Wikipedia article
The 'Katy series' is a set of novels by Sarah Chauncey Woolsey, writing under the pen-name of Susan Coolidge. The first in the series, 'What Katy Did', was published in 1872 and followed the next year by 'What Katy Did at School'. 'What Katy Did Next' was released in 1886. Two further novels, 'Clover' (1888) and 'In the High Valley' (1890), focused upon other members of the eponymous character's family. The series was popular with readers in the late 19th century.[
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The series was later adapted into a TV series entitled 'Katy' in 1962, and two films, one also called 'Katy' in 1972 and 'What Katy Did' in 1999.
Novels
* 'What Katy Did' (1872)
* 'What Katy Did at School' (1873)
* 'What Katy Did Next' (1886)
* 'Clover' (1888)
* 'In the High Valley' (1890)
Adaptions
* 'Katy' (TV series, 1962)
* 'Katy' (film, 1972)
* 'What Katy Did' (film, 1999)
* 'Katy' (retelling by Jacqueline Wilson, 2015)
* 'Katy' (TV series based on Wilson's retelling, 2018)
Literary criticism
Critics are divided about how much the series played into period gender norms and often compare the series to 'Little Women'.[Sicherman, Barbara. Well-Read Lives: How Books Inspired a Generation of American Women. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2010. Project MUSE.][Kutzer, M. Daphne. "Little women and their books." The Lion and the Unicorn, vol. 20 no. 2, 1996, pp. 288-292. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/uni.1996.0016][Hamilton-Honey, Emily. "Girls' Series Fiction and American Popular Culture ed. by LuElla D'Amico (review)." Children's Literature, vol. 46, 2018, pp. 216-222. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/chl.2018.0012][Clark, Beverly Lyon. Regendering the School Story: Sassy Sissies and Tattling Tomboys. Routledge, 2001.] Foster and Simmons argue for its subversion of gender in their book 'What Katy Read: Feminist Re-Readings of Classic Stories for Girls' by suggesting the series deconstructs family hierarchies.[
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Influence
The series is unusual for its time by having an entry which focuses not on the family life at home but at school in 'What Katy Did at School'.[Hunt, Peter, and Sheila G. Bannister Ray. International Companion Encyclopedia of Children's Literature. Routledge, 2014.]
In a 1995 survey, 'What Katy Did' was voted as one of the top 10 books for 12-year-old girls.
See also
*Sarah Chauncey Woolsey
References
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