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Aug 21, 2007

Julia rated it:

I have an old "antique" (well, just really, really used) edition of this book that my grandmother handed down to me when I was a kid which I suspect added to the feeling that it took me back in time. I loved it. If you liked Alcott's An Old Fashioned Girl, you will like this. If you think those old novels for children about families overcoming hardship and learning to appreciate one another despite lack of material goods, etc., etc. are painfully cheesy you will not like this.

2 comments like (5 people liked it)

Feb 08, 2010

Adam rated it:

When I was little I was known as the kid who read. People in our town would give me books just because I was the kid who read. (I've read since I was three). This was one such book--a neighbor woman gave the book to me. I never liked it very much because it's like a honey, chocolate, and jam sandwich. Hooo-boy!

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Aug 22, 2008

Erik rated it:

There being no library in the nearest town, my early reading during summers with Mother and my paternal grandmother in the latter's cottage near Lake Michigan was severely limited by what was on hand, mostly books belonging to "Nanny", my grandmother. Fortunately, she was quite a reader.

Mikey Spillance novels not being of much interest yet, I picked up her old copy of the first Little Peppers novel because it was clearly a children's book. Indeed, the edition had been pub More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Jan 29, 2012

Tanya rated it:

My mom has raved about this book for years and couldn't believe that I hadn't read it. So when I saw it on CD at the library I decided to get it over with. The kids (the 8 to 14 crowd) and I actually enjoyed it but at the same time we kind of make fun of it by quoting the children in the sickly sweet voices that the reader uses. ("Polly, please tell us a story. Oh, do, Polly, do!" or "I must make a gingerbread boy for my poor sick man!") It has been compared to the Anne of Gr More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 01, 2012

Lydia rated it:

This book will only appeal to a certain type of tween. I have known ten and eleven year-olds who have both loved and lost interest in this book. A classic, written in 1881, focuses primarily on the daily lives of five poor children living with their widowed mother in a small, dilapidated house. As is typical of novels written for children about poverty, the Pepper children knew they were poor, but did not feel poor, as they were constantly surrounded by love and family.

Small joys, gene More...

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Nov 01, 2011

Emma rated it:

This tale is the first in a series of stories about the five Pepper children - Ben, Polly, Joey, Davie, and Phronsie. The story begins after their father has died leaving the Peppers with only their mother to provide for them. The family lives in poverty in a little brown house within a tiny community. The oldest two children do whatever they can to help "Mamsie" provide for the others. Although there are bickers and the two younger boys frequently get themselves into trouble, the fami More...

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Feb 12, 2010

Drebbles rated it:

"The Five Little Peppers" are Ben, Polly, Joel, Davie, and Phronsie. Their father died when Phronsie was a baby and Mrs. Pepper struggles to earn enough money to support the family. Despite their poverty, they are a loving family, full of spirit and adventure. Ben and Polly do what they can to support the family, but a bout with measles threatens the well being of the entire Pepper clan, especially Joel and Polly. The family has other adventures and befriend Jasper King during one of t More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 20, 2009

Ruth rated it:

I read this because the Gilbreth children in Cheaper by the Dozen liked it, but I was disappointed. It seems like a lot of the plot and characters are ripped off from Louisa May Alcott's books Little Women and An Old Fashioned Girl, down to the oldest girl being named Polly! I checked, and both of these were published before the Five Little Peppers. Margaret Sidney even lived in the same area as Louisa May Alcott: Concord. Or maybe it's just that all of these books use common themes of 19th More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 11, 2012

Kathryn rated it:

The best word for this book is probably "cloying". I did enjoy it, because, well, I like the sickly sweet (Alcott, Montgomery, some Burnett, Grace Richmond, etc.), but even for me, it was just a bit too much.

Five Little Peppers and How They Grew is our introduction to the Pepper family, consisting of Mrs. Pepper, "Mamsie", and her five children. As in the beginning of Little Women, the family is poor, and the oldest children work to help support it; when the fam More...

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Dec 16, 2009

Lizzy _3 rated it:

I didn't think that I would like this book. I just read it because I needed to read something that was in my level for school and this was the first book I could find. It was really kind of cute though. I was surprised. The name sounds dumb but it's actually a fun play on words because although it suggests it, this book has nothing whatsoever to do with vegetables. It's actually about five little kids and their last name is Pepper. It was cute and I enjoyed it.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 03, 2011

Erin rated it:

I just finished reading this to Megan for her bedtime reading. We really enjoyed it. It opened up lots of discussion about things in the book that were unfamiliar to her. While reading about Polly having to sew a button on her shoe, I was able to share a story about my grandmother and button-down shoes. What a wonderful way to pass along some of my family stories!

If I have any complaints about it, it would be that the Pepper children are just too perfect and sweet. We truly enjo More...

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Aug 25, 2007

Lynne rated it:

Another wonderful story from my childhood that has remained in my memory all these years. I also shared this one with Makayla. It is the story of hardship, love, & perserverence after the 5 Little Peppers lose their father. In late 1800 America it was very hard on their mother to keep this close-knit family together but she managed to.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 28, 2011

Avel rated it:

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 tou More...

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Jan 27, 2008

Maureen rated it:

The five little Peppers are the sweetest, most responsible and helpful children in the world who are always happy even though they are very poor. The perfection of the Pepper children gets a little corny, but the stories about them are cute and fun to read, and there is a surprising plot twist at the end!

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 29, 2008

Belinda rated it:

After finishing Cheaper By The Dozen I decided to read this since it is mentioned in the above book. Just as I was convinced that it was a very tiresome story I couldn't put it down. It went from being very victimist (could that be a word?) to fun. Now I just have to buy the other 12 or so books...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 04, 2008

Janel rated it:

My grandmother gave me a copy of this when I was a girl, and it wasn't a complete edition. When I read the complete book to my children, I wondered why all children's literature isn't this sweet. We love it!

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 13, 2010

Suzanne rated it:

I read this book after learning that the Gilbreth children read it. It was mentioned in the book Cheaper by the Dozen. It is about a family pulling together and helping each other through hard times. Set in Victorian days, there aren't any modern-day distractions interferring with family life. The children are caring for their mother, who works hard to provide what she can. In fact they all have a part in keeping the family afloat since their father died. They worry for each other and shar More...

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Aug 12, 2011

Susan rated it:

I learned that this was a favorite of my mother's so it became a must read. She and her four best friends called themselves 'the five peppers', even through high school, so for them it was one of those wonderful shared memories that, if we are fortunate to have something similar, we consider ourselves very lucky. Those are the memories that stay with us forever. There's nothing even slightly similar or comparable to life today and life in the early 20th century other than the obvious --- fami More...

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Mar 10, 2008

Jeanette rated it:

A sweet tale of a poor family who worked together and sacrificed for each other. I enjoyed this book when I read it as a child. The first and second books were the best in the series.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 14, 2008

Buffy rated it:

This was my favorite book as a kid. I found it in one of my old boxes the other day and realized that I haven't thought about it for years. It was amazing... I think.. haha.

4 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 27, 2008

Diane rated it:

This was my all time favorite book when I was a child. I must of read it four or five times. I just wanted to be part of the Pepper family.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 11, 2008

Carol rated it:

My mother made me read this. I did not like it. Forty years and a degree of early onset senility has not improved my memory of it. Pablum!

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 20, 2009

Holly rated it:

I snagged this book at Goodwill because I remembered my mother and her mother both talking about reading it when they were children, and who am I to break a family tradition like that? And even though I am in a reading slump, I read it in just four days.

The Pepper kids are way too good, way too happy, way too sweet, except when undergoing one of their dramatic mood swings, but this story was written in the 1800's so it's worth reading for anyone who likes or can overlook the sacchar More...

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Jun 20, 2011

Jill rated it:

this story is simple and sweet, set in a time before electricity. the mother is devoted to providing for her children, and the children bend over backwards to make life happy for their mother. (the father passed before the book begins.) there is a gentleman character, a grandfather, and he "insisting on being contrary" taught me with laser precision how i usually am. his dialogue and manner caused me a lot of introspection and commitment to do better, to not be so contrary. in that More...

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Feb 17, 2009

Susan rated it:

This is one of the first books I actually remember reading "all by myself". It was of the same genre and feel of the Little House, Boxcar Children and Little Women books and I loved them all. Read everyone of them more than once until I was about 10 or 11 and began to turn towards more grown up themes and stories, Something about the closeness of families in the face of adversity, all pulling together and it being ok in the end made some of the lesser appealing parts of my childhood d More...

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Jul 18, 2010

Chris rated it:

I picked this up free audio version from the library system MP3's to download. I received this book as a gift when I was 8 years old, but never finised reading it. So, it was great to "hear" the book. It seems like a common theme for poor families to somehow get befriended by someone rich, and this is no different. This theme must have given people hope, since it was written back in the late 1800's. I must have been bored with it, when I was young, and the audio version made it mu More...

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Mar 26, 2011

Luann rated it:

How did I miss reading any of the Five Peppers books growing up? I knew about them because the family in Cheaper by the Dozen loved the books. But I never came across any Five Peppers books in my library or thought to seek them out myself - until now! The newfangled ebook technology makes these older books easily available and very affordable - practically free! :)

I love the Five Peppers! This is just the first book, but I'll definitely be reading more in the future. This isn't an ac More...

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Oct 24, 2008

Letty rated it:

I often refer to a book I have called "Our Books, Our Wings" which lists favorite books of Nebraskans. The Five Little Peppers was mentioned by so many people as one of their favorite childhood books that my curiousity was piqued. The introduction kind of compared it to "Little Women" and I guess I could see the resemblance, though with much younger children, and much greater poverty (they didn't have a cook/maid--that's poverty???). The main focus of the book is on the ch More...

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Jan 24, 2012

Elizabeth S rated it:

Sweet story from the late 19th century about five siblings who work hard to help their mother and support the family. Very much in the line with such classics as Little Women (and other Louisa May Alcott books), What Katy Did (and other Susan Coolidge books), and Freckles.

Some would say these stories are "sticky sweet", meaning the characters are all wearing rose-colored glasses. But I don't find them so. The characters have problems, real problems, probably problems m More...

2 comments like

Jun 26, 2010

Lisa rated it:

Had never read this book as a child so thought I'd give it a try now, in my pursuit to read more children's classics. It's about Mrs. Pepper and her five children, poor as church mice and constantly struggling to eke out an existence in their little brown house. They always seem to do it somehow, relying on their extremely tight bond of love and support for each other and the caring folks who are drawn into their lives. Can seem a little Pollyanna-ish, especially reading it as an adult, but I fo More...

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