3 h 0 minAudiobook4 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Prudy wants to be trusted with a grown-up job. Her love of mischief has other plans.
In Sophie May’s Prudy Keeping House, Prudy Parlin takes on the role of housekeeper. She is small, talkative, and full of ideas, with a lively wish to be useful. But wanting responsibility and carrying it out are different things, especially when play keeps pulling her toward trouble.
The world around Prudy is full of everyday household work: sweeping, dusting, setting tables, and watching over meals. Sophie May turns this familiar ground into short scenes of gentle humor and small lessons. Her kindly, chatty voice brings you close to a child who longs to be treated as grown up.
What you’ll discover
- A lively little housekeeper Meet Prudy, whose busy imagination makes the wish to help both warm and funny.
- Work seen through play See how grown-up household duties take on fresh interest through a small girl’s eyes.
- Mischief meets responsibility Follow the tug between Prudy’s playful nature and her longing to earn trust.
- A home full of detail Step into nineteenth-century American family life through familiar tasks and small domestic moments.
- Gentle lessons and laughter Enjoy simple words, short scenes, and humor that leaves room for a child’s mistakes.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy warm, funny family stories, children's classics from the 1800s, and Christmas tales with real feelings in them. It suits listeners of any age who like mischief, kind aunts, and lessons told with a smile.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A Telegram Changes Everyone's Plans
- Dotty Swallows Her Pride Like a Pill
- Borrowed Rings and a Runaway Fly
- Mother Hubbard's Dreadful Dinner
- Prudy Breaks and Fly Falls Sick
- A Party, the Park, and a Hidden Worry
Who’s who
- Prudy ParlinThe gentle, good-natured older sister who longs to keep house, and who learns she cannot hide her limits or her temper forever.
- Dotty DimplePrudy's quick, proud little sister, who wants the best part in every game and struggles with pride and a guilty secret.
- Horace CliffordThe confident big brother who plays the Man in the Moon, jokes freely, and looks after his tiny sister Fly.
- Fly CliffordThe smallest cousin, a bold, funny little talker who slips away whenever something interests her and is full of surprises.
- Aunt MadgeMrs. Allen, a kind, rich aunt who lets the children play house while she is away and is always ready to help the poor.
- Mrs. FixfaxThe large, sensible housekeeper who listens through a ventilator, laughs in secret, and steps in with a calm hand when the children need it.
- Mrs. PragoffA fashionable, warm-hearted friend of Aunt Madge who invites the children to church and a Christmas party and learns what live children are.
- Maria BrooksA patient blind girl who hopes a doctor can help her to see, and who trusts that God will answer.
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La gestione della casa di Prudy
by Sophie May · 1870
Four cousins play house in a New York mansion at Christmas, and one has borrowed her aunt's costly rings.
Easy read2–5 hours to readItaliano
Excellent
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In short
What happens when four children are handed a grand house and told to play at running it? In Prudy Keeping House, Sophie May sends cousins Prudy, Dotty, Horace, and little Fly into a snowy New York Christmas.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A Telegram Changes Everyone's Plans
Snow falls outside a bay window in Aunt Madge's grand New York house. Four children watch it. Dotty has bright eyes, Prudy is gentle, Horace is wise, and tiny Fly follows her big brother everywhere.
Then a solemn manservant brings a telegram. Uncle Augustus is ill in a hotel in Trenton, and he asks his wife to come. Horace gently reminds Dotty that a sick man needs care before anyone thinks of the visit.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 4 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1870
- Language
- Italiano
- Level
- Easy read
Cite this edition
May, Sophie. Prudy Keeping House. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/prudy-keeping-house.
May, S. (2026). Prudy keeping house. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/prudy-keeping-house (Original work published 1870)
May, Sophie. Prudy Keeping House. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/prudy-keeping-house.
@book{may2026prudy,
author = {May, Sophie},
title = {Prudy Keeping House},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/prudy-keeping-house},
note = {First published 1870}
}
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What is Prudy Keeping House about?
Four cousins visit their rich aunt in New York at Christmas. When she is called away, they play at keeping house in the housekeeper's room, with funny cooking disasters, a runaway toddler, and a quarrel over a tempting set of rings.
Who are Prudy, Dotty, Horace, and Fly?
Prudy and Dotty are sisters, Horace and Fly are brother and sister, and all four are cousins visiting Aunt Madge. Prudy is gentle, Dotty proud, Horace jokes, and Fly is a tiny, lively talker.
Is Prudy Keeping House part of a series?
It belongs to Sophie May's series about Prudy, Dotty, and Fly, the children who also appear in her Dotty Dimple books. It stands on its own, and the last line points to the next book, Aunt Madge's Story.
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