Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

Rebecca Randall is the young girl at the center of this classic coming-of-age novel. Living on the idyllic Sunnybrook Farm with her six siblings and her widowed mother, she is sent at age nine to live with her two elderly aunts in Riverboro, Maine. In exchange for her help they will provide room and board, a suitable wardrobe and ensure she receives an education. Her mother hopes it will be “the making of Rebecca.” The novel follows Rebecca through young adulthood.

What a delight this classic is! Of course, I had seen the Shirley Temple movie several times when I was a child, but never read the book. While the novel is very different from Temple’s movie, Rebecca’s irrepressible character is the same. First published in 1903, it show more is set primarily in the late 19th century.

From the first introduction, as she boards the stagecoach as the lone passenger, Rebecca charms and entertains. She is ever curious, constantly moving, always exploring, and chattering away. She makes friends easily, whether it be with the elderly coach driver, or the girls and boys in her school. She makes mistakes and gets into mischief (what child doesn’t!), but she wins over even her irascible oldest aunt, Miranda.

I wish Wiggins had written a sequel; I sure would read more about Rebecca as a young woman. She’s every bit as engaging and interesting as Anne Shirley (of Green Gables) who was brought to life by L.M. Montgomery some five years after Rebecca Randall debuted. show less

I feel like I should be somehow ashamed now, in the age of modernity, to have loved 'girlhood classics' like this. But instead, it makes me sad, for our society. I'm never giving up my computer, but if only I could grow up and find myself in the world of Sunnybrook Farm/Louisa May Alcott/Betsy Tacy. They seemed to know how to live well, back then, and how to appreciate what they had, and the people who were close to them.

Rebecca Rowena Randall - named for the two heroines of Sir Walter Scott's novel of adventure and romance, Ivanhoe - sets out on an adventure of her own in this classic American children's story, first published in 1903, leaving her home at Sunnybrook Farm to live with her two maiden aunts in Riverboro, Maine, there to receive the benefits of an education, and the 'proper' upbringing that her much-beleaguered mother cannot provide to her. With an eye for beauty, a vivid imagination, and a talkative disposition, ten-year-old Rebecca is soon winning friends both young and old, from stage-driver and neighbor, Mr. Jeremiah Cobb, to schoolmate and soon-to-be close friend, Emma Jane Perkins. Her aunts - sternly critical Miss Miranda Sawyer, show more and kindhearted Miss Jane Sawyer - give her a home in the "brick house," and, in their very different ways, eventually come to love this most unexpected niece...

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is one of those children's classics (whose number is embarrassingly large) that I am always meaning to get to, but for which I can never seem to find the time. I'm very glad that it was chosen as our March selection, over in The Children's Fiction Book Club to which I belong, as this gave me the opportunity (and the needed push in motivation, apparently) to finally pick it up. It has added interest for me, as a long-time fan of Anne of Green Gables, as Wiggin's book was apparently a great influence of the later (1908) Canadian classic.

Overall, I found it an engaging and enjoyable read, one that fits snugly into the world of late Victorian girls' stories. There are undeniable parallels with Montgomery's better-known work - both books feature 'orphans' (although not technically an orphan, Rebecca is separated from her family) who go to live with two elderly people, one stern, the other kindhearted; the heroines of both are imaginative, talkative, and just a little bit set apart from those around them; and both stories document the changes brought to their eponymous heroines' adoptive homes - although Wiggin's has a distinctly New England flavor, that is missing from Montgomery's Prince Edward Island-centered tale. In particular, the depiction of the unbending Aunt Miranda, who never voices her change of heart to her niece, choosing to communicate her love posthumously, through her will, felt very authentic to me, even if another outcome might have made for happier reading. I rather wish that I had read this as a girl, as I suspect my appreciation for it would have been greater. As it is, I enjoyed it, but cannot say I loved it.

Addendum: I had the good fortune to read a vintage copy of this title, with artwork by Helen Mason Grose, which I greatly enjoyed. The color plates were lovely, but so too were the black-and-white engraving-style illustrations. I highly recommend the reader find a well illustrated copy, as it enhances the experience greatly! I loved the cover image on my copy, with Rebecca, in her buff dress, carrying her precious pink parasol, descending from the stagecoach in Riverboro. show less

OMG, I thought E.M. Montgomery was precious, but I hadn't tangled with Kate Douglas Wiggin, Queen of the TWEE. Forgive me for saying this, but this book practically gave me a toothache.

However, precocious Rebecca Randall is too similar to Anne Shirley for me to dislike her. In fact, reading this book is like meeting someone who is similar to someone you really like. It's cool, but kind of weird when you notice the small, glaring differences between them. K.D. Wiggin as narrator just loves on Rebecca too too much. She's always saying how beautiful she is, how wonderful and amazing. It's kind of creepy.

And what's with the implied romance between R.R.R. and A.L.? Again, creepy.

I can't find a place in my heart for this, but I can show more sympathize with those who have. show less

I don't think I ever read Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm as a young person. I was an Anne of Green Gables fan and somehow equated Wiggin's book with Pippy Longstocking, a book I sure I probably wouldn't like. I picked up Rebecca as a children's class for the American Author Challenge and am glad it did. It was a lovely read for a coldish winter weekend, and I spent Sunday by the woodstove lost in the world of rural Maine. Rebecca is much like Anne: full of the joy of life that often annoys those for whom life seems like one big chore. I thoroughly enjoyed it and was reminded why I pursue the LT challenges. I end up reading books I haven't and finding out I enjoyed them!

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin had long been on my radar as I have heard it spoken of in loving terms by my Mother many, many times. Unfortunately, I probably waited too long to read this book as I found it did not really stand the test of time. Rebecca is neither as interesting nor as loveable as L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables or Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women.

Written early in the 20th century Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is a moralistic tale of a young girl sent to live with her two straight-laced maiden aunts and the life lessons that she learns as she grows to maturity and independence. The aunts have definite ideas of a child’s place, but Rebecca seems to have the ability to gain the love and show more affection of most people that she meets. From teachers to slightly strange (almost icky) benefactors, she glides through life charming all she meets.

I am glad that I can finally say that I have read this book, and I will definitely tell my Mother that I enjoyed it, but, seriously I would tell most people who are looking for a story of this type to go for the above mentioned Anne of Green Gables or Little Women. show less

Rebecca is taken in by her aunts who despair to raise this very bright but wild child. Everyone is wooed by Rebecca's spirit, excitement, and vigor. She takes up projects with excitement and abandon that affects all those around her, especially her best friend Emma Jane. Though Rebecca finds herself a lady by the end (who has outgrown the farm that she once loved), she never loses the charisma or spirit that make her enchanting to the reader as she is to all those around her.