Five Little Peppers and How They Grew Book and Charm (Charming Classics)

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Summary: Absorbing Story & Historical Information
Review: "Five Little Peppers" is a lovely, absorbing story that also provides children with a clue about life before television, computers and malls. My daughter, age 8, describes it as a book she would like to "jump into." Two notes about the current HarperFestival paperback version: The cover illustration of the HarperFestival edition is highly misleading in that it depicts a family in essentially contemporary clothing. Also, the tape used to affix the accompanying necklace is so sticky that it can ruin the inside cover a bit when detaching.

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Summary: The Five Little Peppers and How they Grew
Review: At the turn of the last century, five children and their widowed mother are left alone in the Brown House to make do in the daunting face of real poverty, with the fear of starvation always looming. And yet, the Pepper house is full of love. The five children, Ben, Polly, Davie, Joel and Phronsie, all help their mother in the day-to-day chores that make up their rough existence.

True to the mores of the time, Polly helps her mother sew so she can earn her pitiful pennies as a seamstress. The older boys do odd jobs and their chores. They frequently have nothing to eat but a cold potato, and when measles strikes the house, the almost deadly consequences just about tear the family apart. But their strength and love pulls them through--just in time to meet a family that will change their lives forever.

If you want your child to learn true family values, and to see and value the true spirit of giving, this is the book. Without preaching, without being cloying, without hammering the point home, "The Five Little Peppers" is a lasting testament to all that is good in people. Its charm is as strong today as it was generations ago.

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Summary: Unforgettable Story
Review: From the reviews it appears that readers remember it differently from one another. I thought it was set during or immediately after the civil war which killed the father. I can't remember any books from my childhood except maybe for Little House (and that may be mostly due to the TV show) yet this one stayed with me all these years. I don't know why this particular book appealed to me so much, there is something very endearing about it that time will not erase. It might also have something to do with my mother reading chapters to me each night before bed, :-)

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Summary: There is something special here
Review: I recently re-read this book, which I'd enjoyed as a child (forty years ago). Today, it seems rather dismal to me - horrible poverty, illness, the pat happy ending and children who are horribly gushing over their mother. Yet, years back, what I most liked about the story was that, being a very independent and mature child myself, Polly and Ben succeed very well at taking on adult responsibilities.

Though I'm at a loss about explaining exactly how the author does so, I've found that this is a book which every reader interprets differently - and that shows an amazing depth. My own mother remembers reading it as a child, and being moved by the familial devotion and respect for the matriarch. As other posts here make clear, it can reach each of us on a different level.

This book is a worthy addition to any child's library. However, I'd leave a single caveat: do not use it to prompt "a talk," especially on the "look how good you have it today" theme. Let the era introduce itself. It was a time of great poverty for many, yet also one which idealised a form of "perfect" family relationships which no one could hope to have. The combination of gritty realism with idealistic dreams has a message that kids will grasp on their own, and probably quite inventively.

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Summary: The Peppers we know and love
Review: This book is about a poor family of five children and their widowed mother. It's about their troubles of being poor and their ability to always look on the bright side. Sidney tells about how the family deals with their problems. The family goes through many hardships, such as an illness throughout the family and a temporary blindness occurring. They think all is over when a twist of fate turns their spirits around.

This book has a great storyline with well-developed characters. It has some tougher words which makes the book an older children's novel. But it is a wonderful book and the author did an excellent job making the reader believe he or she is actually there seeing what's going on and really knowing the characters. I would recommend this book to readers who like stories of growing up and dealing with hardships.

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Summary: Lovely, old fashioned tale for still-innocent children.
Review: This book is written in the style of its time (first published in 1881). It is the tale of an appealing and almost-implausibly loving family of five children their mother. Their father has died and they are managing, though barely, on their own. Poverty is continuous but not oppressive. The Peppers are resourceful and vigorous. The children lack for nothing when it comes to love, and must substitute industry and premature responsibilities for academic education.

They seem not to suffer much. The devotion of their mother to their well being, and the jollity and flair for fun the children possess temper what might otherwise be, for modern children, a frightening prospect. I read this book to my almost-six year old daughter, who was enthralled, enchanted and amused by the exploits of these five youngsters. Their serious bout with measles, their poor circumstances, their unquenchable good spirits, and their close relationships provided plenty of drama for this chi! ld who does not depend on special effects or motorized games for entertainment. In other words, though the story is old fashioned, even obvious and unsubtle in its moral message of love and devotion, it is still rich with possibilities for a child with imagination.

It is a kind of fairy tale, in the end, as the family circumstances are changed due to a somewhat fantastical coincidence of relatedness with a family of considerable means. But children have no trouble suspending their disbelief, and they love happy endings. The essential values are ones to which families of today still ascribe: love, devotion, simplicity, self reliance, and more. Its old fashioned flavor is one of its charms, particularly for children (and their parents) who have an affinity for things old fashioned, and whose language ability can accommodate more formal speech and turns of phrase now in disuse.

My daughter is hounding me for sequels, of which there are many, and of which I was unaware. ! I recommend this book to families who want to acquaint thei! r children with times past and the timeless qualities that are possible within families. It is a good and quiet book with simple, if difficult problems, and characters any child would do well to emulate. It would interest children who have enjoyed "Sarah Plain and Tall," and the "Little House" books, among others.

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Summary: Family Tradition
Review: This book was the first in a series of 12 about the Pepper family. It was written in 1881 and takes place shortly after the Civil War(1860's-70's). The Pepper books follow the adventures of the 5 Pepper children and their widowed mother. The Peppers are poor but proud and the books extoll the importance of family and love and honesty and believing in yourself. These are wonderful books for children of all ages. They are sweet and funny and have an undercurrent of morality sadly lacking in most books written today. I started with my mothers childhood copy and have read and re-read the 4 books from the series I have been able to track down. I would recommend this and all the Pepper books to everyone. They are especially suited to be passed down from mother to daughter.