Margaret Sidney

The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew Margaret Sidney Unabridged edition

The five little Peppers are an adorable family of children growing up in a small town and cared for by their widowed mother. She is so poor that the pittance she earns as the town seamstress fails to support or even sustain the family.

The children are happy despite privation, and the smallest pleasures cause delight and merriment in the little house. Everything happens to this brood while mother is away sewing, and no matter how dangerous the situation, they come out of it safe and smiling.

Later on in the story, when the oldest girl faces a real chance to be adopted as a member of a rich family, she chooses to return to her poor old home.