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  • Published: 6 August 2009
  • ISBN: 9780141955292
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 240

What Katy Did (Puffin Classics Relaunch)



What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge is a classic much loved by adults and children alike.

Katy Carr intends to be beautiful and beloved and as sweet as an angel one day. For now, though, her hair is forever in a tangle, her dress is always torn and she doesn't care at all for being called 'good'. But then a terrible accident happens and Katy must find the courage to remember her daydreams and the delightful plans she once schemed; for when she is grown up she wants to do something grand . . .

A wonderful, family story, with an inspiring introduction from the hugely popular Cathy Cassidy.

***PLUS a behind-the-scenes journey, including an author profile, a guide to who's who, activities and more . . .***

Susan Coolidge (1835-1905) was born Sarah Chauncey Woolsey in Ohio, USA. She worked as a nurse during the American Civil War, after which she started to write. She is best known for her classic children's novel What Katy Did , which was modelled on her own family, and its four sequels: What Katy Did at School, What Katy Did Next, Clover and In the High Valley.

'The Puffin Classics series is a perfect marriage of the old and the new. Enjoy some of the best books from the past and find out why and how they inspired some of the best writers of the present' - Julia Eccleshare, Lovereading4kids
%%%What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge is a classic much loved by adults and children alike.
Katy Carr intends to be beautiful and beloved and as sweet as an angel one day. For now, though, her hair is forever in a tangle, her dress is always torn and she doesn't care at all for being called 'good'. But then a terrible accident happens and Katy must find the courage to remember her daydreams and the delightful plans she once schemed; for when she is grown up she wants to do something grand . . .
A wonderful, family story, with an inspiring introduction from the hugely popular Cathy Cassidy.
***PLUS a behind-the-scenes journey, including an author profile, a guide to who's who, activities and more . . .***
Susan Coolidge (1835-1905) was born Sarah Chauncey Woolsey in Ohio, USA. She worked as a nurse during the American Civil War, after which she started to write. She is best known for her classic children's novel What Katy Did , which was modelled on her own family, and its four sequels: What Katy Did at School, What Katy Did Next, Clover and In the High Valley.
'The Puffin Classics series is a perfect marriage of the old and the new. Enjoy some of the best books from the past and find out why and how they inspired some of the best writers of the present' - Julia Eccleshare, Lovereading4kids

  • Published: 6 August 2009
  • ISBN: 9780141955292
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 240

About the author

Susan Coolidge

Susan Coolidge was born in 1835 in Ohio, USA. She worked as a nurse during the American Civil War, after which she started to write. She based her best known Carr family from What Katy Did on her own siblings. She also wrote What Katy Did at School, What Katy Did Next, Clover and In the High Valley.

Susan Coolidge lived in America from 1835 to 1905. She was born into an upper class family and her real name was Sarah Chauncy Woolsey. She worked as a nurse in the American Civil War and then began her writing career. Her editor was also the editor of Louisa M Alcott who was having huge success with her book Little Women. The editor suggested that Susan try her hand at the same kind of family story and the five books about the irrepressible Katy Carr followed. They followed the fortunes and misfortunes of the Carr family, from childhood, through school and travels in Europe, to marriage. The books: What Katy Did, What Katy Did at School, What Katy Did Next, Clover and In the High Valley brought fame to Susan Coolidge. The titles of the first three books are a pun on the North American grasshopper-like insect, the katydid, whose noise was not only responsible for its name but inspired Susan Coolidge!

The characters in the books are especially lifelike because, without doubt, they're based on members of the author's family. Susan herself was tall, quick-witted and impatient - like Katy; Katy's three sisters are Susan's three sisters, and Katy's two brothers are Susan Coolidge's brother and cousin.

Susan Coolidge devoted her life to her literary and social activities. As well as children's books, she wrote poetry and edited the letters of Jane Austin and Fanny Burney.

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