Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (by Kate Douglas Wiggin)

'Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm' is something of a children's classic, written around the end of the 19th century by Kate Douglas Wiggin. However I had never previously read it.

It's the story of the vivacious and outspoken 10-year-old Rebecca who goes to live with two spinster aunts. The opening of the book seemed rather reminscent of 'Anne of Green Gables', with some unexpected moments of humour, and I had high hopes for it. But, as Rebecca grows up, the plot rather vanishes into moralising or too much detail.

I read it aloud to my sons, who were 10 and 12... perhaps it would have been better to skim on my own. The ending was satisfying, but the middle became rather tedious at times.