Girls' Series by Joanna Mathews

Bessie Books

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  1. Bessie at the Sea-side (1867)
      Online at Google Books
  2. Bessie in the City (1868)
      Online at Internet Archive
  3. Bessie and Her Friends (1868)
      Online at Google Books
  4. Bessie among the Mountains (1869)
      Online at Google Books
  5. Bessie at School (1869)
      Online at Google Books
  6. Bessie on Her Travels (1870)
      Online at Google Books

Some British editions of Bessie in the City are titled Maggie and Bessie, and Their Way To Do Good. (Online at Google Books.)

Related series:

Miss Ashton's Girls

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  1. Fanny's Birthday Gift (1873)
      Online at Google Books
  2. The New Scholars (1874)
  3. Rosalie's Pet (1875)
      Online at Google Books
  4. Eleanor's Visit (1875)
      Online at Google Books
  5. Mabel Walton's Experiment (1875)
  6. Elsie's Santa Claus (1876)
      Online at Google Books

British editions of Fanny's Birthday Gift also published as Look at the Bright Side (Thomas Nelson) circa 1880 with altered chapter titles, and in 1903 as The Leroy Family; or, Look at the Bright Side(Thomas Nelson)

Read a 19th-century review of Fanny's Birthday Gift



Sequels to the Bessie Books

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  1. Maggie Bradford's Club (1889)
  2. Maggie Bradford's School-mates (1890)
  3. Bessie Bradford's Prize (1890)
      Online at Project Gutenberg
  4. Maggie Bradford's Fair (1892)
      Online at Google Books
  5. Frankie Bradford's Bear (1893)

Related titles:

And another...

Additional evidence of the impact of the Bessie books is seen in Nina Rhoades's Winifred's Neighbors, where the title character hopes that her neighbors, the Bradfords, are the Bradfords of the Bessie books. (Online at Internet Archive.) Special thanks to Jill Hobgood for information about this work.

Other Series:

Flowerets: A Series of Stories on the Commandments

  1. Violet's Idol (1870)
      Online at Google Books
  2. Daisy's Work: The Third Commandment (1870)
      Online at Internet Archive
  3. Rose's Temptation: The Fourth Commandment (1870)
  4. Lily's Lesson: The Fifth Commandment (1870)
  5. Hyacinthe and Her Brothers: The Sixth Commandment (1870)
  6. Pinkie and the Rabbits: The Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Commandments (1870)

Haps and Mishaps

  1. Little Friends at Glenwood (1876)
  2. The Broken Mallet [and] The Pigeon's Eggs (1876)
  3. Blackberry Jam (1877)
  4. Milly's Whims (1878)

Later ads show two additional volumes: Lilies and Thistledown -- by Julia Mathews, Joanna Mathews' sister (online as Lilies or Thistledown at Google Books) and Uncle Joe's Thanksgiving.

Kitty and Lulu

  1. Toutou and Pussy (1872)
  2. Kitty's Robins (1872)
  3. The White Rabbit
  4. Rudie's Goat (1873)
  5. Kitty's Visit to Grandmamma (1873)
  6. Kitty's Scrap-book (1873)

Series reissued by Frederick A. Stokes in 1891

Little Sunbeams

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  1. Belle Powers' Locket (1871)
      1871 edition online at Google Books
  2. Dora's Motto (1871)
      Online at Google Books
  3. Lily Norris' Enemy (1872)
      Online at Internet Archive
  4. Jessie's Parrot (1872)
    Online at Internet Archive
  5. Mamie's Watchword (1872)
      1872 edition online at Google Books
      later edition online at Internet Archive
  6. Nellie's Housekeeping (1872)
      1872 edition online at Google Books;
      later edition online at Internet Archive

Series advertised as showing how children may be "sunbeams of joy and happiness to others."

Series reissued by Frederick A. Stokes in 1891

The first four volumes were issued in the United Kingdom in one volume as Little Sunbeams; online at Google Books.)

Uncle Rutherford

  1. Uncle Rutherford's Attic, a Story for Girls (1887)
  2. Uncle Rutherford's Nieces, a Story for Girls (1888)
      Online at Internet Archive
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Copyright 2009 by Deidre Johnson . Please do not reproduce without permission