Back to the Books: "Five Little Peppers and How They Grew" by Margaret Sydney

A substitute teacher at the former St. Bernard Catholic School in Joliet read the Five Little Peppers and How They Grew, a few pages a day, to the class when I was in the third grade.

We had this particular teacher for several weeks. Our regular teacher returned before she finished it.

So at some point, I checked out Five Little Peppers and How They Grew out from the school library in order to find out how the book ended. I loved the book and re-read it before I had to return it.

The library also had Five Litttle Peppers Midway, which I also read and loved. I didn't realize Margaret Sydney (her real name was Harriett Mulford Stone Lothrop) had written an entire series of "Peppers" books, just the two, until years later.

Recently, while scrolling through reviews on Goodreads, I saw that people either love or hate this series about five poor children being raised by a single mother in the nineteenth century.

I have not read either book again as an adult (although I own the copy shown below, faded as it is), which Rebekah loved and has also re-read many, many times. 

So I found the version of Five Little Peppers Midway pictured above, the book I had read from the school library on eBay and suprised Rebekah with it for her birthday last week.

So since I have not re-read either book, I'm not certain if I simply retain a sentimental value for these books I treasured as a child or if they stand up well to time for me.

Nevertheless, these two books impacted my life and my writing in several ways.

They contributed to my fondness for the nineteenth century along with my ability to reproduce the speech patterns in a natural way in some of the books in the BryonySeries.

And these two books also helped shape my values regarding the excess of wealth. Although poverty is not something to romanticize, money won't bring happiness or love, and it's better have happiness and love than an excess of weath.

For details on the this first book and its characters, which I felt were really well-drawn, its Wikipedia page gives a nice overview.

For insight on what other readers think, its Goodreads page is a solid place to start.

One last point: my version, has beautiful black and white illustrations and full color plates, which is almost never seen today in children's books, a shame, in my opinion, as good art can add value to a good story.

Maybe that's why I really emphasize the artwork in the BryonySeries books and include chapter heading illustrations in many of the books.