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Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm #1
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm: Book 1
When Rebecca comes from the chaotic family farm to live with her spinster aunts in Riverboro, strict Miranda and gentle Jane don't know how to cope with a wild and zestful ten-year-old - nor she with them. But Rebecca is the most likeable, energetic, enthusiastic girl anyone ever met. And Riverboro is never the same again either.
254 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
February 22, 2015
I liked this book more than I expected to. Rebecca Rowena Randall was a very lively, imaginative child for her time. Her winning ways remind me of Anne of Green Gables, though not as fully wrought. Her adventures would have benefited from a more drawn out telling as L.M. Montgomery did, in numerous novels. Much of her growing up is glossed over and while we are treated to individual episodes, they are just enough to wish to know her better. My favourite scenes are with her stage coach driver. Delightful.
January 11, 2009
How can you not love Rebecca? I absolutely loved this book--she was a captivating, charming heroine.
November 18, 2009
Great character and wonderful story.
August 30, 2011
For what it is, it's very sweet. It's Pollyanna with a little more spunk, or Ann of Avonlea with a good deal less. I don't think I read it as a child, but reading it as an adult makes me feel surprisingly nostalgic. I certainly wasn't Rebecca, but in some ways she's the little girl I probably would have liked to be.
There are two more after this. I hope she marries Mr Ladd. I was SO aggravated when Ann went for Gilbert. Gilbert!!
There are two more after this. I hope she marries Mr Ladd. I was SO aggravated when Ann went for Gilbert. Gilbert!!
August 26, 2026
I started to get very angry at the authors of Rebecca early on for their obvious use of Anne of Green Gables as the inspiration of Rebecca until I actually looked into it and discovered that Rebecca was written five years BEFORE Anne! The similarities are overwhelming, to the point that you wonder if Montgomery did this on purpose or if it was just the trope of the time.
Regardless, I still enjoy Anne much more. I find the writing better, the characters more likable, and the story more enjoyable. The part I like the least about Rebecca was that they let Alan Ladd (Mr. Aladdin), a fully grown man but obviously romantically enamored of her, buy her presents and take her for buggy rides. Although I acknowledge that in the time period, many girls were being courted by the time they were 14-16 years old.
I’m glad to have read this classic children’s book, but it will not be a reread.
Regardless, I still enjoy Anne much more. I find the writing better, the characters more likable, and the story more enjoyable. The part I like the least about Rebecca was that they let Alan Ladd (Mr. Aladdin), a fully grown man but obviously romantically enamored of her, buy her presents and take her for buggy rides. Although I acknowledge that in the time period, many girls were being courted by the time they were 14-16 years old.
I’m glad to have read this classic children’s book, but it will not be a reread.
February 26, 2015
C.S. Lewis once said that if a book is not worth reading at 50, it’s not worth reading at age 10. He also suggested that a person intersperse his/her reading with an old book on occasion. My reading of this book fits both of his criteria, plus I wanted to read one of those books I would have liked to have read as a child but didn’t know about. I also wanted to read it before passing it on to my granddaughters.
Rebecca Rowena Randall is a talkative, cheerful, creative, imaginative, curious girl with “fire and spirit” in her personality in contrast to her sister Hannah, who has no sense of humor, and is “painstaking, humdrum, and limited.” When the Randall family experiences the death of husband and father, Aurelia Randall needs assistance providing for her seven children. So when her two spinster sisters invite Hannah to come live with them, they are shocked when it is Rebecca who arrives in Riverboro, Maine.
Mrs. Randall’s last words to Rebecca foreshadow the dramatic life changes Rebecca and her aunts, Miranda and Jane Sawyer, will confront: “Miranda’ll have her hands full, I guess, she said to herself. But I shouldn’t wonder if it’ll be the making of Rebecca.” The plot is full of both. While the Randall household had been happy-go-lucky, the Sawyers’ home lacks zest and freedom. Charming and energetic, Rebecca often gets into mischief, even when she’s trying hard not to.
Rebecca, a somewhat plain girl, becomes a strong protagonist with self-confidence and courage. Her beauty definitely develops from the inside out.
As I read, I kept thinking that Anne of Green Gables might be a “bosom friend” to Rebecca. They share many similarities.
A delightful read—and yes, I am passing it on to my granddaughters!
Rebecca Rowena Randall is a talkative, cheerful, creative, imaginative, curious girl with “fire and spirit” in her personality in contrast to her sister Hannah, who has no sense of humor, and is “painstaking, humdrum, and limited.” When the Randall family experiences the death of husband and father, Aurelia Randall needs assistance providing for her seven children. So when her two spinster sisters invite Hannah to come live with them, they are shocked when it is Rebecca who arrives in Riverboro, Maine.
Mrs. Randall’s last words to Rebecca foreshadow the dramatic life changes Rebecca and her aunts, Miranda and Jane Sawyer, will confront: “Miranda’ll have her hands full, I guess, she said to herself. But I shouldn’t wonder if it’ll be the making of Rebecca.” The plot is full of both. While the Randall household had been happy-go-lucky, the Sawyers’ home lacks zest and freedom. Charming and energetic, Rebecca often gets into mischief, even when she’s trying hard not to.
Rebecca, a somewhat plain girl, becomes a strong protagonist with self-confidence and courage. Her beauty definitely develops from the inside out.
As I read, I kept thinking that Anne of Green Gables might be a “bosom friend” to Rebecca. They share many similarities.
A delightful read—and yes, I am passing it on to my granddaughters!
May 4, 2016
I liked it, but I also was left kind of unsatisfied, to tell the truth. I started this book, because it reminded me of Anne of Green Gables. It just had the same ring to it somehow. And, somehow, it does ... but for me, in my personal opinion, it lacks the warmth and empathy of the Anne-books. I liked reading it, but I never grew "friends" with Rebecca in my mind, you know? With the Anne-books, I temporarilly lived in her world ;) I read a paragraph and then started daydreaming what I would have said and done in either her place or my place, if I had been a neighbor of hers in that time ... with Rebecca I never had that feeling, her story never really touched my heart. I always felt kind of distant.
The book itself was enjoyable, but I wouldn't read it again, as where I have read the Anne books several times each. Maybe I just expected too much. I didnt't expect a second Anne, but the same "feeling". The book catered to that expectation in ways of language and customs that were described, but not to the characters. I never found a real connection to the characters themselves, I'm sorry to say. But as always, that's something every reader has to experience for themselves.
The book itself was enjoyable, but I wouldn't read it again, as where I have read the Anne books several times each. Maybe I just expected too much. I didnt't expect a second Anne, but the same "feeling". The book catered to that expectation in ways of language and customs that were described, but not to the characters. I never found a real connection to the characters themselves, I'm sorry to say. But as always, that's something every reader has to experience for themselves.
January 29, 2013
Jessica Mitchell, 11
Rebecca Of Sunnybrook Farm
1 star
This is the first book I've ever read that was too boring to finish. I mean, I know its old and all, but I didn't think the wording would be this extravagant! At the beginning of the book, she was 10. Within the first 100 pages, she was already 16! She literally went up two ages. It seemed like throughout the whole book, barely anything happened. Most of every chapter was the author describing crap that nobody cares about, but every once in awhile she'd update us on what Rebecca was doing at the moment, then she went straight back to rambling.
This was a terrible, terrible, book!
Rebecca Of Sunnybrook Farm
1 star
This is the first book I've ever read that was too boring to finish. I mean, I know its old and all, but I didn't think the wording would be this extravagant! At the beginning of the book, she was 10. Within the first 100 pages, she was already 16! She literally went up two ages. It seemed like throughout the whole book, barely anything happened. Most of every chapter was the author describing crap that nobody cares about, but every once in awhile she'd update us on what Rebecca was doing at the moment, then she went straight back to rambling.
This was a terrible, terrible, book!
August 14, 2019
Finished book #1 with my girls (ages 9 & 11). Although they didn't understand all of the vocabulary in this book (or the context), I give them a pass on both because they've only been in this country and speaking English for about 2.5 years. :) They did love it, though, and every time we read it they would beg for one more chapter.
Rebecca is full of words and ideas, showing good character and trying to improve herself and keep everyone happy. It's a fun story, though not (in my opinion) on par with a series like "Anne of Green Gables."
Rebecca is full of words and ideas, showing good character and trying to improve herself and keep everyone happy. It's a fun story, though not (in my opinion) on par with a series like "Anne of Green Gables."
August 10, 2013
A little dull at times, but I found some of her writings very profound. The back of my book says Kate Wiggin started the first free kindergarten in the West. I would have liked to know more about that. There were many great quotes inside this little gem.
21: Rebecca was plucky at two and dauntless at five.
170: We must remember that it is deficient, not excessive, vitality that makes the greatest trouble in this world.
21: Rebecca was plucky at two and dauntless at five.
170: We must remember that it is deficient, not excessive, vitality that makes the greatest trouble in this world.
July 9, 2009
I remember reading this book as a child, but I don't remember anything about it. I'm sure I liked it, but I can't give it a higher rating, because it obviously didn't stick with me.
September 5, 2011
I like it because it was about this girl who travels and enjoys her self and explores a different city. Her name is Rebecca and she lives in Sunnybrook farm.
November 22, 2012
A very domestic story about a young girl's life... I read it for a Battle of the Books competition in 6th grade. Definitely a good book for even younger kids.
April 22, 2013
Cute! A lot the same feeling as Anne of Green Gables. How had I never read this before?
May 25, 2013
I was a little disappointed- the book started out well but tried to cram too many years of her life into the last half of the book. Anne Shirley is way cooler.
May 27, 2013
love it
December 11, 2014
This was a cute story. Kind of slow in parts, but a good read over all.
March 10, 2020
Well what a ridiculously abrupt ending...
a slow read, but a very good one
a slow read, but a very good one
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews