Audiobook · read by volunteers
Five Little Peppers and How They Grew
Margaret Sidney (1844–1924)
Read by rachelellen · 25 chapters · 7 h 03
About the book
The Pepper family lives in a small brown house, and they have very little. Their father is gone, their mother, whom the children call Mamsie, works hard to keep them fed, and yet the little house is full of cheerful noise. There are five children: Ben, Polly, Joel, Davie and little Phronsie, each with a distinct character and a talent for cheerful invention. When they make plans to surprise their mother on her birthday, or when a rich neighbour shows an interest in them, their small world is transformed in ways both comic and moving. Margaret Sidney's story is a warm, old-fashioned tale of family loyalty and everyday courage. Rachelellen reads the twenty-five chapters in just over seven hours, a comfortable length for a much-loved children's classic.
Introduction
Margaret Sidney was the pen name of Harriett Mulford Stone Lothrop (1844-1924), an American author of books for children. Five Little Peppers and How They Grew appeared in 1881 and was so popular that it began a long series of sequels covering the lives of the Pepper children.
The book describes the life of five very poor children and their widowed mother, who is left to raise them alone. In order of age, from oldest to youngest, the children are Ben, who is short for Ebenezer, Polly, Joel, Davie and Phronsie. The story takes small domestic events, a birthday, a visit, a misunderstanding, and turns them into episodes of delight, with the family's closeness as the constant theme. In the manner of its time, it is moral without being dull, and it takes the children's imaginations seriously.
The recording has 25 chapters and lasts about 7.1 hours. It is read by a single LibriVox volunteer, rachelellen, and the opening chapters include A Home View, Making Happiness for Mamsie and Mamsie's Birthday.
Today the book is a window into American family life and children's literature of the late nineteenth century. It is gentle, sentimental in the best sense, and a good choice for families who enjoy listening together to a cosy story of resilience and affection. Though the tale is sentimental by modern standards, it is also full of observation: the cooking, the mending, the little economies and the games that fill a poor household are described with obvious affection. Listeners who like family stories such as those of Louisa May Alcott will feel at home here.
Public domain
Margaret Sidney died in 1924: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text