Book Review: Pollyanna
What Parents Should Know
A tonic in cynical times, this books offers a philosophy of
life that can have a big impact on younger children. Playing
the Glad Game is worth a try for any family. Like other books
of its time,
Pollyanna contains a few comments that are considered
racist by modern standards: a maid is referred to as "Black
Tilly," and there are several comments to the effect that
little boys from India are "heathens" who "don't know any more
than to think that God was in that [idol]."
Common Sense Media Review
That
Pollyanna has fallen out of favor says more about our
cynical times than it does about the book. We like to think we
have a monopoly on hard times, and that books like
Pollyanna are the sentimental relics of a simpler age.
But it was first published (to instant acclaim and success) in
the year leading up to WWI, and its kindly philosophy is as
relevant today as it was then, even if the world it inhabits
seems like a fantasy now. There's a reason it has stayed
steadily in print for nearly a century, and has been translated
into many languages, as well as numerous movie, TV, and stage
adaptations in many countries, including even a Japanese
animé cartoon series, and a recent Masterpiece Theater
production.
A tearjerker it certainly is, as are many of the greatest works of children's literature. Though its heroine's name has unfairly become a byword for phony optimism, Pollyanna is, in fact, a courageous and resourceful girl whose positive outlook is determined, conscious, and hard-won, and ultimately transformative, both for the characters in the book and for its readers. As with many classic books, it's best as a read-aloud for experienced listeners who have not yet entered adolescence, and who may still be open to the view of life it espouses.
From the Book:
"You see I'd wanted a doll, and father had written them
so. But when the barrel came the lady wrote that there hadn't
any dolls come in, but the little crutches had. So she sent 'em
along as they might come in handy for some child, sometime. And
that's when we began it. ... the game was to just find
something about everything to be glad about -- no matter what
'twas," rejoined Pollyanna earnestly. "And we began right then
-- on the crutches."
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