My Naughty Little Sister

Naughty Little Sister #1

by Dorothy Edwards, Shirley Hughes

My naughty little sister is stubborn, greedy, and full of mischief. She tries to cut off the cat's tail; she bites Santa's hand; and she and Bad Harry eat all the pudding at Harry's party. How much trouble can one little sister cause?

Genres: Childrens, Classics, Fiction, Novels, Picture Books, Short Stories, Family

148 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1952

About the author

For the Welsh novelist see Dorothy Edwards

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Born as Dorothy Violet Ellen Brown into a working-class family, her father taught her to read at an early age, enabling her to write her first story at four years of age. Her stories, poems and articles were published throughout her twenties, and at this time she married her husband Frank Edwards and had two children, Jane and Frank.

Edwards' most famous stories are of My Naughty Little Sister, which she conceived to keep her daughter, Jane, quiet whilst on a family holiday in 1950. She wrote five books of these stories.

She also published several anthologies of short stories, folklore and poetry for children, chiefly on the subjects of magic, witchcraft and ghosts. Two of these are Ghosts and Shadows 1980 and Mists and Magic 1983.

She was shortlisted for the Whitbread Award for children's literature for The Witches and the Grinnygog 1981, a novel for children about the survival of benign pagan witchcraft in modern Britain. This novel was later adapted for television.

Edwards was part of the 1950s radio show Listen with Mother, and she also wrote for Playschool and Jackanory.

Reviews

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 4 out of 5]

A group of children are going fishing. One of the girls has a little sister who wants to tag along. Of course, the little sister ends up in the water, and both girls get in trouble with their mother when they get home.

I can where children would enjoy these little stories of childhood wickedness. The illustrations by Shirley Hughes are iconic.

[Katy Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

How did I never read this as a child? I'm trying to catch up on classics I someone missed, and this was on the list.

It's a very nostalgic read, but also timeless - small children will always be mischievous, get into scrapes, do naughty and greedy things, and probably after saying sorry, do something similar again.

The narrator's naughty little sister is one such child. Neither is named, which as an adult strikes me as unusual in a children's book. But it does work - it makes them more archetypes than just individual children - there is something of all of us in there.

This little girl is not really 'naughty' as such - she eats all the trifle, yes. Falls in the water, throws workmen's sandwiches around, but she is just a little girl and really more silly and wild than truly 'bad'. I feel sorry for 'Bad Harry' stuck with a name like that! It might be no wonder if they play up to their titles! Seeing her having to go to her big sister's school was possibly my favourite chapter, watching her act grown up and proud, it was very realistic, thinking of my own son.

The misadventures are mostly charming, sweet, and short for bedtime reading. Shirley Hughes as ever manages to convey the sense of the childlike with a sense of time and place in her illustrations.

I loved meeting the characters for the first time, though I'm not sure about all of the messages - after all, children WILL get up to mischief, WILL make mistakes.

Glad I've read this. It may be one I share with my son in the near future.

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting this book to be a picture book, since in 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up, it is included in the preschool section (3+), but I was surprised to find it was a chapter book, with very few illustrations scattered hither and yon. It should have been placed in the 5+ section instead.
Otherwise, the stories were humorous, and the little sister quite mischievous. She was only malicious on occasion; much of her mischief was due to curiosity or boredom.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a naughty little book! I am such a sucker for these sweet little British stories and my son likes them too--he laughed out loud! Great beginning chapter book for ages four through seven.

[Marta Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reread this childhood favourite and yes it's dated but it still makes me smile. I recommend the next book with Harry too and they take me back to pure nostalgia

[Francesca Pashby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took me right back to childhood ... where I strongly identified with the naughty little sister!

(Some parts a bit non-pc these days!)

[hanhilhen]

Ceritanya menghibur dan ilustrasinya bagus.

[Ai-sha]

Very entertaining stories but the dad is absolutely awful. Is it naughtiness or is it neglectful parenting?

[Alice Biggerstaff · Rating 4 out of 5]

'My Naughty Little Sister' series of books were my absolute favourite as a child. I remember reading the whole series and wanting to read more! After re reading this book I loved it all the same! This book offers an insight into the mischief that 'My Naughty Little Sister' gets up to. She is always causing trouble which is very relatable to many young children with young mischievous siblings. It covers the simple theme of growing up through easy to read short chapters.

[Alex Margolies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Noah loves these stories - very cute! Have found him asleep in bed with the books across him.

[Josie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Came across this in the library and, well, I can't resist a children's classic. This one is a perfect time capsule -- the small stories of everyday life vividly conjure up an era when in one day you might be visited by the milkman, the baker, the coalman, the window-cleaner man, and the doctor (who apparently didn't mind making a house call for a child with a cold). The original illustrations by Shirley Hughes are charming, and capture all the delightful moods and expressions of small children.

Unfortunately, although the stories were cute, the narration was pretty sanctimonious -- the older sister talks about her younger sibling being "thoroughly nasty" for wanting another ride on a roundabout, and "rude and greedy" for greeting an adult politely and then asking "may I have a lovely tea?" (The latter incident takes place at a birthday party, where she was told beforehand to expect a lovely tea!) In one story Father is asked to "mind" the little sister -- don't worry, Mother left them a salad and junket for lunch -- and he of course grumbles about what a bother it is to fetch his youngest child a glass of water (!) before calling her a "disagreeable baby". Even from a modern perspective, all this seemed unnecessarily harsh, especially since the little sister is only three or four years old. Then again, the author wrote for the BBC's Listen With Mother radio programme, which perhaps explains all the "I do hope you're not this naughty" comments liberally scattered throughout the text.

Also, any adult that gives a young child a sharp pair of scissors and then leaves them alone in the room deserves the consequences.

[Yogeeta Yeram · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know who care about this review but this book made me feel to review books again! I wasn't feeling much positive about book reviews lately although it is a part of my work being a book blogger. Working in a tight shift duty as a nurse and getting stuck between the deadlines for reviews by the organizers, reviewing books had became a bit overwhelming for me as me being a mood reader. I would end up not reading the book at all because I would feel that I will not do the justice to it by reading it in a haste. but this book got out the passion and light in me again! I just can't tell how much I laughed during this whole journey.
This complete book felt like a sister complaining about her lil sister and also adoring her at the same time. It was a completely simple book with many simple and repeated words but as this was story told by a LITTLE sister about her LITTLER one, we cannot expect it to have a diverse word collection. And talking about story telling, OH MY GODDDDDD!!! I don't know how the author did this but the way this book is written it feels like a small girl sitting next to you and telling all the mischiefs her sister does and YOU are forced to hear it because both of them are soo cute that you cannot ignore them. Just a perfect book to come out of a reading slim for me. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS ONE TO YOU!! Do give it a try.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this to my 4 and 5 year olds as bedtime stories. The chapters are nice and short. But the stories are not really what you want to tell your kids. The one child is called “naughty little sister” and “bed child” repeatedly. Of course she lives up to her name. The stories give bad ideas and they’re just not really very nice. It’s old fashioned enough that the father is asked to “mind” his daughter which frustrates me a bit. When Bethany and James asked to read book 2, my answer was a quick no. Classic or not, the next one will be taking a trip to the charity shop without being read. On to a more edifying chapter book for bed!

[Tanya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, it may have been representative of the parenting style of a generation or two before mine, but I couldn’t stand the categorization of a child as naughty on repeat. Talk about creating a self-fulfilling prophecy and it sure didn’t feel like there would ever be camaraderie between the siblings based on the narrator always tattling on the younger sister. I didn’t read this to a young child, not sure if they would find it delightful, but I found it to be a slog to finish and really didn’t see much humor throughout. Had it not been on 1,001 Books to Read Before You Grow Up list, I would have not completed it.

[Kristal · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Read on archive .org

I know this was written in a different era, but certain things bothered me just the same. The older sister narrator seemed very much holier than thou and loved to emphasize how bad others were. It also bugged me how the little sister was declared naughty in one story because she said thank you at the slightly wrong time, and how a visiting girl the mother was watching was declared good because she would only eat bread and butter and not the baking? There are other logical stories of morality, but there are others that just don’t make sense.

[Ian McHugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this with an older sister who is very very well behaved and good. The twee morality of the stories and the 'naughtiness' of the little sister appealed greatly. There were gasps at the naughtiness at points. it has told me I have raised a child with the moral codes embedded of the 1950s. I do not know whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. We both enjoyed the stories and they were excellent as short bedtime readings for a 7 year-old. We will undoubtedly take a look at the other books in the series.

[Veronica Molina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Fome. Malo. Todo el rato es la protagonista contando historias de cuando eran más chicas y su hermana se mandaba travesuras y trataba de salirse con la suya, y mensajes de qué bueno que el lector no es así de malo. Uf. Ojalá alguien alguna vez me explique por qué se daría a leer a niños en esta época, 60 años después y con tantos avances.

[Millie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a good book especially to read to children to give them a giggle and show them a different time (considering this book was published in the 50’s) I used to read this when I was little so reading this felt very nostalgic. What could this naughty little sister get up to next I’m eager to read more!

[Robin Blankenship · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh it was fine. She is naughty for doing normal stuff but whatever. I am being to think the author of the 1001 children's books you must read before you grew up did in fact not read any of these or maybe doesn't know child development. There is no way a 3 year old would want to look at some of the stuff the book suggests but I will save more for my review of the 1001 books book.

[Mery · Rating 4 out of 5]

Judulnya Adikku Yang Nakal, padahal sebenarnya menurutku adiknya tidak nakal, cuma terlalu imajinatif dan kepingin tahu. ^^

Bacanya jadi keinget keponakan sendiri, yang sangat imajinatif, sangat aktif, dan idenya ada saja.

[Ellie-May · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my second favorite book! I like it because my bigger sister bought me this book and I like when the little sister is naughty but then at the end of the book she's nice and my sister said I'm her naughty little sister.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Canny. But liked the audio tapes better.

[amle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this brings back my childhood memories. I really enjoy reading this one.

[Laura]

A funny set of short stories about all the mischief a small sister gets up to.

[Edita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trumpų, linksmų istorijų rinkinys apie išdykėlę sesytę, kurią turim beveik kiekvienas :) 7 metų sūnui labai patiko.

[Inga Narijauskienė · Rating 5 out of 5]

Puiki knyga - linksmos, lengvai skaitomos istorijos.
Jeigu jums patinka Astridos Lindgren istorijos apie Lotą, tikrai patiks ir ši knyga:)

[Sid_rw · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series made me laugh a lot when I was a child.

[Ellie Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved these books as a child.

[LudmilaM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very sweet stories for younger children.

[Saee :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it!