My mother read it to me and her mother read it to her, and I believe my mother’s mother’s mother read it aloud, too. I am talking about the children’s book, The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney. This week featured National Read a Book Day. Why not celebrate by reading a book to someone special?
I didn’t save too many bits and pieces from my parents’ home, but I did keep this book that has been in my family for generations. Love and happiness abound in this book, not only between the covers, but in the gift of memories from this story, too.
The Five Little Peppers and How The Grew was published in …1881! I am delighted to have one of the originals! This book was the first in what became a twelve book series.
My mother tucked me in to bed each night and always read aloud to me. I am sure many of you have pleasant memories like this, too. During the day, my mother was struck and firm, so at night time I enjoyed these peaceful, close moments with her. I was around five years old when my Mom opened first The Peppers and we learned about this family from long ago.
Mrs. Pepper had five children. They called her Mamsie and they lived in a “little brown house.” The family filled the home with love and happiness but they were poor. Mrs. Pepper and all the children had to work together to even keep food in the house. Many nights, they had a cold potato for dinner. Ben was that oldest and good student. He helped the next child, Polly, take care of the younger children. Both Ben and Polly were bright and cheerful.
The younger children were Joel, Davie, and Phronsie (short for Sophronia). Joel sought adventures and mischief, Davie preferred the quieter life and Phronsie embraced the role of baby of the family. The children made friends with Jasper and that ruined out to be a blessing. As child, the name Jasper intrigued me as it sounded exotic and regal to me. Now I hear that this name is becoming popular again.
By the time my grandmother read them to my mother, my mother liked the story because she could imagine the growing up times of her Mom’s life.
and I loved the old-fashioned antics of the Pepper children and the stories of the olden days.
What is the status of The Five Little Peppers now in 2016, 135 years after the book was first published? I looked on Amazon and The Peppers are still charming today’s parents and children. The ebook edition that I looked at had 140 reviews for an average of 4.5 stars. An ebook collection of all Pepper books was ranked #27,131! One five-star review, titled Old Style Innocence, tells us “The five little Peppers are delightful children who see every day as a new adventure! Great story of the everyday experience of living when things were simple”.
Author Margaret Sidney had a similar life and literary journey as her contemporary, Louis May Alcott. I will tell you more about her in another post.
I hope you have had the pleasure of someone reading you a book, as well as the joy of reading to someone else!
I am a writer, blogger, book reviewer, and bon vivant and encourager. I have lived my entire life in Tropical Ohio. My goal is to make friends with everyone in the world. I am writing a fiction series, The Golden Age of Charli, that presents the problems and praises, and the love and laughter of family life and retirement.
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Stephanie L. Robertson
September 13, 2016 at 2:58 pmI’ve never read the “Peppers” book, but I’ll have to check it out, as I’m an avid reader. When my middle school-aged daughter was little, reading to her was one of my favorite things to do. I still need to read aloud to her, because that never grows old!
Jena Henry
September 13, 2016 at 3:05 pmHi Stephanie, thanks for “visiting” I am going to be stopping by “your place” soon. My Mom read it over and over to me. I was surprised and delighted to see that it is still available!
Geralyn Corcillo
October 28, 2016 at 12:17 amOMG, Jena! I remember very few details from this book and your post brought some of them back to me! As soon as I saw this cover, I was like, “I remember reading that book!” Not too much reading going on in my raucous house growing up, but sometimes I would find books in boxes of handy-me-downs from relatives and … I was transported!!! Thank you for triggering SUCH a happy memory!!!!!!
Jena Henry
October 28, 2016 at 8:39 amNice to hear from you! Yes, books are marvelous at connecting us to ourselves, our past, others! I love the idea of you being little and thrilled to find a box of books! And now look at you- such a charming and talented writer!!