At the same time that I was agreeing to write a foreword for Eleanor H. Porter's Poflyanna, an insistent question was tugging at me. But have I read that book? When I was a child? Ever?
And yet, even as I wondered about the story, I knew exactly who PoUyanna was---an irrepressibly cheerful child. So irrepressibly cheerful that her nine survives in any standardAmerican dictionary. A Pollyanna is "an excessively or blindly optimistic person." That is, I must admit, a rather negative definition...
Pollyanna"s eternal optimism has made her one of the most beloved characters in American literature. First published in 1913, her story spawned the formation of "Glad" clubs all over the country, devoted to playing Pollyanna"s famous game.Pollyanna"s has since sold over one million copies, been translated into several languages, and has become both a Broadway play and a Disney motion picture.
Foreword
Miss Polly
Old Tom and Nancy
The Coming of Pollyanna
The Little Attic Room
The Game
A Question of Duty
Pollyanna and Punishments
Pollyanna Pays a Visit
Which Tells of the Man
A Surprise for Mrs. Snow
Introducing Jimmy
Before the Ladies" Aid
In Pendleton Woods
Just a Matter of Jelly
Dr. Chilton
A Red Rose and a Lace Shawl
"Just Like a Book"
Prisms
Which Is Somewhat Surprising
Which Is More Surprising
A Question Answered
Sermons and Woodboxes
An Accident
John Pendleton
A Waiting Game
A Door Ajar
Two Visits
The Game and Its Players
Through an Open Window
Jimmy Takes the Helm
A New Unde
Which Is a Letter from Pollyanna