Five Little Peppers - Series Overview

Series Overview

The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew tells how the Peppers live, learn, and play in their little brown house. They are poor, and Mamsie must work constantly to keep the wolf from the door, but their lives are unexpectedly happy. They make do with whatever they have and the older children help the youngest ones. Though bad times may befall them, they bear it as best they are able and make the most of the good.

Things change for the Peppers after Phronsie is kidnapped by an organ grinder. She is rescued by young Jasper King and his dog, Prince, both of whom soon become fast friends with the Peppers. The family so charms Jasper and his father that one by one they are invited to visit the Kings's home in the city and soon the entire family is living there. Mr. King makes Mrs. Pepper his housekeeper and does everything in his power to see the children educated and entertained.

Though the Kings surround the Pepper children with luxury -- Phronsie collects two hundred dolls over the course of five years -- the values of hard work, humility and togetherness are still firmly enforced by their mother. This puts them in a curious position in society. Though they live with an upper-class father and son, the older children are aware they’ll someday work for their livings. This makes them willing to befriend anyone, from street girls to grocers’ sons.

The stories continue with the Peppers' adventures in school, abroad, and even back in the little brown house where their thoughts and hearts will always turn. The series spans seventeen years, beginning with Phronsie as a three-year-old and finishing with her as a twenty-year-old young lady.