5 h 39 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 5 h 39 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Small troubles feel big in childhood—and even an ordinary day can hold a lesson worth keeping.
In Nine Little Goslings, Susan Coolidge gathers gentle stories about children at home and at play. Her young characters are not perfect. They meet everyday troubles, and their responses make character the heart of the collection. The pleasures are quiet ones: family life, good humor, and the chance to see children learn through small experiences.
These stories belong to a tradition of children's writing that brings entertainment and moral lessons together. Coolidge looks at young people with patience and affection, inviting readers to give their small concerns real attention. Read a story at a time, and enjoy a world where growing up means learning how to meet the ordinary demands of daily life.
What you’ll discover
- Childhood seen with affection Meet imperfect young characters whose everyday troubles receive patience, warmth, and good humor.
- Character in everyday life Explore how small experiences become occasions for learning and shaping good habits.
- Home and play Step into gentle family stories that take children's ordinary concerns seriously.
- Lessons with a gentle touch Spend time with stories that bring entertainment and plain moral sense together.
- A story to share Enjoy short pieces whose prose suits reading aloud at bedtime or on quiet afternoons.
Who will love it
Readers who love nursery rhymes, old-fashioned family stories and small adventures will feel at home here, as will parents and grandparents who enjoy reading aloud to children by lamplight.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Curly Locks: a girl on loan
- Goosey Goosey Gander: a boy on the roofs
- Little Bo Peep: a shepherdess without a flock
- Mistress Mary: small kindnesses cure a sulk
- Lady Bird: a mother of dolls
- One, Two, Buckle My Shoe: a boy lost in the woods
- Ride a Cock-Horse: a girl meets a circus rider
- Lady Queen Anne: a happy child in hard times
- Up, Up, Up, and Down, Down, Down-Y: a fortune rises and falls
Who’s who
- Johnnie CarrA thin, sentimental girl called Curly, who is lent to a rich lady and soon wants her old home back.
- Mell DavisA dreamy twelve-year-old who loves fairy tales and is left to mind her stepmother's five children for a day.
- Mary ForcytheA minister's daughter who hates moving to Redding until a sewing class gives her a purpose.
- Lota BirdCalled Lady Bird, she rules a garden and a family of dolls while waiting for Papa to come home from China.
- Archie GrayA small boy who slips out at dawn to build a house of sticks in the woods.
- MignonA child equestrienne who loves music and longs for a mother of her own.
- Annie PickensA barefoot Southern girl whose cheerful heart stays bright in a leaking hut.
- May FrisbieThe eldest of the Frisbie girls, who would rather help in the kitchen than sit in fine clothes.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Les neuf petits oisons in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Les neuf petits oisons
by Susan Coolidge · 1875
A lost boy in the woods, a girl who waltzes in puddles and a family of dolls fill nine tales of childhood.
Easy read5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Imagine Mother Goose sitting unseen beside every cradle. Nine Little Goslings, by Susan Coolidge, the pen name of the writer of the Katy books, opens with a poem to her.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Curly Locks: a girl on loan
Johnnie Carr, ten and a half, rises from a fever thin and pale, her hair grown back in tight curls. Her sisters call her Curly. She lies on the sofa and complains that nothing ever happens in Burnet.
Then a letter comes from Miss Inches, a rich friend of Johnnie's late mother. She declares that Johnnie's eyes are full of soul and wants to adopt her. Dr. Carr listens, grows nearly angry, and wisely chooses a compromise. He lends Johnnie for four months.
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What is Nine Little Goslings about?
It is a collection of nine stories for children by Susan Coolidge. Each takes its title from a nursery rhyme and follows a child through a small adventure, such as a lost boy in the woods or a girl adopted for a summer.
Who is Mother Goose in the dedication poem?
Mother Goose is the old storyteller of nursery rhymes. In the opening poem Coolidge imagines her sitting unseen by every cradle, and she offers the book to her as a gift from a grown-up child.
Does Nine Little Goslings connect to What Katy Did?
Yes, in the first story. Johnnie Carr, called Curly, is the younger sister of Katy and Clover from the Katy books, and their father Dr. Carr appears. The other eight stories have their own casts.
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