The Diary of a Goose Girl

by Kate Douglas Wiggin, Claude A. Shepperson (Illustrator)

Another heartwarming tale from the author of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. The story begins: "In alluding to myself as a Goose Girl, I am using only the most modest of my titles; for I am also a poultry maid, a tend of Belgian hares and rabbits, and a shepherdess; but I particularly fancy the role of Goose Girl, because it recalls the German fairy tales of my early youth, when I always yearned, but never hoped, to be precisely what I now am."

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Historical Fiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1902

About the author

Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin

Kate Douglas Wiggin, nee Smith (1856-1923) was an American children's author and educator. She was born in Philadelphia, and was of Welsh descent. She started the first free kindergarten in San Francisco in 1878 (the "Silver Street Free Kindergarten"). With her sister in the 1880s she also established a training school for kindergarten teachers. Her best known books are The Story of Pasty (1883), The Birds' Christmas Carol (1886), Polly Oliver's Problem (1893), A Cathedral Courtship (1893), The Village Watchtoer (1896), Marm Lisa (1897) and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1903).

Reviews

[Bettie]

- 24 Aug 1923 died Kate Douglas Wiggin, American author and educator.

https://librivox.org/author/1375

[gltgw · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the voice of the narrator- the way she describes the people she meets is very amusing and the style is just fun. However the entire middle section (which is the vast majority of the book) involves description of the antics of the birds. Although it's sweet enough (and clearly written by someone who's spent significant time in the company of such birds) it is almost entirely plotless and so lacks some attention-holding properties. The plot, such as it is, is resolved entirely in the last chapter.
All in all, sweet but not enough plot to keep it interesting.

[Elsabet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the cutest little book. It's very short, but quite sweet.

I loved all the descriptions of the fowls, I really could see everything perfectly. Cannibal Anne and Crookedtoes were probably my favorite characters.

The author was humorous, I found myself chuckling many times. It wasn't hilarious, just simple and funny, which is my favorite kind of humor.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a multi-faceted review. To start off, my husband bought me a "nook" e-reader for Christmas. I had expressed interest in it, but by no means asked for it, nor was I even certain that I wanted it. Now that I have it, I would describe my feelings as 85% love and 15% frustration. But the e-reader experience, apart from the nook specifically, led me to a growing appreciation of the Google book project. One goal of the project is to digitally preserve out of print books and, copyright laws permitting, make them available online. These books can be downloaded to an e-reader (nook or otherwise) for free from Barnes and Noble. I started searching for some of my favorite children's classics, and when I looked up Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm--a perennial favorite--I discovered I could get a compilation of the author's work (nearly 2300 pages) all for free. This story is one of a handful that I've read so far and definitely my favorite. It is delightfully fun and entertaining. I loved the voice of the narrator. Up until now, I had only read two works from this author, and they were significantly different in tone and style, and the stories I've read since downloading this volume have convinced me that she was a very talented and versatile writer. Thumbs up to Google, Barnes and Noble and Kate Douglas Wiggin!

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a little torn on this because I absolutely adore the narrator. I love the diary entries and her descriptions of the various feathered fiends and friends and her description of the family she's staying with. But the ending was extremely meh with not enough context or build up for me to be happy with it.

[Kimbolimbo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was my favorite quote from this book: "A man’s mind is too dull an instrument to measure a woman’s reason; even my own fails sometimes to deal with all its delicate shades."

If you have an interest in the social life of fowls then this will be a fun read. If you are a girl running away from the world then this is also an interesting read. It was light fun reading.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a moderately interesting story of a girl who goes to live on a farm and becomes a "goose girl". I sort of enjoyed reading about chicks, eggs, and geese. I would recommend it to anyone looking for something simple about everyday life on a farm.

[J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got bored reading about geese and chickens- The Egg and I is a much more entertaining read on the subject.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming little story told by a young lady on a three week adventure to a poultry farm and filled with amusing little anecdotes about her observations there.

[Ginger]

Boring

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read. The beginning was interesting but I lost interest somewhere along the way. I may have skimmed over sections.

[CynthyB · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this short romp through English farm life with the "Goose Girl." Witty little story.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

“A Goose Girl, like a poet, is sometimes born, sometimes otherwise. I am of the born variety.
No training was necessary; I put my head on my pillow as a complicated product of modern civilisation on a Tuesday night, and on a Wednesday morning I awoke as a Goose Girl.”

1902 novella about a girl who wishes to escape the monotonous life of hotels and suitors… so she becomes a country goose girl. Light on plot but heavy on quotes that made me laugh out loud.

“In my present mood I was in search of the strenuous life, and eager to wait, rather than to be waited upon; so I walked along the edge of the Green, wishing that some mentally unbalanced householder would take a sudden fancy to me and ask me to come in and lodge awhile.”

“I saw the situation at once and ran to meet it with a glow of interest and anticipation. If there is anything in the world I enjoy, it is making somebody do something that he doesn't want to do; and if, when victory perches upon my banner, the somebody can be brought to say that he ought to have done it without my making him, that adds the unforgettable touch to pleasure, though seldom, alas! does it happen.”

[Amy Linton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this up (metaphorically. It's a Google ebook from the library) on a whim. Did not know that Ms Wiggin is the author of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, which I don't think I ever read.

So my expectations were zero, and I was pleasantly surprised by this humorous narrative of a young Englishwoman rusticating at a poultry farm at sometime around the turn of the 20th C. This is not a book to change the world, but if you have a taste for droll physical humor along the lines of Three Men in a Boat to Say Nothing of the Dog (a personal favorite), you will enjoy the narrator's adventures with broody chickens, strong-willed geese, and various local characters.

[Talea · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s slow to read, but it’s sweet. I enjoyed the descriptions of the birds and the countryside life, but that was really it. T

[Alyssa Bohon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining fluff reading with short chapters and lots of poultry. Exceptional English wit puts it up a notch from typical fluff.
Listened on Librivox - the reader was a perfect fit for the story.

[Zellizabeth]

Public domain, found here: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/...