At the same time that I was agreeing to write a foreword for Eleanor H. Porter's Poflyanna, an insistent question was tugging at me. But have I read that book? When I was a child? Ever?

  And yet, even as I wondered about the story, I knew exactly who PoUyanna was---an irrepressibly cheerful child. So irrepressibly cheerful that her nine survives in any standardAmerican dictionary. A Pollyanna is "an excessively or blindly optimistic person." That is, I must admit, a rather negative definition...

Pollyanna"s eternal optimism has made her one of the most beloved characters in American literature. First published in 1913, her story spawned the formation of "Glad" clubs all over the country, devoted to playing Pollyanna"s famous game.Pollyanna"s has since sold over one million copies, been translated into several languages, and has become both a Broadway play and a Disney motion picture.

Foreword

Miss Polly

Old Tom and Nancy

The Coming of Pollyanna

The Little Attic Room

The Game

A Question of Duty

Pollyanna and Punishments

Pollyanna Pays a Visit

Which Tells of the Man

A Surprise for Mrs. Snow

Introducing Jimmy

Before the Ladies" Aid

In Pendleton Woods

Just a Matter of Jelly

Dr. Chilton

A Red Rose and a Lace Shawl

"Just Like a Book"

Prisms

Which Is Somewhat Surprising

Which Is More Surprising

A Question Answered

Sermons and Woodboxes

An Accident

John Pendleton

A Waiting Game

A Door Ajar

Two Visits

The Game and Its Players

Through an Open Window

Jimmy Takes the Helm

A New Unde

Which Is a Letter from Pollyanna