Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

by Kate Douglas Wiggin

Author Jack London wrote Kate Douglas Wiggin a letter about her classic Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm from the headquarters of the First Japanese Army in Manchuria in 1904: "May I thank you for Rebecca?... I would have quested the wide world over to make her mine, only I was born too long ago and she was born but yesterday.... Why could she not have been my daughter? Why couldn't it have been I who bought the three hundred cakes of soap? Why, O, why?" Mark Twain called Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm "beautiful and warm and satisfying."

Who is this beguiling creature? The irrepressible 10-year-old Rebecca Rowena Randall burst into the world of children's book characters (and her new life in Maine) in 1903 when storybook girls were gentle and proper. A "bird of a very different feather," she had "a small, plain face illuminated by a pair of eyes carrying such messages, such suggestions, such hints of sleeping power and insight, that one never tired of looking into their shining depths.... " Soon enough, she wins over her prim Aunt Miranda, the whole town, and thousands of readers everywhere with her energetic, indomitable spirit.

A sequel The New Chronicles of Rebecca was published in 1907.

(Ages 9 and older)

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Childrens, Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Audiobook

321 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1903

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

[Dem · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a charming, funny and beautiful read, a simple back to basics story , beautiful prose and a feel good read that suprised me and left me with a lovely warm feeling on completing this novel. My 13 years old self would have loved this Novel.

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is a classic American 1903 children's novel by Kate Douglas Wiggin that tells the story of Rebecca Rowena Randall and her Aunts Miranda and Jane Sawyer one stern and one kind, in the fictional village of Riverboro, Maine. Rebecca's joy for life inspires her aunts, but she faces many challenges in her young life.

I listened to this one on Audible and I really believe a narrator can make or break a good book and Lorna Raver does a superb job on this narration and brings out the best in this story. I just loved her different voices for the characters and she brought this book to life.

I think if you are going to read a story like this you need to take yourself back in time and immerse yourself in the story as these sort of books are written when life was slower and more straight forward. I loved the character of Rebecca, Mr and Mrs Cobb and even Miranda and Jane. I laughted out loud so many times and felt sorrow for Rebecca every time she got herself into a mess.

Having read Ann of Green Gables I felt this one was quite similar although I enjoyed this one more. I was suprised to learn that Ann of Green Gables was written 5 years after Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.

[Julie G · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a weird little book. It was written 5 years before Anne of Green Gables and they are somewhat similar in theme, but Anne of Green Gables is about 10 times better. The writing here is inconsistent, dialogue is contrived and the characters lack depth. Not to mention Rebecca's "love interest," the 30-year-old Alan Ladd, who appears to fall for her at the age of 11 and pursues her in a way that gave me the creeps.

[B0nnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

vs

While reading this book I was surprized to find how similar it is to Anne of Green Gables. Well, Rebecca came first. Damn. In many ways it is the better book, but Anne is less preachy. This article compares the two books at length, and that comparison reveals much regarding the differences between American and Canadian culture. http://canadianicon.org/table-of-cont...

"Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm opens with eleven-year-old Rebecca Rowena Randall’s journey by stagecoach from her family’s farm to her aunts’ house in the Maine village of Riverboro. Rebecca’s father has been dead for three years and her mother is unable to cope with the financial burden of raising seven children. Miranda and Jane Sawyer, her mother’s spinster sisters, have offered to take the eldest child, a dull, sensible girl, into their home, but Mrs. Randall instead sends them Rebecca, "a thing of fire and spirit". Rebecca, who declares, "I haven’t done anything but put babies to bed at night and take them up in the morning for years and years," thus finds her life abruptly changed (Wiggin 1917: 27, 12).

In Anne of Green Gables elderly Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert, sister and brother, of Avonlea, Prince Edward Island, send to an orphanage for a boy to help them on their farm. When Matthew goes to the train station in his buggy to pick up the boy, he finds that they have been sent instead eleven-year-old Anne Shirley, "full of spirit and vivacity," who has spent her childhood looking after babies in foster families (Montgomery 1968: 8).

The two girls present a similar appearance as they embark on their journeys to their new homes. Wiggin writes of Rebecca:
The buff calico was faded, but scrupulously clean and starched within an inch of its life … the head looked small to bear the weight of dark hair that hung in a thich braid to her waist. She wore an odd little vizored cap …. Her face was without color and sharp outline (9-10).

Anne is described as:
…. garbed in a very short, very tight, very ugly dress of yellowish gray wincey …. She wore a faded brown sailor hat and beneath the hat, extending down her back, were two braids of very thick decidedly red hair. Her face was small, white and thin … "

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, 1917 film

Anne of Green Gables, book illustration

[Werner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Note, Oct. 10. 2018: I just edited this review to embed a link to an online article I referred to here. (When I originally reviewed the book, I wasn't as adept at embedding links as I've become since then.)

My first encounter with this book was as a grade-school student back in the early 60s; I'd read Wiggins' short story collection spin-off, New Chronicles of Rebecca, first (not sure why, now!), and that whetted my appetite to get Rebecca's whole story. The 1995 (approximately) date is for the second reading, when I shared it with my wife as an out-loud read; and she loved it as much as I do. Lately, I've been doing reviews of some of the classics I've read, and was inspired to pick this one by the recent excellent review of it by my Goodreads friend Bonnie (http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... ). That review focuses on Wiggin's enormous influence on her Canadian contemporary, Lucy Maud Montgomery, in the creation of the latter's series heroine Anne Shirley. I'd already recognized that the two young heroines shared many similar characteristics, and have often said that if they'd ever met, they'd have found "kindred spirits" in each other. Bonnie's review, however, has a link (reproduced here: http://canadianicon.org/table-of-cont... ) to an illuminating online article at the site Canadian Icons, which establishes, through a close comparison/contrast of both author's novels, a clear demonstration of very significant literary influence. (That article focuses more on Montgomery's Anne, but includes much that's relevant to this book as well.) In this review, though, I want to focus more on Wiggin's work in its own right, which is how I first read it --at that time, I'd never heard of Anne of Green Gables.

This is basically the story of a smart, precocious, sensitive girl with a kind heart and a passionate appreciation for beauty in all its forms, growing from childhood to young adulthood in a prosaic Maine village under the not-exactly-sympathetic tutelage of two spinster aunts (though Aunt Jane proves more sympathetic than Aunt Miranda). The setting is probably 20 years or more earlier than the publication date, though that's just my impression; I don't recall an explicit date being given anywhere in the text. (Recommending the book to "fans of 19th-century literature," given the 1903 date, seems like an error; but I'm reckoning 1900-1914 as culturally part of the "long" 19th century.) Wiggin tells her story well, with an observant eye for the details of village life, an ear for New England dialect, and a primary concern for human relationships (family, friends, neighbors) and round characterization --the most fascinating character being Rebecca herself, though the other major and minor characters are lifelike as well. The author's very much a Realist, and a worthy peer of her contemporaries Jewett and Freeman. Of course, as a perhaps 10-year-old kid, I didn't know anything about that; I just knew that I was easily immersed in Rebecca's world. Nobody'd ever told me that, as a boy, I wasn't "supposed" to relate to girl characters as fellow human beings (and I wouldn't have been much inclined to slavishly listen to what I was or wasn't "supposed" to like if they had :-) ). I actually found Rebecca pretty easy to relate to; we were both intelligent, imaginative, and sensitive to things other than the mundane, surrounded by peers who usually weren't any of those things, and in the charge of adults who to a large degree didn't understand us.

This book was in my school's "library" (if we can call it that), and the BC library classifies it in the "Juvenile" section; but I didn't shelve it here as a children's book. That's not because I don't think kids could profitably read it --some would be prejudiced against it, and the setting of a non-technological, rural, Calvinist milieu would be too alien for the less imaginative to grasp; but the turn-of-the-(20th)-century diction wouldn't be difficult for intelligent kids, the story itself is universal, and teens who like historical fiction could relate to it easily enough, IMO. Rather, it's because I think calling it a "children's" book would wrongly mischaracterize it as too simplistic for adults, and it isn't; rather, it's one of those books with a child protagonist that nevertheless can speak to an adult perception and sensitivity. (Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, and Anne of Green Gables are other titles that come to mind in the same way.) It's significant that, as the Goodreads description above notes, even back when it was first written, some of the most enthusiastic fans were adults (including Mark Twain and Jack London, not to mention Lucy Maud Montgomery). If what I've written here sounds more intriguing than off-putting, I'd encourage you to give it a try --you might find yourself in the current generation of adult fans! (Or, if you're in the YA group, YA fans. :-) )

[Duane Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm similar in many ways to Anne of Green Gables. Rebecca's story was written 5 years earlier than Anne's, but it doesn't appear that Lucy Maud Montgomery was influenced by Wiggin's novel. Rebecca's is a inspiring story, not quite on the level of Anne's though. But it's a cute story with a feel good ending.

[Taury · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin is a lovely innocent children’s classic. It follows Rebecca Randall, a precocious and imaginative 10 year old girl. She moves from her poor family farm to live with her spinster aunts in the village of Riverboro, Maine. It was the wish of the family Rebecca would earn money to support her impoverished family and gain a proper upbringing. Rebecca’s aunts are upright and rigid which causes conflict to Rebecca as she was lively and outgoing. At the age of 10 has a zest for life, many young girls have.

The novel details Rebecca’s lively adventures and often, misadventures as well. She does well navigation school, friendships and challenges she faces growing up. Though Rebecca is shown to be imaginative and creative with a bit of naiveté. To me she seems more mature and self-aware compared to many young girls by today’s standards. She is lively with compassion, carried with a grand sense of humor. The novel portrays the power of love and imagination in an often time difficult world.

I read this novel as one that was a suggested book of the month in a book group I belong to. I don’t remember reading as a child, but was well aware it existed. I am glad I finally took the time to read such a lifting book. Brings warm smiles and all the feel good feelings.

[K.D. Absolutely · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rebecca's Ten Life Enriching Lessons for Grownups:

I normally read children's books during Christmastime. Not only to catch up with my Reading Challenge (I am behind by 10 books as of this writing), but also, most of children's books have life lessons that can be good reminders for the coming year. New Year always means new beginning, new hope... Do you remember when you were still in school and after reading a story in class, the teacher asked you what was the lessons you learned from it? So, in this year's series of children's books, I will try to list the ten lessons I was reminded while reading a certain book.

1) We all can rise from mediocrity. Rebecca is a plain-looking 10-y/o poor child who is being sent by her mother to live with her two stern spinster aunts so as to have a better prospect in life. Mediocre in looks, she also started as mediocre in school but she triumphs over mediocrity in the end.

2) Speak up. Filipinos are basically shy people especially in the presence of white westerners. I think this was due to the fact that our country has been under Spain (white people) for 300 years and the USA (another set of white people) for 30 years. So, we are born to be submissive and subservient. Our American counterparts in the office oftentimes comment that we are silent during meetings and shy to offer our views and suggestions. In this book, Rebecca may have come from a poor family but she wins the heart of the Riverboro (Maine) people because of her loquaciousness and witty remarks.

3) Children should be spared from the sins of their parents. At the start, Aunt Miranda hates Rebecca because she looks like her dead father ("All Randall, no Spencer") who the aunt did not like for her younger sister and Rebecca's mother, Auriela. Children are born faultless. They should not be punished from or judged according to whatever wrongs their parents did.

4) Don't underestimate the capacity of children to bear poverty, challenges and trials. We parents always worry about our children. We always think of them as helpless. Rebecca showed us that given so many problems at the same time: limited money to continue studying (and get brighter future) she also has to worry about taking care of Aunt Miranda and her injured mother back home, dead brother in the war and the unpaid home and farm mortgage.

5) Imagination can be boundless. Rebecca's main strength is her imagination that makes her question things or ways that we have been so used to that we accept them like blind men. I think this is by far, what I like most about her. However, I felt that this trait was not really given the attention that this deserved to make Rebecca's character truly unforgettable.

6) Children need adults to show them the way. Our kids (if you are a parent) or pupils (if you are teacher) are highly impressionable. Their whole beings are like dry sponge that are open and willing to absorb water. We have to be careful on what we show them. They look up at us like models.

7) Let your children develop friendships in school. When Jane becomes Rebecca's friend in school, both of them blossomed. They supported each other and if not because of that friendship, I don't think Rebecca would have surpassed all the trials and tribulations that came in her way.

8) Spontaneity can result to creativity. Sometimes we are too focused on structures (traditions, practices, policies, rules, etc) that they curtail our creativity.

9) Don't have too many kids if you are not rich. This seems too obvious and I admit that I am having a hard time completing my 10 lessons. However, if you really think about it, that time (turn of the century) and even now, or especially now, if you have 7 kids and you are a single parent, it should be very difficult to send them all to school or even to provide for their daily needs.

10) In the end, everything will turn out right. Rebecca shows to Aunt Miranda and to her mother that if we all strive to make things right, they will turn out right. At the beginning of the novel, her mother is worrying because of her decision to send Rebecca instead of Hanna to her sisters. But Rebecca makes a promise to her mother to be good to Aunt Miranda and Aunt Jane. The whole book is about fulfilling that promise as if saying to her mother that, in the end, everything will turn out right. It does.

Not as strikingly beautiful as Heidi or Pinocchio. Rebecca is half-Ugly Ducking, half-Cinderella. However, American children and young adults at the turn of the century were able to relate to her and this book because an instant bestseller when it first came out in 1903. (Source: Wiki).

This is a classic American children's book so I guess there is no really use to criticize. It is an endearing story that can inspire all plain-looking girls to reach for their dreams by using their other positive traits and not to dwelling on their physical appearance.

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I were teaching a literature class, I would definitely use this book to compare the early American society that existed over 100 years ago to today's American society. I first read this book as a child in the early 1970s. At that time I enjoyed literature filled with wholesome views of life, family, and hope. A few months ago, the title of this book came up in a trivia game I was playing, and I thought I would love to reread the story to relive the happiness I felt while reading it as a child. Good ol' Amazon.com pulled through again, and I was able to order a gently-used edition. I settled to read the book, and as I read was amazed at the 21st century mentality that has somehow influenced me to be suspicious of strangers and odd behavior. Everything innocent that happens to Rebecca, from riding with an old man (- alone - in a wagon - through miles of unpopulated countryside -), to accepting gifts from a man over twice her age (a single man who seems to be quite taken with the young 12 year old Rebecca) to her friend (who claims she could happily live with Rebecca for all their lives and cook and clean for her while Rebecca pursues her interests) became wharped and twisted with the warnings and suspicions we now live with in today's world. How sad to realize that a culture where people lived by ethics and morals has been replaced by a culture that lives by suspicions and fear. I felt sad when I closed this book, realizing that my own innocence and willingness to trust and believe in the general good of people has been transformed into questioning the real motives of people. Sigh. Yes, this definitely is an excellent book to read if people want to compare and discuss the changes that have occurred in American society. The child in me still loves Rebecca and the rewards of hope that blessed her; Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is a wonderful read for those who want to remember a more innocent time.

[maya venice · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.25*
i liked it, reading about Rebecca's adventures and childhood. towards the end it started feeling bittersweet especially with the longer time jumps and her growing up... I preferred the first 50-70% of the book, the lighthearted simplicity of it. would have given it a 4 if it had continued on that way 🌾 i didnt like adam ladd though, his friendship and fascination with her unsettled me at times. Miss Maxwell was much better, and the Cobbs were da best hehe 🫶

[Trace · Rating 5 out of 5]

During this first time reading Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, I found it very difficult to enjoy it on its own merit and to give it my undivided attention. If you are a Canadian girl worth her salt - you will have grown up reading Anne of Green Gables, which holds an iconic status in Canada. If you then read Rebecca, which was published 5 years earlier than Anne of Green Gables, you will then be dumbfounded by the similarities. And so you can appreciate, that I read this book while constantly thinking of Anne. Not an ideal way to be introduced to a book - especially one as lovely as Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm!

L.M Montgomery clearly patterned Anne after Rebecca - and I hope that at some point she publicly acknowledged that - although I suppose that's very naive and idealistic of me. I know that I should tread very, very careful when saying anything objectionable about our revered L.M Montgomery - and no one can hold her in as high esteem as I do, so I won't say too much more on this topic, except to point out a wonderful article outlining the many similarities between Rebecca and Anne: http://canadianicon.org/table-of-cont... .

Once I reconciled myself to the similarities, I realized that this is a book that is quite worthy of emulating!! I ADORED it! I was also able to see quite a few differences as well - Kate Douglas Wiggin seems to be more at ease with her faith and I loved the depth that this offered to Rebecca!

This is the second book I've read by KDW and both of them 5 star ratings. I wonder how difficult it will be to get my hands on more of her works? I predict it will be worth the effort!

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rebecca Rowena Randall - named for the two heroines of Sir Walter Scott's novel of adventure and romance, Ivanhoe - sets out on an adventure of her own in this classic American children's story, first published in 1903, leaving her home at Sunnybrook Farm to live with her two maiden aunts in Riverboro, Maine, there to receive the benefits of an education, and the 'proper' upbringing that her much-beleaguered mother cannot provide to her. With an eye for beauty, a vivid imagination, and a talkative disposition, ten-year-old Rebecca is soon winning friends both young and old, from stage-driver and neighbor, Mr. Jeremiah Cobb, to schoolmate and soon-to-be close friend, Emma Jane Perkins. Her aunts - sternly critical Miss Miranda Sawyer, and kindhearted Miss Jane Sawyer - give her a home in the "brick house," and, in their very different ways, eventually come to love this most unexpected niece...

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is one of those children's classics (whose number is embarrassingly large) that I am always meaning to get to, but for which I can never seem to find the time. I'm very glad that it was chosen as our March selection, over in The Children's Fiction Book Club to which I belong, as this gave me the opportunity (and the needed push in motivation, apparently) to finally pick it up. It has added interest for me, as a long-time fan of Anne of Green Gables , as Wiggin's book was apparently a great influence of the later (1908) Canadian classic.

Overall, I found it an engaging and enjoyable read, one that fits snugly into the world of late Victorian girls' stories. There are undeniable parallels with Montgomery's better-known work - both books feature 'orphans' (although not technically an orphan, Rebecca is separated from her family) who go to live with two elderly people, one stern, the other kindhearted; the heroines of both are imaginative, talkative, and just a little bit set apart from those around them; and both stories document the changes brought to their eponymous heroines' adoptive homes - although Wiggin's has a distinctly New England flavor, that is missing from Montgomery's Prince Edward Island-centered tale. In particular, the depiction of the unbending Aunt Miranda, who never voices her change of heart to her niece, choosing to communicate her love posthumously, through her will, felt very authentic to me, even if another outcome might have made for happier reading. I rather wish that I had read this as a girl, as I suspect my appreciation for it would have been greater. As it is, I enjoyed it, but cannot say I loved it.

Addendum: I had the good fortune to read a vintage copy of this title, with artwork by Helen Mason Grose, which I greatly enjoyed. The color plates were lovely, but so too were the black-and-white engraving-style illustrations. I highly recommend the reader find a well illustrated copy, as it enhances the experience greatly! I loved the cover image on my copy, with Rebecca, in her buff dress, carrying her precious pink parasol, descending from the stagecoach in Riverboro.

[Claire · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was repeatedly irked by the frequent reminders from the author about how much better Rebecca was than all the other children. More interesting, smarter, livelier, etc. What an annoying girl to grow up with! Count me as unimpressed.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is overall a weaker version of Anne of Green Gables. It opens strongly and has several memorable episodes in it involving the young Rebecca. The areas with the pink parasol are particularly good and true to life. Some of Rebecca's classmates at school are also interesting, and several pieces of dialogue are hilarious.
But...
The book suffers from an awkward romantic sub-plot involving Rebecca and a man old enough to be her dad. He's nice in himself, but flatly too old for Rebecca. Rebecca herself is an attractive heroine, but her supposed intellectual brilliance never seems to amount to much and Kate Douglas Wiggin tries too hard to convince us Rebecca is more deserving than most other women in the story. The presentation of Emma Jane and Hannah Randall--along with others--is not fair and reveals a certain spitefulness in the author. Aunt Miranda is an interesting character, but not as well explored as Marilla Cuthbert, and I personally find Miss Maxwell hard to like, though we're supposed to admire her. The only negative female character that I find truly successful is Minnie Smellie. :)
The ending trails off a bit. Kate Douglas Wiggin was better with children characters than with adults.
If you want another Anne of Green Gables and don't mind if the ending is weak, you might enjoy this classic.

[Celia · Rating 5 out of 5]

From Wikipedia

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is a classic American 1903 children's novel by Kate Douglas Wiggin that tells the story of Rebecca Rowena Randall and her aunts, one stern and one kind, in the fictional village of Riverboro, Maine. Rebecca's joy for life inspires her aunts, but she faces many trials, gaining wisdom and understanding.

Wiggin wrote a sequel, New Chronicles of Rebecca. Eric Wiggin, a great-nephew of the author, wrote updated versions of several Rebecca books, including a concluding story.

The story was adapted for the theatrical stage and filmed three times, once with Shirley Temple in the title role.

This is a beautifully told story of a strong feminine personality. I especially loved the language of the author, but also the poetry written by Rebecca.

Very heartwarming and full of hope. This story shows how change of outlook can come to even those who have a negative attitude toward life. Through Rebecca's influence, the stern aunt, Miranda was changed.

Characters: Rebecca and her family (she is one of 7 children), Aunt Miranda, Aunt Jane, Adam Ladd, and Emma Jane

5 stars

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is a classic American 1903 children's novel by Kate Douglas Wiggin that tells the story of Rebecca Rowena Randall and her aunts, one stern and one kind, in the fictional village of Riverboro, Maine. Everyone loves this book. Well, at least everyone loves Rebecca, and I should have said almost everyone loves Rebecca, there are a few people who aren't so thrilled with her, not many, but a few. After all, when the aunts send the invitation for Mrs. Randall's daughter to live with them, they didn't ask for Rebecca but her older sister Hannah. But her mother couldn't spare Hannah, she is older so she helps with the housework, so she sends Rebecca instead. Rebecca is described as a thing of fire and spirit, her mother and Hannah have no sense of humor, Rebecca has possessed it as soon as she could walk and talk. She does not have Hannah's patience though, so she was impatient of hard tasks at the farm. We're told this:

Hannah was her mother's favorite, so far as Aurelia could indulge herself in such recreations as partiality. The parent who is obliged to feed and clothe seven children on an income of fifteen dollars a month seldom has time to discriminate carefully between the various members of her brood, but Hannah at fourteen was at once companion and partner in all her mother's problems. She it was who kept the house while Aurelia busied herself in barn and field. Rebecca was capable of certain set tasks, such as keeping the small children from killing themselves and one another, feeding the poultry, picking up chips, hulling strawberries, wiping dishes; but she was thought irresponsible, and Aurelia, needing somebody to lean on, leaned on Hannah. Hannah showed the result of this attitude somewhat, being a trifle careworn in face and sharp in manner; but she was a self-contained, well-behaved, dependable child, and that is the reason her aunts had invited her to Riverboro to be a member of their family and participate in all the advantages of their loftier position in the world. It was several years since Miranda and Jane had seen the children, but they remembered with pleasure that Hannah had not spoken a word during the interview, and it was for this reason that they had asked for the pleasure of her company. Rebecca, on the other hand, had dressed up the dog in John's clothes, and being requested to get the three younger children ready for dinner, she had held them under the pump and then proceeded to "smack" their hair flat to their heads by vigorous brushing, bringing them to the table in such a moist and hideous state of shininess that their mother was ashamed of their appearance. Rebecca's own black locks were commonly pushed smoothly off her forehead, but on this occasion she formed what I must perforce call by its only name, a spit-curl, directly in the centre of her brow, an ornament which she was allowed to wear a very short time, only in fact till Hannah was able to call her mother's attention to it, when she was sent into the next room to remove it and to come back looking like a Christian. This command she interpreted somewhat too literally perhaps, because she contrived in a space of two minutes an extremely pious style of hairdressing, fully as effective if not as startling as the first. These antics were solely the result of nervous irritation, a mood born of Miss Miranda Sawyer's stiff, grim, and martial attitude. The remembrance of Rebecca was so vivid that their sister Aurelia's letter was something of a shock to the quiet, elderly spinsters of the brick house; for it said that Hannah could not possibly be spared for a few years yet, but that Rebecca would come as soon as she could be made ready; that the offer was most thankfully appreciated, and that the regular schooling and church privileges, as well as the influence of the Sawyer home, would doubtless be "the making of Rebecca."

But no matter what the aunts may think, she is now on her way with Mr. Cobb. He drives the stage coach, so he gets to take Rebecca to live with her aunts, for how long I don't know. Here she goes:

"I want you should take her to my sisters' in Riverboro," she said. "Do you know Mirandy and Jane Sawyer? They live in the brick house."

Lord bless your soul, he knew 'em as well as if he'd made 'em!

"Well, she's going there, and they're expecting her. Will you keep an eye on her, please? If she can get out anywhere and get with folks, or get anybody in to keep her company, she'll do it. Good-by, Rebecca; try not to get into any mischief, and sit quiet, so you'll look neat an' nice when you get there. Don't be any trouble to Mr. Cobb.—You see, she's kind of excited.—We came on the cars from Temperance yesterday, slept all night at my cousin's, and drove from her house—eight miles it is—this morning."

"Good-by, mother, don't worry; you know it isn't as if I hadn't traveled before."

The woman gave a short sardonic laugh and said in an explanatory way to Mr. Cobb, "She's been to Wareham and stayed over night; that isn't much to be journey-proud on!"

"It WAS TRAVELING, mother," said the child eagerly and willfully. "It was leaving the farm, and putting up lunch in a basket, and a little riding and a little steam cars, and we carried our nightgowns."

"Don't tell the whole village about it, if we did," said the mother, interrupting the reminiscences of this experienced voyager. "Haven't I told you before," she whispered, in a last attempt at discipline, "that you shouldn't talk about night gowns and stockings and—things like that, in a loud tone of voice, and especially when there's men folks round?"

"I know, mother, I know, and I won't. All I want to say is"—here Mr. Cobb gave a cluck, slapped the reins, and the horses started sedately on their daily task—"all I want to say is that it is a journey when"—the stage was really under way now and Rebecca had to put her head out of the window over the door in order to finish her sentence—"it IS a journey when you carry a nightgown!"

Perhaps her mother doesn't love her quite as much as she does Hannah. By the time they arrive at the home of her aunts, Mr. Cobb absolutely adores her. And while Aunt Miranda is not exactly thrilled with her new house mate, Aunt Jane soon loves her. She talks the entire way there, and doesn't want to sit inside the coach, but up on the seat with Mr. Cobb. Then she talks, and talks, and talks. Here's part of that wonderful conversation:

"Milltown ain't no great, neither," replied Mr. Cobb, with the air of having visited all the cities of the earth and found them as naught. "Now you watch me heave this newspaper right onto Mis' Brown's doorstep."

Piff! and the packet landed exactly as it was intended, on the corn husk mat in front of the screen door.

"Oh, how splendid that was!" cried Rebecca with enthusiasm. "Just like the knife thrower Mark saw at the circus. I wish there was a long, long row of houses each with a corn husk mat and a screen door in the middle, and a newspaper to throw on every one!"

"I might fail on some of 'em, you know," said Mr. Cobb, beaming with modest pride. "If your aunt Mirandy'll let you, I'll take you down to Milltown some day this summer when the stage ain't full."

A thrill of delicious excitement ran through Rebecca's frame, from her new shoes up, up to the leghorn cap and down the black braid. She pressed Mr. Cobb's knee ardently and said in a voice choking with tears of joy and astonishment, "Oh, it can't be true, it can't; to think I should see Milltown. It's like having a fairy godmother who asks you your wish and then gives it to you! Did you ever read Cinderella, or The Yellow Dwarf, or The Enchanted Frog, or The Fair One with Golden Locks?"

"No," said Mr. Cobb cautiously, after a moment's reflection. "I don't seem to think I ever did read jest those partic'lar ones. Where'd you get a chance at so much readin'?"

"Oh, I've read lots of books," answered Rebecca casually. "Father's and Miss Ross's and all the dif'rent school teachers', and all in the Sunday-school library. I've read The Lamplighter, and Scottish Chiefs, and Ivanhoe, and The Heir of Redclyffe, and Cora, the Doctor's Wife, and David Copperfield, and The Gold of Chickaree, and Plutarch's Lives, and Thaddeus of Warsaw, and Pilgrim's Progress, and lots more.—What have you read?"

Oh, I can't explain it, this girl just gets on my nerves. Mr. Cobb tells his wife about Rebecca, and within a minute of seeing her Mrs. Cobb loves her too. Then there is Emma Jane, who meets Rebecca when they go to school, we're told she is Rebecca's slave and hugged her chains. All the children love her, the teacher tells her:

"Whatever you do they all do, whether you laugh, or miss, or write notes, or ask to leave the room, or drink; and it must be stopped."

Yes, let's see if I can remember all the wonderful things Rebecca does. She infuses a new spirit into the school, she teaches Elijah and Elisha Simpson to recite three verses to the delight of the school, she wrote a poem for the girl who lisped, she drew an American flag on the chalk board that delighted the teacher and the scholars clapped heartily when seeing it. Another girl drew a map of North America, but since it's not mentioned again, I guess no one was delighted or clapped. She sells soap to buy a poor family a lamp, and Alan Ladd, upon meeting her is so impressed he buys three hundred bars. That had me wondering how long it would take to use all three hundred bars. I find I don't want to talk anymore about Rebecca and her book. I didn't like her because I got tired of her being loved by everyone, no matter what she said or did, and because I didn't like her I didn't care what was going on. But don't listen to me, after all Jack Kerouac called it his favorite childhood book, Mark Twain found it beautiful and moving and satisfying, and Jack London sent a letter to the author saying "Rebecca won my heart". I wonder if I would have felt differently if I would have read it as a young girl. Thinking back on what I was like as a young girl, I have a feeling I would have felt exactly how I do now. Happy reading.

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

An engaging read, but Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm comes in a distant second compared to Anne of Green Gables. As I was reading, there were numerous occassions I encountered distinct simlarities between the two characters. In each case I favored Anne over Rebecca.

One of the reasons I found myself preferring Anne is a result of her friendship with Diana vs. Rebecca's friendship with Emma Jane. When the Rebecca character became "bosom friends" with Emma Jane it wasn't out of any real wish to, but rather there weren't any other more appealing options. Wiggins seemed so in love with her character, that everyone else fell short. There was an obvious superiority. As a result I interpreted the character of Rebecca as condescending. She just isn't as loveable, or as fallible, as Anne.

To be fair, it's been several years since I've read Anne of Green Gables. I'm in the process of re-reading it so I can do a better comparison of the two books instead of going strictly from memory.

[Becca · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to read this book for the name. :)

Overall, I was disappointed. Wiggin over-states the morals in the story, which is a little eye-rolly. Rebecca is similar to Anne in Anne of Green Gables, but this book was published first.

Even though we share a name...I'd say skip it and read Anne.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just ok. My main problem is that Rebecca and some storylines are so similar to Anne of Green Gables and LM Montgomery did a much better job fleshing out the characters and story.

[Luann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this! There are striking similarities to Anne of Green Gables, although this was published 5 years earlier; and to Pollyanna, which was published 10 years after this. So although Rebecca isn't quite as well known, she came before Anne or Pollyanna! I recommend this to fans of either of those books or to anyone who wants to read a classic, wholesome story about an intelligent, imaginative young girl who makes the best of what life hands her.

I was a bit disappointed with the ending. Do we never get to know what ultimately happens to Rebecca? I see that there are a couple of sequels, but the reviews here on Goodreads make me think they probably aren't worth my time. Sad.

Another of Kate Douglas Wiggin's books, The Birds' Christmas Carol, was one of my childhood favorites. I believe I had an abridged copy of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm while growing up, but I don't think I ever read it because I didn't remember any of the details while reading this.

A favorite quote from the story, speaking of Rebecca's Aunt Miranda: "The soul grows into lovely habits as easily as into ugly ones, and the moment a life begins to blossom into beautiful words and deeds, that moment a new standard of conduct is established, and your eager neighbors look to you for a continuous manifestation of the good cheer, the sympathy, the ready wit, the comradeship, or the inspiration, you once showed yourself capable of. Bear figs for a season or two, and the world outside the orchard is very unwilling you should bear thistles."

This would have been a full 5 stars except for the ending. I'm giving it 4.5 stars.

Note: I listened to the audio version available at Librivox, which unfortunately had a mixture of readers. The quality was hit-or-miss depending on the reader. Some were quite good while others sent me to my Kindle to read so I wouldn't have to listen to them.

[Book Concierge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rebecca Randall is the young girl at the center of this classic coming-of-age novel. Living on the idyllic Sunnybrook Farm with her six siblings and her widowed mother, she is sent at age nine to live with her two elderly aunts in Riverboro, Maine. In exchange for her help they will provide room and board, a suitable wardrobe and ensure she receives an education. Her mother hopes it will be “the making of Rebecca.” The novel follows Rebecca through young adulthood.

What a delight this classic is! Of course, I had seen the Shirley Temple movie several times when I was a child, but never read the book. While the novel is very different from Temple’s movie, Rebecca’s irrepressible character is the same. First published in 1903, it is set primarily in the late 19th century.

From the first introduction, as she boards the stagecoach as the lone passenger, Rebecca charms and entertains. She is ever curious, constantly moving, always exploring, and chattering away. She makes friends easily, whether it be with the elderly coach driver, or the girls and boys in her school. She makes mistakes and gets into mischief (what child doesn’t!), but she wins over even her irascible oldest aunt, Miranda.

I wish Wiggin had written a sequel; I sure would read more about Rebecca as a young woman. She’s every bit as engaging and interesting as Anne Shirley (of Green Gables) who was brought to life by L.M. Montgomery some five years after Rebecca Randall debuted.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommended by my friend Meredith after I explained by love obsession with Maud Hart Lovelace's Betsy-Tacy series. This was one of those books I was always vaguely aware of, but never quite got to reading.

There was definitely a bit of Betsy in Rebecca with her love of writing, otherwise their stories are quite different - Rebecca is sent to live with her two maiden aunts when there are just too many children and too little money at her widowed mother's home. Rebecca charms many in her new town and becomes quite the scholar. The story parallels many of the period, only since this is a stand-alone Rebecca grows up and is entering adulthood at the end of the book.

I thoroughly enjoyed the story, though I thought the ending was incredibly abrupt....and though you can guess what happens in Rebecca's later life, I would imagine that many readers clamored for a sequel.

[Andrea Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful story, this one reminded me of Anne of Green Gables. Deep and rich, it drew me inn and entertained me for hours. The narrator, Barbara Caruso, might have sounded similar to actress Tyne Daly at times, and I thought she did a brilliant job bringing Rebecca and the other interesting characters to life. I enjoyed the poignancy and chatterbox qualities of this story. Definitely one I’ll read again sometime.

Content: profanities (two), tobacco

[theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite childhood stories & i enjoyed rereading it so much!

[Katherine 黄爱芬 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rebecca adalah anak nomor dua dari tujuh bersaudara dan oleh ibunya dirinyalah yg dikirim utk "dididik" oleh saudari-saudari ibunya, Bibi Miranda dan Bibi Jane. Dari awal kedua bibi yg bertolak belakang sifatnya itu mengasuh Rebecca yg sifatnya unik dan sangat berbeda dgn kebanyakan anak-anak pd umumnya.

Rebecca ini sangat imajinatif dan kreatif dlm pikirannya bahkan sangat cerdas, tapi dia ada kelemahan dlm hal-hal yg menyangkut hafalan spt sejarah. Rebecca juga ringan tangan dlm membantu si kembar Simpson yg keluarganya sangat malang dan papa, dgn membantu mrk berjualan sabun. Malah dari membantu berjualan ini Rebecca bertemu dgn Mr. Aladdin yaitu Mr. Adam Ladd yg kaya raya. Dan persahabatannya dgn Emma Jane cukup indah.

Sayangnya cerita Rebecca yg awalnya berusia 8 thn melompat ke usia 15 thn lalu 16, 18 tahun. Hubungannya dgn Bibi Miranda tidak membaik tapi ada kejutan dari Bibi Miranda saat sang bibi sekarat.

Utk ukuran novel klasik, saya cukup menyukai cerita buku ini. Saya selalu suka pd tipe anak-anak yg selalu kreatif dan mau bekerja keras mewujudkan impian mereka. Rebecca adalah tipe anak sangat supel dan mudah beradaptasi bergaul pd setiap orang. Hanya Bibi Miranda yg tidak dapat ditaklukkan hatinya (saya pikir Miranda tipe ESTJ), penjelasan interaksi mereka juga kurang utk membuat saya memahami Miranda kecuali Miranda dan Jane adalah sepasang bibi yg tidak menikah dan terutama Miranda kurang suka pd anak kecil dan tentu saja Miranda tidak suka pd almarhum ayah Rebecca. Dan cukup mengejutkan dirinya mengizinkan utk mengasuh Rebecca.

Sayangnya endingnya masih nanggung menurut saya sih. Overall 3.5 🌟

[Riley G.]

I’ve had this on my mental TBR for a while. I’m finally adding it to my actual list.

[Carmen Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was … meh. 😅 I’m giving it 3 stars because there were a few times I actually laughed out loud and a few beautifully written sections, but it was a little hard to connect with the characters and story.
You’ll see many reviews comparing it to Anne of Green Gables, and even before I read the reviews I was thinking the same thing. The opening chapter immediately made me think of AOGG. This one was written first so maybe LMM took the idea … and did a much better job. 😆
It’s overall a good story and I’d recommend it as a good American classic, but it does pale in comparison as far as writing style, depth of characters, and plot to AOGG.

[Hanin Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

this books was a gift from my elementary school teacher, I couldn’t have the chance to read before and I cannot describe my feelings while reading it. Thx Miss Hind

[Sophia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally published in 1903, this children's classic has been a sunny delight for ages. A colorful, clever, larger than life young girl has an outlook on life that faces down tragedy, change, and things like poverty with a rich imagination enchanting nearly everyone who encounters her.

Rebecca is one of seven children from an impoverished family. Her mother is a recent widow and the family farm is eking along. Long ago, her mother married a charismatic man that the aunts didn't approve of and her father turned out to be a dreamer who wasn't good at a livelihood. Now, the aunts have sent for Rebecca's older sister to cultivate ladylike decorum and send her off to school so she can learn something and earn her own way while also sending funds home to help the family. Rebecca's mother doesn't have much need of a child like Rebecca so she sends her instead of the steady, hardworking Hannah.

From the coach driver to her teacher at the little school, Rebecca charms them all. That is everyone, but her oldest stern aunt who only sees her frivolous father in her. Aunt Miranda will have no nonsense and can't under stand the creative and sunny child she has under her roof. She is stern and even cruel in ways while Aunt Jane softens Miranda's dictates where she can seeing Rebecca as a loving, willing child. Rebecca grows up under their influence and, more so, under her own winsome ways. She is generous and kind to those whom others pass over and she is a source of effervescence imaginary adventure to her school chums. Even when away at school and nearly grown up, she catches the attention and makes her own way, but still, there is always the concern about her impoverished family back home and even the liveliest of young lady's are brought to earth by some woes. But, Rebecca shows an inner strength and earthy maturity that surprises, no matter what live throws in her path.

I forgot how sparkling and uplifting this story was and was tickled to rediscover it when I spotted it on audio. Lorna Raver was a new to me narrator, but she captured Rebecca's voice and that of old, young, male and female as well as what sounded like the Yankee accent that might be heard regionally in smalltown Maine.

All in all, this inspiring classic hit the spot. I can recommend it for those looking for Victorian era Americana fiction or a children's story that is a bubbly classic.

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

Rebecca's mom has more than she can handle with seven kids and a farm after her husband dies, and so off Rebecca goes to live with her two maiden aunts in the brick house in town. Rebecca goes to school, and she gets a great education there, with an influential teacher to guide her. She befriends a rich benefactor as well as an elderly couple and all of these people---the aunts, the teacher, the rich man, the elderly couple---all of them influence her in strong and positive directions.

I loved this story. I think I'd expected something sappy sweet but it was nothing like that, with Rebecca a believable character coming from a poor background and developing into a lovable and strong young woman.

Some wonderful quotes:

"To become sensible of oneness with the Divine heart before any sense of separation has been felt, this is surely the most beautiful way for the child to find God."

"Look at the pebbles in the bottom of the pool, Miss Emily, so round and smooth and shining." "Yes, but where did they get that beautiful polish, that satin skin, that lovely shape, Rebecca? Not in the still pool lying on the sands. It was never there that their angles were rubbed off and their rough surfaces polished, but in the strife and warfare of running waters. They have jostled against other pebbles, dashed against sharp rocks, and now we look at them and call them beautiful."

"He is wrong; my talent is not a great one, but no talent is wholly wasted unless its owner chooses to hide it in a napkin. Remember that of your own gifts, Rebecca; they may not be praised of men, but they may cheer, console, inspire, perhaps, when and where you least expect. The brimming glass that overflows its own rim moistens the earth about it."

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second reading - September 2016

First reading - June 2015

This has to be one of the most endearing girl classics that I have read. It is a such a deft blend of humor, sentimentality and serious character study. Fans of Anne of Green Gables, Daddy Long Legs, Caddie Woodlawn, Understood Betsy, Pollyanna and Eight Cousins will find this to be a satifying, enobling and enriching read. I laughed out loud, pondered and cried.