Pollyanna

Pollyanna

By Eleanor H. Porter

★★★★☆

The name Pollyanna has become synonymous with an overly-cheerful person, but the original story isn't nearly as irksome as the name's conotations suggest. I was completely charmed by this book. A few years ago I read Heidi and the main character came across as saccharine sweet and far too optimistic. So despite growing up with two separate film versions of Pollyanna (including the famous Hayley Mills version) I was worried that this one would be all sugar and no substance. It wasn't that way at all!

Pollyanna's joy is sincere and she's been through a hard life already at the tender age of 12. She moves in with her strict aunt after becoming an orphan. Her minister father taught her to find something to be glad about even in the most dire circumstance. Her "glad game" is not pretentious, it's just her way of dealing with life and it's her earnestness that sells the spirit of the book.

Every person she meets is touched by her unbridled enthusiasm. What a beautiful way to live your life. No matter what their circumstances, each person who crossed her path found that their world was a little brighter because of her presence. How many of us can say that?

BOTTOM LINE: A sweet gem that I can't wait to share with my own daughter one day. We could all learn a little something from Pollyanna. 

I absolutely adored the 1990 film version. It was called Polly: Coming Home and starred Rudy from The Cosby Show. It took the Pollyanna story, but gave it a unique twist by setting it in 1956 Alabama. Pollyanna befriends people of different races and becomes an instrument of understanding in the community. 

“What men and women need is encouragement. Their natural resisting powers should be strengthened, not weakened ... Instead of always harping on a man's faults, tell him of his virtues. Try to pull him out of his rut ... Hold up to him his better self, his real self that can dare and do and win out! ... People radiate what is in their minds and in their hearts.”

Heidi

Heidi
by Johanna Spyri
★★★☆

Heidi, aka The Mountains Aren’t Handicap Accessible, is the story of an orphaned 5-year-old who’s dropped at her recluse grandfather’s home in the Swiss mountains. Her sunny demeanor changes everyone around her. From her cranky grandpa to Peter the goat-herd to a blind elderly woman, she cheers up everyone she meets.

She’s the picture of innocence and optimism. Her naïve view of the world encourages others and gives them hope. She’s a bit of a Pollyanna and finds her greatest satisfaction in doing things for others.

Soon after moving to the mountains she’s sent off to Frankfurt, Germany to live as a companion to Klara, a rich girl who is confined to a wheelchair. She finds herself battling an overwhelming homesickness for her life in the mountains and detests city life.

It’s a good story, but Heidi is just so sweet. That’s not a bad thing it just meant there wasn’t much to dig my teeth into. I think this would be a perfect book to read with kids, although it was much longer than I expected it to be (almost 300 pages).

“How good it is that the dear Lord doesn’t give us what we pray so terribly hard for when He knows of something much better.”