Clover

Coolidge, Susan, 1835-1905Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.4

Word count: 289K words
Chapters: 29

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Clover by Susan CoolidgeAuthor: Coolidge, Susan, 1835-1905,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: May 8, 2005

Editor's review

Clover comes from the American children's author Susan Coolidge and falls under juvenile literature. Coolidge is known for her gentle, delicate portrayal of everyday life and feeling in growing up, and this book continues that style, centering on the life of the girl Clover with a slow pace and sincere emotion. As a public-domain electronic text, it preserves the original language and serves as a sample of nineteenth-century American juvenile fiction. Its value lies not in dramatic turns but in the plain depiction of relationships and the moods of growing up, letting readers feel the warmth of family and community life in that era. For English learners, the language is relatively easy, making it a suitable step toward reading full-length originals. Note that the values and scenes of life in the book bear clear marks of their time; contemporary readers should view them with historical understanding rather than applying present-day standards directly.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Young readers who like gentle coming-of-age stories and prefer everyday narrative
Literature lovers who want to encounter nineteenth-century American juvenile fiction
Learners looking for easy original English books for gradual reading
Readers interested in the history of children's literature and the tradition of early girls' fiction

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking strong conflict and fast-paced plots
Young readers who want contemporary issues and present-day coming-of-age struggles
Readers at absolute beginner level who cannot yet read English sentences independently

Reading tips

Go chapter by chapter, noting Clover's experiences and shifts in mood in one sentence after each.
Treat it as gradual English reading: aim first for the general sense, then return to new words and old-fashioned expressions.
As you read, notice the portrayal of family and community ties and consider how the era shapes the characters' choices.
Read it alongside other works by the same author to observe the consistency of her narrative style.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What age is this book suitable for reading independently?

The book is in original English, easy in language but with nineteenth-century habits of expression; it suits young readers with some English reading ability who can independently grasp the general sense of a paragraph. Age is not the only standard; English level and reading patience matter more. If a child cannot yet read English sentences smoothly, a parent's company or a translation is recommended.

Why is it said to suit gradual English reading?

As juvenile literature, the book has relatively simple sentence structures, an everyday plot, and clear threads, unlike adult literature full of long sentences and complex metaphors. Readers can move forward with little burden of background knowledge and gradually adapt to the pace of original books, so it is often seen as a suitable step from short pieces to full-length works.

Will the era's values make contemporary readers uncomfortable?

As a nineteenth-century work, its portrayals of gender roles, family division of labor, and the like bear the marks of their time and are distant from contemporary views. Read it with historical understanding, as a window onto young people's lives in that era, rather than directly endorsing its value judgments. Where differences appear, they can prompt discussion and reflection.

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About the author

Coolidge, Susan, 1835-1905 Author

Susan Coolidge (1835–1905) was an American writer of children's literature, born Sarah Chauncey Woolsey. She is best known for What Katy Did and its sequels, including What Katy Did at School and What Katy Did Next, which follow the girl Katy through family life, school days, and the experiences of growing up. Coolidge also wrote The New-Year's Bargain, A Little Country Girl, and other works. Her writing is gentle and attentive, with careful detail and an interest in inner life, often weaving the difficulties of growing up and self-cultivation into her stories. The collection here holds sixteen of her works, mostly grouped under inspirational growth. Public information is limited, and further biographical details are difficult to confirm.