‘Pollyanna’ was written in 1913 by Eleanor H. Porter. The book was first published in the World War 1 era and was an immediate hit. The book is more than 100 years old now and Pollyanna has emerged as one of the best children’s classics. Not only this; the word ‘Pollyanna’ got adopted from the book and is now used to define a person who is excessively cheerful or optimistic. (Look it up in the dictionary). Pollyanna has been adapted for several films worldwide. The most notable is Disney’s 1960 version of Pollyanna starring child actress Hayley Mills, who won a special Oscar for the role.
The book revolves around a young 11-year-old orphaned girl Pollyanna Whittier who goes to live with her rich, stern, emotionless, and strict aunt, Aunt Polly, after her father’s demise. It is a powerful and uplifting story about optimism, positivity, and happiness. The central idea of the story is to make readers aware of the fact that ‘there is something about everything that you can be glad about, if you keep hunting long enough to find it.’ This is what Pollyanna’s ‘Glad Game’ is all about.
The book will teach you how to appreciate what you have and will invigorate you to see this world through a lens of positivity and optimism. The book will surely change the way you look at your life and will definitely teach you a better way to perceive your downfalls. It will teach you how to live life honorably and how to make the most out of it.
The importance of this book cannot be highlighted enough. I was not able to keep this book down. The writing style of the author is simple, subtle, and sentimental. It was effortless for me to connect with Pollyanna. While reading the book, I felt as if I was witnessing all the incidents right in front of my eyes. This is the magic that will be spelled by Eleanor H. Porter to the readers. It’s more than a century now, yet the book is still the talk of the town and surely will be till the end of the time.
I cannot emphasize more on the importance of this book. Though it is a childerns’ classic; I think that teenagers and adults will be able to relate more with the book and its storyline as it has a lot of layers and depth which can be uncovered only with the age and experience which comes along. A must-read for all age groups. Go for it. This book is definitely the game-changer. It will surely transform your life. A book I highly recommend.
