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Synopsis

What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge

I mean to do something grand. I don't know what, yet; but when I'm grown up I shall find out'. Katy Carr is the longest girl that was ever seen. She is all legs and elbows, and angles and joints. She tears her dress every day, hates sewing and doesn't care a button about being called 'good'. Her head is full of schemes and one day she plans to do something important. But a great deal is to happen to Katy before that time comes...

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Reviews

This book really got me hooked while she struggled and was happy. I recommend it to all children and I hope you enjoy it too!!! -- Alice Brown, Aged 10
Guardian
This tale of a boisterous child coming into maturity reads with the same zest and insight as it would have done when it was first published over 130 years ago
Guardian
So what makes these different to any other set of classics? In a moment of inspiration Random House had the bright idea of actually asking Key stage 2 children what extra ingredients they could add to make children want to read. And does it work? Well, put it this way...my 13-year-old daughter announced that she had to read a book over the summer holiday and, without any prompting, spotted The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas...and proceeded to read it! Now, if you knew my 13-year-old daughter, you would realise that this is quite remarkable. She reads texts, blogs and tags by the thousand - but this is the first book she has read since going to high school, so all hail Vintage Classics! National Association for the Teaching of English

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About The Author

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 Louis 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 life-like 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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