Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm: The Broadway Play of 1910 Paperback – February 10, 2015

I chose to read this book because I've always heard so much about it. After returning home from my mom's funeral I had started two other books but was struggling to focus so I thought I'd pick up a book that is known as a middle-school reader. I figured that would be a fun, easy read. First, I have to say, that I think if a middle schooler could get through this book she deserves some kind of extra credit. It's not that it's a bad book, but the vocabulary is from the early 20th century and there are SO MANY WORDS that are not regularly used in the world as we now know it. And, the sentence structure feels the same way. I found myself re-reading sentences four or five times to catch their meaning. Clearly, I am not as smart as a 1903 fifth grader!I feel like it would be a great book were the storyline revisited in modern English. I liked the character of Rebecca and I thought this line really sums up her personality: "Going to aunt Mirandy's is like going down cellar in the dark. There might be ogres and giants under the stairs,—but, as I tell Hannah, there MIGHT be elves and fairies and enchanted frogs!"A few parts of the book felt very incongruent. For instance, when Rebecca leaves her farm to go live with her aunts she has a sister who is a toddler. Five years later, one of her "elderly" 60-year-old aunts is struggling with her health, and yet remembering days spent playing with her sister as a child (Rebecca's mom.) It seems odd that Rebecca's aunt would have a sister with a toddler when she's nearing her 60's.I was a little disappointed in the ending. It felt as though some situations were left hanging, almost like the author was in a hurry to finish the book. Overall, it finished up well, but I was left wanting more.

I had always thought that this was a book for adolescents, however it didn't take long to realize that the vocabulary was far too advanced for a child to comprehend. On the other hand, the themes are a bit simplistic for an adult, so this book seems to straddle the divide between childhood and adulthood. There seem to be many illustrated adaptations of the novel that are probably more appealing to youngsters.Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading about Rebecca's childhood from age 10 to about 18. She was sent away from the farm to live with her maiden aunts, Miranda and Jane, in the small town of Riverboro when her father died, leaving her mother impoverished and trying to raise 7 children alone. The aunts aren't at all wealthy, but certainly more prosperous that the family down on the farm.Aunt Miranda is stern and unyielding, while Aunt Jane is far more gentle and kind. The sprightly, precocious Rebecca soon learns how to balance the two, and though they'd never admit it, she brings life and fun to their small home. She is a bright student and unusually perceptive of human interactions for such a young child. There isn't a lot of action in the novel; it mainly revolves around the small town life of school and church and the typical gossiping and meddling that happens in a small town. It reminded me of the early years of Anne of Green Gables. Rebecca endures trials and tribulations and triumphs but never loses her spirit and love of people and love of life.

Frederick Schiller Faust wrote under 19 different pen names, the most popular being Max Brand. He was orphaned at an early age and worked as a cowhand during his formative years and attended the University of California, where he was known as a troublemaker. work influenced Louis L'Amour and hundreds of other western authors who followed the literary trail Brand had blazed.This is one of his best novels, gun fights and more gun fights, yet powerful with an ending that only Max could write. In some ways, it's sad these days are now gone - except for being able to pick up his novels once again. If you have never read one of his westerns, you could do no better than to pick up this one.

I reread this classic children's book after 55 years mostly because I like to read mysteries and those books can be really dreadful and depressing. If you want something upbeat and sentimental, this book is a fine pick. It really is a story for children, containing the trials of a 10 year old sent to live with a couple of spinster (the book's word) aunts to help the old ladies and for educational opportunities. Rebecca is a good role model as she fights rebellious thoughts and slowly grows to understand one of the aunts' grim demeanor.The book is a well written excellent portrait of rural life and life in small villages, the way it was in th late 1800s. It was quite refreshing to me to read this idyllic portrait of a life in which everyone is happy to share their lives and experiences with others - a far cry from modern life, at least to me.The book could also be used as a teaching tool to start conversations about how opportunities for women have changed dramatically since then. Very sentimental and there is quite a bit of it that touches on Christianity and religious feeling, but.for me that did not detract.

I was surprised to find that this was written before Anne of Green Gables, as the books are very similar. It also reminded me of Cranford. All three books show life in a very small community, where money is generally scarce and presenting a respectable face to the world is essential. In that society everyone knew each other's life history, and stoicism and good humour were essential. Rebecca and Anne Shirley both have a wildly romantic streak, longing to be transported to somewhere exciting and to wear pretty clothes in impractical colours. This is firmly quelled by their guardians . They do not conform to those around them, but still show the compassion , hard work and optimism that was necessary to make a success of life. . In this book in particular there is a lot of flowery sentimentality which is not so common in English stories. I thought the ending was rather abrupt, though the readers know thing are going to improve for Rebecca ,we leave her in rather sad place. It is as if the writer could not cope with too much happiness at once.

I ordered this as from the other reviews it sounded like an enjoyable classic to read to junior aged children, and that it obviously was,but considerably old fashioned, which is not a bad thing in itself, but had to explain quite a lot of words/phrases as we went along, and I did skip bits here and there, as it dragged a bit sometimes... Still worth reading as they did enjoy it, but I must admit that I found it a bit heavy going to read aloud at bedtime every night!

This is classic girl's reading of a bygone age. I hope it will inspire my granddaughters to view the highest principles in life as something to aim for, even in a very different modern world. It is funny and sad by turns, but Rebecca is someone all normal girls should be able to identify with. She is up there with Anne of Green Gables, and Katy, and all the "Little House" books.

This is 1 of the few books I've ordered for me to read to the grandchildren when they sleep over or are here for a while, they all have their favourites & at £1.99 the price is incredible I recommend this book without hesitation.

This tale has more humour, originality and character development than rivals such as "Anne of Green Gables" or the Katy books, and less of the heavy-handed, Sunday-school- prize moralising. It also gives extremely interesting glimpses of life in 1870s New England.