Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

A delightful children's classic tells the story of young Rebecca Rowena Randall, the mischief she gets into, and the difference she makes to the lives of those around her Set in Riverboro, Maine, this quintessentially American story is a remarkable depiction of rural life in the United States at the turn of the 20th century. We first meet Rebecca when she is on her way to live with her spinster aunts, Miranda and Jane, due to her family's financial straits. She has left behind her beloved home she grew up in, Sunnybrook Farm, her widowed mother, and six siblings. A cheerful and imaginative little girl, Rebecca soon forms a close bond with her Aunt Jane. Her natural wit and charm also endear Rebecca to the people of the village, who are struck by her positivity. However there remains a shadow over Rebecca's happiness: Aunt Miranda is baffled by her niece's vivid imagination, and childish wonder at all she sees. But when her mother falls ill and Rebecca is forced to look after her old farmstead home as well as her ailing mother, it may just be that Miranda has grown fond of her niece after all.

Kate Douglas Wiggin (1856-1923) was an American author, scholar, and songwriter. A lifelong advocate of innovations in children’s education, she set up and ran the first free kindergarten in California for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Today she is best known for Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. Annie Dalton is a British children’s author, best known for writing The Angel Academy series. Her books Night Maze and The Real Tilly Beany were shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal. The After Dark Princess won the Nottinghamshire Book Award, while Naming the Dark and Swan Sister were on the shortlist for the Sheffield Children’s Book Award.