that most people who are still living weren't kids until several decades after 1911, I'm surprised that the reference still appears to some to be in common usage.

Anyway, it turns out that, while this book hits on the topic of the petrels repeatedly, the actual reference comes from a book written some 50 years further in the past, The Water Babies. I didn't learn this until I'd tackled quite a bit of this particular book. Later on, I read show more the predecessor so as to help me figure things out better.

I wasn't sure about this book at the beginning. It seemed a bit too much goody-two-shoes even for my elderly, repressed Calvinist tastes. But then I got into the book, and rather liked it.

Mother Carey is a young(-ish) woman who has four children, Nancy, Gilbert, Kathleen, and Peter. Her husband is a sea captain and is visited by an admiral, who is the one who named the children "Mother Carey's Chickens". Anyway, Capt. Carey gets sick and dies. So, to cut down on expenses, Mother Carey and her children move to Beulah, Maine, a place where they fondly remember a lovely, yellow house from one of their earlier travels. The lovely, yellow house is up for rent, so they rent it. They make friends in the town, they make friends with the yellow house's owner, a diplomat named Mr. Hamilton. So, anyway, in all these interactions, they help the people around themselves become better people...or something. And, of course, it's all hearts and flowers, or is trending that way at any rate, in the end.

If you like old stuff and heartwarming stuff, this is a lovely book to pick up. show less

Mother Carey's Chickens is a charming and often overlooked book. It has always reminded me somewhat of the Five Little Peppers series. I love the old-fashioned virtues and teachings that every chapter seeks to teach, and the fact that the characters can mess everything up and still be loveable. A must read! (and for those of you who love old books, I recently found an original copy so they're still out there!)

i've read it several times and i still love it as much as ever but come on, the ending is somewhat abrupt.......

The Little Bookworm
After the death of her husband, Mrs. Carey and her children pack up and move to the Yellow House in Beulah, a country village.

There is an old Hayley Mills movie called Summer Magic that is based on this book. I love that movie and have been meaning to read the book it was based on for a while now. This was a very sweet book. I can see the similarities between the movie and the book and, while it is not faithful, the movie manages to capture the tone of the book though it gets rid of the language thankfully. Because the flowery language is the hardest part of the book and I found myself skipping over bits of it.

Nancy is the eldest, spunkiest daughter (Hayley Mills played her) and I really liked her. She was funny and show more spirited and charming. There are 3 more Carey children, Gilbert the oldest boy, Kathleen the youngest girl and Peter the youngest and the smallest boy. Together they all rally around their mother after their father's death and help to support her and do their best with lot that life has handed them, especially since they don't have a lot of money. But they get the Yellow House and it makes for a fine life for them. It really is a charming little book and very sweet. show less

A sweet old fashioned book. I'm sure my book group will love it. I look forward to seeing the movie which was based on it. It is nice to see the positive attitudes through difficult times. Not what we see much today.

I really liked the first half, but the second half wasn't quite as good.

1910 lovely book.