Robinetta

Wiggin, Kate Douglas Smith, 1856-1923Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 297K words
Chapters: 30

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.Robinetta by Findlater, Findlater, McAulay, and WigginAuthor: Wiggin, Kate Douglas Smith, 1856-1923,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Sep 25, 2009

Editor's review

Robinetta is an English novel co-authored by Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin and others, classified under American and Canadian literature and made freely available as an e-book by Project Gutenberg. Wiggin is known for her stories for children and young girls, and this book continues her light, warm narrative style, centering on a girl's coming of age and everyday family life, with brisk prose and a moderate length that make it suitable as introductory extensive reading in the original English. The collaborative authorship gives the text a somewhat polyphonic quality; readers may notice subtle differences in tone and perspective between chapters, which is part of what distinguishes this book from singly authored works. As a public-domain e-book, its value lies more in accessibility and as a documentary sample than in a contemporary bestseller-style reading experience. It suits relaxed chapter-by-chapter reading on a commute or before bed, and also serves as supplementary reading for those interested in American and Canadian girls' fiction of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy coming-of-age and family fiction about young girls
Learners who want to practice extensive reading in English at an intermediate level
Those interested in Wiggin's work and American and Canadian children's literature
Casual readers who prefer warm, light, chapter-based narratives

Not a good fit for

Beginners who need a Chinese translation or sentence-by-sentence notes
Readers who prefer suspense or strongly conflict-driven plots
Readers sensitive to the uneven style of collaboratively written texts

Reading tips

Proceed chapter by chapter and pause briefly at the end of each to sort out characters and events.
Note shifts in narrative tone brought about by the multiple authors, perhaps jotting down your impressions of each chapter.
Guess unfamiliar words from context first, then look up key words after finishing the chapter.
Read it alongside other Wiggin stories about young girls to see common threads in her characterization.

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

Is this book suitable for English beginners?

This is the original English edition with no Chinese notes, and the language is of moderate difficulty, so it suits readers with some vocabulary foundation. Beginners can use dictionary software for support or try one chapter before deciding.

Why does this book have multiple authors?

According to Project Gutenberg's cataloging information, the book was completed jointly by Findlater, Macaulay, Wiggin, and others as a collaborative work, so tone and perspective may vary slightly from chapter to chapter.

Does the e-book include illustrations or notes?

The Project Gutenberg edition is primarily text and typically does not include illustrations or editorial notes from print editions; the exact layout depends on the e-file you download.

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About the author

Wiggin, Kate Douglas Smith, 1856-1923 Author

Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin (1856–1923) was an American writer of children's literature. Because public information is limited, the details of her life are not elaborated here. The library holds 37 of her works, covering children's novels, holiday stories, and coming-of-age themes. Her best-known book, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, features a lively and clever country girl, written in a bright, humorous style with close attention to character and everyday life. The Birds' Christmas Carol, Penelope's Progress, Timothy's Quest, New Chronicles of Rebecca, A Cathedral Courtship, and Mother Carey's Chickens likewise center on family, childhood, and warmth. Her writing is fresh and natural, often observing the world through a child's eyes, and her works had a certain influence on English-language children's literature of her time.