Miss Dee Dunmore Bryant

Bryant Family #1

by Pansy, Isabella MacDonald Alden

Times are hard at the Bryant home. With Christmas just weeks away, the family is preparing to celebrate without any presents for the Bryant children, including little Daisy. But practical Daisy can weather a Christmas without gifts if she knows that somewhere, a more fortunate little girl got a new doll and named it Daisy Bryant after herself.

Before long, Daisy’s wish is known to the entire town and one act of kindness begets another . . . and another! Soon, Daisy’s home town is alive with the spirit of giving, and the Bryant family is about to have a Christmas they will never forget.

This unabridged version of the 1890 original includes reader group discussion questions, a biography of the author, and an introduction to Isabella Alden’s books by Christian author Jenny Berlin.

Genres: Fiction, Christian, Classics, Christian Fiction, Christmas

First published January 1, 1890

About the author

Note: In her lifetime, Isabella Macdonald Alden was usually published under the pseudonym Pansy, and occasionally under the name Mrs. G.R. Alden.

Aunt to Grace Livingston Hill

The sixth of seven children born to Isaac and Myra Spafford Macdonald, of Rochester, New York, Isabella Macdonald received her early education from her father, who home-schooled her, and gave her a nickname - "Pansy" - that she would use for many of her publications. As a girl, she kept a daily journal, critiqued by her father, and she published her first story - The Old Clock - in a village paper when she was ten years old.

Macdonald's education continued at the Oneida Seminary, the Seneca Collegiate Institute, and the Young Ladies Institute, all in New York. It was at the Oneida Seminary that she met her long-time friend (and eventual co-author), Theodosia Toll, who secretly submitted one of Macdonald's manuscripts in a competition, setting in motion a chain of events that would lead to the publication of her first book, Helen Lester, in 1865.

Macdonald also met her future husband, the Rev. Gustavus Rossenberg Alden, at the Oneida Seminary, and the two were married in 1866. Now Isabella Macdonald Alden, the newly-married minister's wife followed her husband as his postings took them around the country, dividing her time between writing, church duties, and raising her son Raymond (born 1873).

A prolific author, who wrote approximately one hundred novels from 1865 to 1929, and co-authored ten more, Alden was also actively involved in the world of children's and religious periodicals, publishing numerous short stories, editing the Sunday Juvenile Pansy from 1874-1894, producing Sunday School lessons for The Westminster Teacher for twenty years, and working on the editorial staff of various other magazines (Trained Motherhood, The Christian Endeavor).

Highly influenced by her Christian beliefs, much of Alden's work was explicitly moral and didactic, and often found its way into Sunday School libraries. It was also immensely popular, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with an estimated 100,000 copies of Alden's books sold, in 1900.

Information taken from:

readseries.com

isabellamacdonaldalden.com

Reviews

[Rebekah Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hadn't read this book for several years and so picking it up again was almost like reading it for the first time. I loved it! Daisy is such a lovable little girl, such a mixture of child and grownup. Ben, the other main character, is such a manly fellow. I would like to meet Ben in real life. And the dollies! Oh, my, that was just so sweet! Could you explain what a mortgage is and how it works to a child of 8? Not only is this story written in such a way that younger readers can enjoy it, it also draws in the older ones. In keeping with her other books, Isabella Alden "Pansy," weaves the truth of Scripture into her stories not as though she is preaching at the reader as some books do, but as a natural part of the story.

I'm so glad I picked it up to read again. Now I need to read the sequel.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

As usual Pansy does an excellent job with an entertaining and moral story. This one is particularly cute as it is a story of a very young girl, her wooden "stick doll" and a loving family as they work together to get out of their difficulty after their father dies. This would make a great "read a chapter an evening" book for families or teachers.

[Anete Ābola · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the loveliest Isabella Alden's books for children.
Teaches initiative, diligence, faith, hope, love, honor, sibling relationships - so many more things. Alongside a plot I was glad to unravel it. And they say the sequel is even better.

[Rachel L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fun story--good read-aloud, especially for girls. I read this one aloud to my siblings.