My rating: 5 of 5 stars
One of my all time favorite childhood books growing up. Inspired by the life of Carol Ryrie Brink's grandmother, Caddie Woodlawn is a simple story about an all American girl with a patriotic spirit that stretches far beyond her rural Wisconsin home.
In 1864, Carolina Augusta Woodlawn or just Caddie, was not your ordinary conventional girl. While her sisters spend their time sewing and baking, Caddie would rather hunt, swim, socialize with Indians and anything that doesn't require her to be a lady. Caddie's mother wrings her hands in despair, but her father encourages his once sickly daughter to run wild with her brothers, believing she will one day come into her own.
Caddie's many adventures include hunting with her uncle, almost drowning, getting into fights in school, falling into the ice and catching a cold, learning to mend clocks, helping three motherless boys, an Indian massacre (scare), saving her community and...her cousin from Boston. Along the way, Caddie begins to uncover secrets of her father's past and soon his former life will change the Woodlawn family forever.
I have no idea how many times I've read this book! I've loved this story for years and it's absolutely timeless. Caddie is a sweet and endearing heroine. Certainly not without her flaws, but she has a heart that gives entirely to those who truly need it. While at times she lacks common sense, she is clever and inventive and always willing to take a risk.
The Woodlawn family add a great deal to the story as well. Caddie's relationship with her two brothers is paramount to her growing up and differs very much from her relationship with her sisters. Her mother, while strict and every inch a lady, knows of her daughter's potential not as a lady maybe, but as an influential young woman. And finally Caddie's father who supports his daughter in her life choices and future decisions.
I think every young girl should read this book at some point in their life. Like Little House on The Prairie and Anne of Green Gables, Caddie Woodlawn is a simple, but comical and lively portrait of a young girl, the family she loved, and her journey from girlhood into womanhood.
I love this book!
ReplyDelete~Ceci