She behaves somewhat kindly to the children and dreams of some day doing something 'grand' with her life: painting famous pictures, saving the lives of drowning people, or leading a crusade on a white horse. Bright, headstrong Katy can hardly avoid getting into mischief almost daily under these circumstances, but she is unfailingly remorseful afterward. Her father is a very busy doctor who works long hours the children are mostly in the care of his sister Aunt Izzie, who is very particular and something of a scold. The title is a play on the katydid, a family of insects – which explains the insects on the first-edition book cover.ġ2-year-old Katy Carr lives with her widowed father and her two brothers and three sisters in Burnet, a small Midwestern American town. The books were frequently reprinted and all are available online.Ĭoolidge modeled Katy on her own childhood self, and the other 'Little Carrs' on her brothers and sisters. There is also a short story about the Carr children, Curly Locks in a collection called Nine Little Goslings. Two further sequels relating the adventures of Katy's younger siblings were also published- Clover and In the High Valley. Two sequels follow Katy as she grows up: What Katy Did at School and What Katy Did Next. When a terrible accident makes her an invalid, her illness and four-year recovery gradually teach her to be as good and kind as she has always wanted. Katy is a tall untidy tomboy, forever getting into scrapes but wishing to be beautiful and beloved. It follows the adventures of a twelve-year-old American girl, Katy Carr, and her family who live in the fictional lakeside Ohio town of Burnet in the 1860s. What Katy Did is an 1872 children's book written by Sarah Chauncey Woolsey under her pen name 'Susan Coolidge'.

Clover by Susan Coolidge