Dorothy Edwards (2) (1914–1982)

The narrator of this delightful selection of tales describes all of the scrapes her naughty little sister gets into, whether at home or at the neighbors'. From eating treats she shouldn't to cutting up papers and fabric she is meant to leave alone, this little girl knows how to make a mess. She also knows how to make quite a fuss, and often stubbornly refuses to do as she is told. Despite this, she is a winsome little girl, perhaps because her misbehavior never stems from malice, and because, when she can be made to see that she is in the wrong, she is always truly repentant.

A classic of British children's literature, Dorothy Edwards' stories about "My Naughty Little Sister" were originally part of a radio program called Listen With Mother, and were first collected in print in 1952, in My Naughty Little Sister. Other collections followed, concluding with the fifth and final collection, More Naughty Little Sister Stories , published in 1971. For my part, I have long heard about this character and her adventures, but had never had a chance to read any of them, so when this treasury edition came into work, I was quite eager to pick it up. I'm not sure if this volume contains the complete collection - the twenty-one tales are grouped thematically into four section: When My Naughty Little Sister Was Very Young / The Bad Harry Stories / My Naughty Little Sister Can Be a Good Girl Sometimes! / Naughty Stories Indeed! - but there is a generous selection, even if it isn't exhaustive. Edwards' language is rich and distinctive, and has an oral quality to it - one can imagine her telling these tale to an eager audience of children! - that the foreword maintains is a feature of the working class British culture of the day. The artwork, done by Shirley Hughes, is every bit as delightful as the text, capturing the naughty little girl's ups and downs. I did wonder a bit about the older sister/narrator, who seems a remarkably patient child, and would have liked to read more about her experiences. Leaving that aside, this is one I would recommend to little children who have been or might be naughty, as well as to their older siblings and parents!… (més)

This particular collection is oversize - would be too heavy for most beginning readers to hold and read by themselves. However, it would make a perfect lap-sit book (for ages 3-6 I think) - a parent or auntie and one or two children could certainly enjoy giggling over it.

What I really liked is that the little sister wasn't usually all that naughty. Most of the time she was simply inquisitive and impulsive. And so she's readily forgiven, and even has plenty of friends. Authentic & loving.

I do wish sometimes we'd seen the good big sister get rewarded, or at least appreciated, for being so much easier to care for. Knowing that these stories are memories helps - otherwise I'd be fretting that the big sister was *too* docile and pliant.

Not too British nor too old-fashioned. The conversational style makes it seem a bit precious/ twee, but only a bit. Still a fun & insightful read.

I had to look up 'sultanas' because a sentence said 'currants and sultanas and raisins' and I always thought the latter two synonymous. Turns out all three are dried grapes. http://britishfood.about.com/od/glossary/g/driedfruit.htm… (més)