Pollyanna is a 1913 novel by American author Eleanor H. Porter, considered a classic of children’s literature. The book’s success led to Porter’s soon writing a sequel, Pollyanna Grows Up (1915). Eleven more Pollyanna sequels, known as “Glad Books”, were later published, most of them written by Elizabeth Borton or Harriet Lummis Smith. Further sequels followed, including Pollyanna Plays the Game by Colleen L. Reece, published in 1997. Due to the book’s fame, “Pollyanna” has become a byword for someone who like the title has an unfailingly optimistic outlook; a subconscious bias towards the positive is often described as the Pollyanna principle. Despite the current common use of the term to mean ‘excessively cheerful’,
Pollyanna and her father played the glad game as a method of coping with the real difficulties and sorrows that, along with luck and joy, shape every life. Pollyanna has been adapted for film several times. Some of the best known are the 1920 version starring Mary Pickford, and Disney’s 1960 version starring child actress Hayley Mills, who won a special Oscar for the role.
About Author
Eleanor Emily Hodgman Porter (1868-1920) was an American novelist, most known for Pollyanna (1913) and Just David (1916). Porter wrote mainly children’s literature, adventure stories, and romance fiction. Her most famous novel is Pollyanna (1913), followed by a sequel, Pollyanna Grows Up (1915). Her adult novels include The Turn of the Tide (1908), The Road to Understanding (1917), Oh Money! Money! (1918), Dawn (1919), Keith’s Dark Tower (1919), Mary Marie (1920) and Sister Sue (1921); her short-story collections include Across the Years (c. 1919), Money, Love and Kate (1923), and Little Pardner (1926). She was trained as a singer, attending the New England Conservatory for several years. Porter achieved considerable commercial success: Pollyanna ranked eighth among best-selling novels in the United States during 1913, second during 1914, and fourth during 1915 (with 47 printings between 1915 and 1920); Just David ranked third in 1916; The Road to Understanding ranked fourth in 1917; and Oh Money! Money! ranked fifth in 1918.
CONTENTS
I. Miss Polly
II. Old Tom and Nancy
III. The Coming of Pollyanna
IV. The Little Attic Room
V. The Game
VI. A Question of Duty
VII. Pollyanna and Punishments
VIII. Pollyanna Pays a Visit
IX. Which Tells of the Man
X. A Surprise for Mrs. Snow
XI. Introducing Jimmy
XXII. Before the Ladies’ Aid
XIII. In Pendleton Woods
XIV. Just a Matter of Jelly.
XV. Dr. Chilton
XVI. A Red Rose and a Lace Shawl
XVII. “Just Like a Book”
XVIII. Prisms
XIX. Which Is Somewhat Surprising
XX. Which Is More Surprising
XXI. A Question Answered
XXII. Sermons and Woodboxes
XXIII. An Accident
XXIV. John Pendleton
XXV. A Waiting Game
XXVI. A Door Ajar
XXVII. Two Visits
TAHO
XXVIII. The Game and Its Players
XXIX. Through an Open Window
XXX. Jimmy Takes the Helm
XXXI. A New Uncle TOM
XXXII. Which Is a Letter from Pollyanna