July 29, 2006

Wouldn't like to be a Pepper too


I personally have no interest in this other than I saw the book in a shop window, know what I'm sayin', I'd never heard of it, and my curiousity was piqued. Aight?

Here is some information from Amazon:

"This is one of the seminal books of American children's fiction. First published in 1881, eleven more volumes followed in the Pepper series, making Harriet Mulford Stone Lathrop internationally famous (as Margaret Sidney.) The series still enjoys wide readership today. It's the story of how the Peppers cope with poverty and difficulty, always with courage and cheer, after the death of Mr. Pepper."

Sounds like a lot of laughs! This is from an Amazon customer review:

"Today, it seems rather dismal to me - horrible poverty, illness, the pat happy ending and children who are horribly gushing over their mother."

My god! No wonder I've never heard of these books. I feel sorry for the kids who's life situation was such that these books were lying around.

The Peppers have been updated for new generations of misery and despair:
Looks like they've added a Pepper. Or maybe it's their case worker. And yes, there is a gold piano pendant on a gold chain superimposed over the Pepper picture. I assume that's explained in the book. You know, give those kids some guitars and a tambourine, and you've got The Cowsills, or The Peppers, anyway.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

We actually had this book when I was a kid, and I don't remember reading it. Which means it must have been really bad, because I read everything in that house (this was before we knew the concept of "age appropriate.")

Lisa

Chris said...

I think the series is very popular, I'd just never heard of it. They seem like they'd be depressing.