The Flaxie Frizzle Series |
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Flaxie Frizzle |
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Flaxie Frizzle was first published in 1876. It is the first book in the "Flaxie Frizzle" series. This book introduces a whole new set of characters to the reader. Flaxie Frizzle is the nickname for a little girl named Mary Gray. At the start of this book, she is two years old and her mother has died. It quickly fast-forwards to the Christmas where she is three years old. Next it is summer, and Flaxie's father, who is a doctor, has remarried. The story tells of Flaxie's adventures, and her new mother's efforts to raise her through the rest of the year and into the following summer, through another winter, and ends finally the following summer, which should put her around five years old.
“Flaxie Frizzle is the successor of Dotty Dimple, Little Prudy, Flyaway, and the other charming child creations of that inimitable writer for children, SOPHIE MAY. There never was a healthy, fun-loving child born into this world that, at one stage or another of its growth, wouldn’t be entertained with SOPHIE MAY’s books. For that matter, it is not safe for older folks to look into them, unless they intend to read them through. FLAXIE FRIZZLE will be found as bright and pleasant reading as the others.” – ‘Boston Journal’
Doctor Papa |
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Doctor Papa was first published in 1877. It is the second book in the "Flaxie Frizzle" series. The story opens with Flaxie not being old enough to go to school yet, as her older brother Preston, and sister Julie do. It tells of adventures through that year, and moves quickly through the coming of a baby brother. It ends during the summer of Flaxie's seventh year.
“SOPHIE MAY understands children. Her books are not books about them merely. She seems to know precisely how they feel, and she sets them before us, living and breathing in her pages. Flaxie Frizzle is a darling, and here sisters, brothers, and cousins are just the sort of little folks with whom careful mothers would like their boys and girls to associate. The story is a bright, breezy, wholesome narrative, and it is full of mirth and gayety, while its moral teaching is excellent”. – ‘Sunday School Times’
Little Pitchers |
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Little Pitchers was first published in 1878. It is the third book in the "Flaxie Frizzle" series. The characters introduced in this book are Flaxie's twin cousins Napoleon Bonaparte 'Pollio' Pitcher and Josephine Bonaparte 'Posy' Pitcher. They are four years old as the book begins. The book tells of their going to school and other adventures in growing up. It ends with them six years old. Sophie May hints at writing another book about these two, but I am not aware of any other books about them.
“Little Flaxie will secure a warm place in the hearts of all at once. Here is her little picture. Her name was Mary Gray, but they called her Flaxie Frizzle, because she had light curly hair that frizzled; and she had a curly nose, - that is, her nose curled up at the end a wee bit, just enough to make it look cunning. Her cheeks were rosy red, ‘and she was so fat that when Mr. Snow, the postmaster, saw her, he said, “How d’ye do, Mother Bunch?”’” – ‘Boston Home Journal’
Twin Cousins |
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Twin Cousins was first published in 1880. It is the fourth book in the "Flaxie Frizzle" series. It tells about Flaxie and her 'twin' cousin Milly. The story opens on Flaxie's birthday, and tells of adventures at both her and her cousin's house. It goes though one winter and into the following summer.
“Another of those sweet, natural child-stories in which the heroine does and says just such things as natural, live, flesh children do, is the one before us. And what is still better, each incident points a moral. The illustrations are a great addtion to the delight of the youthful reader. It is just such beautiful books as this which bring to our minds, in severe contrast, the youth’s literature of our early days-the good little boy who died young and the bad little boy who went fishing on Sunday and died in prison, ect., ect., to the end of the threadbare, improbable chapter.” – ‘Rural New Yorker’
Flaxie's Kittyleen |
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Flaxie's Kittyleen was first published in 1883. It is the fifth book in the "Flaxie Frizzle" series. The book tells of Flaxie's dealings with a three year old neighbor girl, Katharine 'Kittyleen' Garland. Flaxie is nine years old at the beginning of the book. It tells of the gradual improvement in Flaxie's behaviour.
“KITTYLEEN-one of the Flaxie Frizzle series-is a genuinely helpful as well as delightfully entertaining story. The nine-year-old Flaxie is worried, beloved, and disciplined by a bewitching three-year-old tormentor, whose accomplished mother allows her to prey upon the neighbors. ‘Everybody felt the care of Mrs. Garland’s children. There were six of them, and their mother was always painting china. She did it beautifully, with graceful vines trailing over it, and golden butterflies ready to alight on sprays of lovely flowers. Sometimes the neighbors thought it would be a fine thing if she would keep her little ones at home rather more; but if she had done that, she could not have painted china.’” – ‘Chicago Tribune’
Flaxie Growing Up |
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Flaxie Growing Up was first published in 1884. It is the sixth (last) book in the "Flaxie Frizzle" series. It is dedicated to "Mary Louise Gibbs". The books opens with Flaxie twelve years old. It tells of her trials with her brothers and sisters, and tells of her and her friends 'camping out' for a time. It draws to an end on Christmas of Flaxie's thirteenth year.
“No more charming stories for the little ones were ever written than those comprised in the three series which have for several years past been from time to time added to juvenile literature by SOPHIE MAY. They have received the unqualified praise of many of the most practical scholars of New England for their charming simplicity and purity of statement. The delightful story shows the gradual improvement of dear little Flaxie’s character under the various disciplines of child-life and the sweet influence of a happy home. The illustrations are charming pictures.” – ‘Home Journal’
Flaxie Frizzle Publications |
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Cover | Height | Width | Year Published | Publisher | Illustrator |
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6" | 4" | 1876 | Lee & Shepard Publishers Boston N.Y. |
Harry BR ? |
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6 1/4" | 4 1/2" | Approx. 1884 | Lee & Shepard Publishers Boston |
HLB | |
6 1/2" | 4 7/8" | 1896-1899 | Lee & Shepard Publishers Boston |
E S Tucker ETS ? |
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6 1/2" | 4 7/8" | 1904-1910 | Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co. Boston |
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