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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1934.Little_Women?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Little Women" border="0" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1159226620m/1934.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1934.Little_Women?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Little Women</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1315.Louisa_May_Alcott">Louisa May Alcott</a> 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6060374?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
 rating: 4 of 5 stars I once did a short presentation on this book, the following text was part of it.
 
 Louisa May Alcott was born in Germantown, which is now a part of Philadelphia, in 1832. But soon she moved with her family to the Boston-area, where she and her three sisters Anna, Elizabeth and May grew up. The four girls were educated by their father Bronson Alcott, who was a member of the New England Transcendentalists. Through him Louisa met other Transcendentalists like Theodore Parker, Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. 
 Influenced by these great writers it is not surprising that Lousias greatest passion was writing. She had a rich imagination and often made up stories that she and her sisters act out for their parents or friends. She started her career as a serious author partly because she needed to earn some money to support the family who was not always wealthy. In the beginning, Louisa wrote poetry and short stories, later on the novels. 
 
 At the age of 35 her publisher asked her to write a novel for children. That’s how she wrote „Little Women“ where she describes the four March sisters coming of age in New England at the time of the Civil War. The father serves as a preacher in the war, the girls are left alone with their loving mother. The five women live in poverty but try to make the best of it. 
 The story is very autobiographical. Lousia resembles Jo, who is a tomboy only interested in literature. The eldest sister Anna was the model for Meg, who is pretty and rather vain about that. Elizabeth is portrayed as the gentle Beth, she is the quiet and shy one who enjoys playing the piano. The equivalent of the youngest sister May is Amy, the little girl that often wants to be the center of the attraction. You can see the similarities even in the names: Elizabeth and Beth; May and Amy. „Little Women“ was followed by several other novels about the March family, such as: Good Wives, Little Men and Jo’s Boys.
 
 Especially children books always have a moral (or even more than one). Here for example in the second chapter, where the sisters give their Christmas breakfast to a hungry family and content themselves with bread and milk. They were really looking forward to this breakfast, because they are not rich and don't get all those good things regularly. But they saw that this other family was suffering a lot more. They are rewarded for this altruistic act on the same evening with a delicious dinner, donated by their neighbour who has heard of their generous gift. Only who gives something, gets something in return.
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/321508?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Karschtl's review
rating:
bookshelves: children_teenie, classic, drama, movie, part_of_series

I once did a short presentation on this book, the following text was part of it.

Louisa May Alcott was born in Germantown, which is now a part of Philadelphia, in 1832. But soon she moved with her family to the Boston-area, where she and her three sisters Anna, Elizabeth and May grew up. The four girls were educated by their father Bronson Alcott, who was a member of the New England Transcendentalists. Through him Louisa met other Transcendentalists like Theodore Parker, Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Influenced by these great writers it is not surprising that Lousias greatest passion was writing. She had a rich imagination and often made up stories that she and her sisters act out for their parents or friends. She started her career as a serious author partly because she needed to earn some money to support the family who was not always wealthy. In the beginning, Louisa wrote poetry and short stories, later on the novels.

At the age of 35 her publisher asked her...more I once did a short presentation on this book, the following text was part of it.

Louisa May Alcott was born in Germantown, which is now a part of Philadelphia, in 1832. But soon she moved with her family to the Boston-area, where she and her three sisters Anna, Elizabeth and May grew up. The four girls were educated by their father Bronson Alcott, who was a member of the New England Transcendentalists. Through him Louisa met other Transcendentalists like Theodore Parker, Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Influenced by these great writers it is not surprising that Lousias greatest passion was writing. She had a rich imagination and often made up stories that she and her sisters act out for their parents or friends. She started her career as a serious author partly because she needed to earn some money to support the family who was not always wealthy. In the beginning, Louisa wrote poetry and short stories, later on the novels.

At the age of 35 her publisher asked her to write a novel for children. That’s how she wrote „Little Women“ where she describes the four March sisters coming of age in New England at the time of the Civil War. The father serves as a preacher in the war, the girls are left alone with their loving mother. The five women live in poverty but try to make the best of it.
The story is very autobiographical. Lousia resembles Jo, who is a tomboy only interested in literature. The eldest sister Anna was the model for Meg, who is pretty and rather vain about that. Elizabeth is portrayed as the gentle Beth, she is the quiet and shy one who enjoys playing the piano. The equivalent of the youngest sister May is Amy, the little girl that often wants to be the center of the attraction. You can see the similarities even in the names: Elizabeth and Beth; May and Amy. „Little Women“ was followed by several other novels about the March family, such as: Good Wives, Little Men and Jo’s Boys.

Especially children books always have a moral (or even more than one). Here for example in the second chapter, where the sisters give their Christmas breakfast to a hungry family and content themselves with bread and milk. They were really looking forward to this breakfast, because they are not rich and don't get all those good things regularly. But they saw that this other family was suffering a lot more. They are rewarded for this altruistic act on the same evening with a delicious dinner, donated by their neighbour who has heard of their generous gift. Only who gives something, gets something in return....less

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