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elementarymydear 's review for:
What Katy Did
by Susan Coolidge
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
What Katy Did was one of my favourite books as a child. I read it over and over again, I read the two sequels, I lamented that the rest were out of print, I rejoiced when I found them in a charity shop and was heartbroken when I realised a printing error meant it was missing the middle chunk. The Carr family were some of my favourite literary characters, and I lost track of how many times I read it.
Read this and other reviews on my blog!
The book was written as part of the post-Little Women boom of hyper-realistic American children’s stories. It follows Katy Carr, the eldest of six children, who is headstrong, tomboyish, and always looking for adventure. The first half of the book – my favourite part growing up – follows Katy as she continuously gets into scrapes, leading her siblings into trouble, and ignoring the rules laid down by her Aunt Izzy. Halfway through the book, they are visited by their Cousin Helen, who following an accident is paralysed from the waist down. Helen is described repeatedly as an ‘angel’, a perfect, selfless woman who has endless patience and kindness. Katy idolises her, and resolves to be like Helen. Within a day, though, she finds herself severely injured and bedridden, and over the course of a few years learns the patience and kindness that she admires in Helen, and she eventually makes a full recovery.
Obviously, many aspects of this have not aged well. The idea that having a disability is the best way to learn patience and piety is a prominent one, and it’s surely no coincidence that Katy doesn’t learn to walk again until she’s learned her lessons. It’s a moral lesson about as subtle as a sledgehammer. I did enjoy the scene, though, where Helen meets with a bedridden Katy and (excluding all the ‘school of pain’ nonsense) encourages her to come to terms with what’s happened to her and find ways to make her life fulfilling. For a book written in 1872, that feels quite radical.
As for the first half of the book, I really enjoyed revisiting the Carr family and their adventures. The family dynamics are always entertaining and, for anyone with siblings, very true to life. There are some things that never change! I think it’s unlikely that I’ll read this again as an adult, but I’m glad I did once to revisit it one more time
Read this and other reviews on my blog!
The book was written as part of the post-Little Women boom of hyper-realistic American children’s stories. It follows Katy Carr, the eldest of six children, who is headstrong, tomboyish, and always looking for adventure. The first half of the book – my favourite part growing up – follows Katy as she continuously gets into scrapes, leading her siblings into trouble, and ignoring the rules laid down by her Aunt Izzy. Halfway through the book, they are visited by their Cousin Helen, who following an accident is paralysed from the waist down. Helen is described repeatedly as an ‘angel’, a perfect, selfless woman who has endless patience and kindness. Katy idolises her, and resolves to be like Helen. Within a day, though, she finds herself severely injured and bedridden, and over the course of a few years learns the patience and kindness that she admires in Helen, and she eventually makes a full recovery.
Obviously, many aspects of this have not aged well. The idea that having a disability is the best way to learn patience and piety is a prominent one, and it’s surely no coincidence that Katy doesn’t learn to walk again until she’s learned her lessons. It’s a moral lesson about as subtle as a sledgehammer. I did enjoy the scene, though, where Helen meets with a bedridden Katy and (excluding all the ‘school of pain’ nonsense) encourages her to come to terms with what’s happened to her and find ways to make her life fulfilling. For a book written in 1872, that feels quite radical.
As for the first half of the book, I really enjoyed revisiting the Carr family and their adventures. The family dynamics are always entertaining and, for anyone with siblings, very true to life. There are some things that never change! I think it’s unlikely that I’ll read this again as an adult, but I’m glad I did once to revisit it one more time