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Under the Lilacs
Under the Lilacs was published in 1878, approximately 10 years after the release of Little Women. This charming story is about two girls, Bab and Betty who are having a tea party. When a dog eats their cake, and they end up finding a circus runaway in their barn.
Alcott was a very prolific writer who wrote books for almost 40 years. She passed away in 1888 due to health pr
ebook, 0 pages
Published
January 1st 2010
by MobileReference
(first published 1878)
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I was a little worried that I would be comparing this to Little Women which is my favorite book of all time. Little Women it certainly was not. However, it is a lovely little story that has its own merits. Very similar to Little Women in that it could also be a collection of short stories (each chapter has a situation, a climax and is more or less resolved very shortly with the main plot loosely tying it all together) rather than a novel, it follows Betty, Bab & Ben on many little adventures...more
I have decided this is one of my top 5 LMA books. The story is not preachy and the characters are real and down to earth. People are doing their best and it's just good enough. Ben has run away from his life as a circus boy because his father went away and his guardians mistreat him. Bab and Betty find him and his talented dog living in the carriage house. Their mother takes him in, cleans him up and gets him a job helping the Squire, but when Miss Celia reopens the big house, she finds she need...more
Most young boys dream of running away to join a circus but young Ben Brown and his clever poodle, Sancho, have run away from the circus. Ben’s father had left the circus to look for a better job, intending to send for his son once he was settled. Once his father's protection had gone, Ben was beaten by the circus master and so runs away. Babs and Betty Moss are in the garden of Miss Celia’s big house holding a dolls' tea party in the shade of the lilac trees. They catch Sancho red-handed stealin...more
I was a bit disappointed with this work. I had just finished Rose in Bloom and An Old-Fashioned Girl, so I suppose that I was expecting a more mature book. It is a sweet read, however, for young readers who wish to become familiar with classic authors.
The book follows two young sisters, Bab and Betty, and their adventures with their young friend Ben, a circus runaway, his trick-dog, Sancho, and Miss Celia and Thornton, a brother and sister duo who also add spice to their life. With a true ‘sto...more
The book follows two young sisters, Bab and Betty, and their adventures with their young friend Ben, a circus runaway, his trick-dog, Sancho, and Miss Celia and Thornton, a brother and sister duo who also add spice to their life. With a true ‘sto...more
I don't really know why this was one of my favorite books as a child. Was it the circus boy and dog? Or just the pastoral beauty of all those lilacs? I'm not sure if the "moral" just went over my head or if, as small children do, I instinctively just liked the comments on good and evil, consequences and deeds. Whatever it was, I still find it a charming story.
This one can turn into a bit of a morality play at times, but it's still a very sweet little story. For some reason I remembered it as a story about two little girls living next to a mysterious house, when it's really more of a "little lost boy finds a home" story. I liked Alcott's "Little Men" a lot more, but this was an excellent children's book.
This book is intended for children; it features two sisters called Bab and Betty, who are 10 and 9 respectively, and a boy called Ben who is 12 and who has run away from a circus, looking for his father.
It's old-fashioned, of course, and based in America, but the language is simple enough that I would expect many girls of around 8 or 9 to enjoy it, and perhaps some boys too since Ben is actually the hero of the book. There are a few places where the author makes comments, as tended to happen in...more
It's old-fashioned, of course, and based in America, but the language is simple enough that I would expect many girls of around 8 or 9 to enjoy it, and perhaps some boys too since Ben is actually the hero of the book. There are a few places where the author makes comments, as tended to happen in...more
Under the Lilacs is a cute story by Louisa May Alcott, involving a circus runaway, his dog, and the family who takes him in.
For me, it started slowly, but picked up around the middle when the dog goes missing. I was slightly disappointed that it lacked the flair for dramatics that I like in Alcott's other work. It's just a straight-forward, cute, old-fashion children's story that's at home on the shelf with stories like Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.
Not Alcott's best in my opinion, but nice, and wo...more
For me, it started slowly, but picked up around the middle when the dog goes missing. I was slightly disappointed that it lacked the flair for dramatics that I like in Alcott's other work. It's just a straight-forward, cute, old-fashion children's story that's at home on the shelf with stories like Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.
Not Alcott's best in my opinion, but nice, and wo...more
Like most of Louisa May Alcott's books, it's a sweet story with a fair amount of lessons and morals built in for the younger crowd. They're fun to read as an adult to get a snapshot of the times and relive a bit of the perspective we all had when we were young.
I forgot before reading this that this is probably my least favorite of all the non-Little Women LMA works. Long, not terribly exciting, and more than a little random, it's an easy read to breeze through, if not one to particularly embrace.
A lesser-known work of Alcott's, that is simpler and probably aimed at younger readers, given the age of the protagonists. Readers familiar with Alcott will recongize her style, but its a bit of a kinder, gentler Alcott, with a subtler moral streak.
I loved this book. Well, I generally like all Louisa May Alcotts books, but this was a very sweet one, with the authors usual moral code dotting the story without overwhemling it, and her characters are lovable as always.
So far, Ben got a job as a cattle handler. He also is beginning to read books, especially history books. He now wants to go to school. He meets a women who's horse has a rock in it's hoof and he helps her remove the rock. The women thanks Ben and she said when she returns to town she will bring him a book as payment. I think Ben will finally have a chance to go to school with his two friends. I really liked it when Ben is describing his work with the cattle and how rewarding the job is to him.
For recreational fiction, I love the imagination and charm of Louisa May Alcott's children's books. This one is a precious story starring two little girls and a boy in need who becomes part of the family for a while.
I read this when I was about 13 or so... A dusty old book, printed in 1940 something, after my father told me I should read "a classic". I still don't really read them, but I do remember enjoying this.
Another lovely morality tale by Louisa May Alcott. She clearly was fascinated by the moral, physical, and emotional lives and upbringing of boys and girls as they make the transition from youth to young adulthood. Sweet!
I didn't remember that I had read this book before until I was into the book. It is a very good book, not sticky like Little Women. I enjoyed it a lot.
May 24, 2010
Stephanie "Jedigal"
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
child-young-adult
Can't remember if I read this or not. It was part of a hard-back set of LMA titles I had as a kid. My feeling is that I read several of them but not all.
A very old-fashioned slap-you-upside-the-head earnest morality tale for children. Not everything Louisa wrote is great. Try Eight Cousins instead.
A joyous tale about the hardships of a runaway circus boy and his dog and the wonderful people he meets in a quiet town that change his life forever. Absolutely delightful!
Oct 16, 2009
Meredith Henning
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
violet,
classic-lit
Violet's 2009-2010 reading page: http://happyheartsmom.typepad.com/swe...
What a delightful diversion, especially after all the World War reading I've done recently. A little syrupy, but not "cloying."
Lovely escape to old fashioned values with a little old fashioned sexism and racism thrown in of course. : ) Can't go wrong with a little Alcott. Kind of a cross between Little Women and an old fasioned Girl
Charming...innocent...
The first 2 pages of this book and the descriptive doll birthday celebration completely stole my heart! It was so well crafted and was, by far, my most fav. part of the tale of these 3 children (Bab, Betty, Ben).
It was unfortunate that the entire story didn't have that same creative flair. It did drag in parts for me. However, this was my Grandma Cory's all-time favorite book, and for that reason alone, I'm glad that I read this (even if it did take me a month {ugh}).
It w...more
The first 2 pages of this book and the descriptive doll birthday celebration completely stole my heart! It was so well crafted and was, by far, my most fav. part of the tale of these 3 children (Bab, Betty, Ben).
It was unfortunate that the entire story didn't have that same creative flair. It did drag in parts for me. However, this was my Grandma Cory's all-time favorite book, and for that reason alone, I'm glad that I read this (even if it did take me a month {ugh}).
It w...more
On a scale of 1 to 'Eight Cousins' I'd give this a 4. Eight Cousins being my favorite Alcott book. It was a sweet, simple tale but a little too syrupy for me. It'd be a good read aloud to kids though.
Sweet little story but it wasn't as good as Alcott's other stuff. It was a little slow in parts.
a good story about a runaway and how some girls meet him and become his friends.
Absolutely charming story with happy endings all around! Very endearing characters.
Light, enjoyable book. Not quite as engaging to me as Little Women, but just so nice and comfortable and friendly (good for kids, of course). Even the difficult circumstances in it seemed okay just because of the joyful writing style.
Read this in Highschool. From what I can remember, it was kind of boring.
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Louisa May Alcott was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania on November 29, 1832. She and her three sisters, Anna, Elizabeth and May were educated by their father, philosopher/ teacher, Bronson Alcott and raised on the practical Christianity of their mother, Abigail May.
Louisa spent her childhood in Boston and in Concord, Massachusetts, where her days were enlightened by visits to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s...more
More about Louisa May Alcott...
Louisa spent her childhood in Boston and in Concord, Massachusetts, where her days were enlightened by visits to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s...more
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Jun 23, 2011 05:06am