Pollyanna

'Most generally there is something about everything that you can be glad about, if you keep hunting long enough to find it'

When her father dies, Pollyanna is sent to live with her stern Aunt Polly. She is poor, orphaned and alone but Pollyanna just feels lucky to have an aunt at all. The truth is that her dear father, before he died, taught her a trick for life – the 'Glad Game' – the aim of which is to find the good in every bad situation. Before long, Pollyanna’s sunny outlook has brightened up the whole town. But when a horrible accident occurs can the Glad Game save Pollyanna?

Includes exclusive material: In The Backstory you can test your knowledge of the book and find out if you’re as optimistic as Pollyanna!

Vintage Children’s Classics is a twenty-first century classics list aimed at 8-12 year olds and the adults in their lives. Discover timeless favourites from The Jungle Book and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to modern classics such as The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

Eleanor H. Porter was born in New Hampshire in 1868. As a young woman she trained as a singer but after marrying in 1892 she turned to writing. During the course of her career she wrote many novels for children and adults, but her most famous book was Pollyanna. ‘Glad Clubs’ sprang up across America and the book was made into a Broadway show and a Hollywood movie, adding to the enormous popularity of Porter’s famously sunny character. As a result, Porter was a commercially successful and popular writer during her lifetime. She died in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1920.