Jean WebsterDaddy-Long-Legs (Puffin Classics)

I love love love this book!!! Read it in 2 days and it only took that long because I was babysitting

i wasn’t sure when i started out , but the book engrosses you , just kept enjoying each letter more and more ,absolutely beautifully written and very funny to see parallels from 1912 and present , refreshing little diversion highly recommend it

I love this book. I've read it a dozen times, maybe more, and was bereft when I couldn't find it in my stacks recently. So when it was a freebie through Early Bird Books, I jumped at the chance to have a digital copy at least. Though I admit i approached it with trepidation last night. I'd just finished a book I didn't really care much for, and after rereading A Wrinkle in Time and finding that it didn't really live up to my memories, I feared that I might be setting myself up for more disappointment.And in fact, there was one, which I will discuss later in the review. But the story itself? Still captivating. The characters, all seen through the eyes of the narrator, Judy Abbott, are both amusing and quite human. She -- Judy/Jean Webster -- has an eye for human silliness, but a forgiving one. It's a humane book that made me smile and gave me some warm fuzzies when I needed them.It's the story of an orphan who is sent to college by an anonymous benefactor on the condition that she writes him one letter a month to let him see how she's progressing. But Judy, who has been an orphan since babyhood, and was raised in an orphanage, is hungry for some kind of familial contact, so she creates a kind of grandfather/father/uncle figure in her mind, and addresses her benefactor as "Daddy Long-Legs," since all she knows about his is that he's tall and wealthy.Her letters are warm, rich, and amusing, and it's easy to fall in love with a girl who is in the process of falling in love with the whole world, a world she couldn't even imagine growing up as she did. I could read Judy's adventures all day, and recommend this book as a balm to treat weltschmerz. Five stars for the story.Alas, three stars for the Open Road Media Young Readers version. The original is filled with charming drawings, but Open Road didn't include any of them. Or rather, they included exactly ONE. Why they chose to do that is beyond me. It's either weird or it's sloppy, but that one illustration really irritated me. I wasn't happy that all the rest were gone, but had there been some consistency I'd have shrugged and thought "Oh well." But including one of them meant that including them all wouldn't have been a problem, and they just decided not to bother.So I'm happy to have the text, but I would recommend a different digital version.

Daddy Long Legs is the first book I have read by Jean Webster. I hope to get to the sequel soon!"At least homesickness is one disease that I've escaped! I never heard of anybody being asylumsick, did you?"How had I never heard of this book before? I loved it from the start, as orphans/foster care is near and dear to my heart. I loved Jerusha's letters to "daddy long legs" 😂."What do you think is my favorite book? Just now, I mean; I change every three days."I wondered if he was as amused by them as I was. They put me in mind of Little Orphan Annie. I started hoping Mr. Smith (not his real name) would write back. Then I started wishing he would be her Daddy Warbucks. Jerusha's letters are open and honest, and yes, to some, would seem impertinent. She has to write her benefactor monthly letters to keep him informed of her education. She writes frequently, sometimes eleven-page letters, and they are quite amusing. Daddy Long Legs is a quick read that left me asking a few questions. This one will linger for a while, and honestly, I'm not quite ready to let it go."The room marked with a cross is not where the murder was committed, but the one that I occupy."I have found a classic novel that I completely adored! I am glad I took a chance on a book outside my comfort zone.

I wanted to read something light and fun after breaking my heart with "Lily and the Octopus," and I chose "Daddy-Long-Legs" by Jean Webster. It was published in 1912 and is about a girl raised in an orphan "asylum," who is surprised to learn that she's been chosen by an anonymous benefactor, one of the asylum's trustees, to receive a college education, complete with a generous monthly allowance. Because she is not told the true name of her benefactor and has surmised only that he's tall, from a brief glimpse of him from behind, she has decided to call him Daddy-Long-Legs. As part of the arrangement, she's required to write at least monthly letters describing her educational and social progress. The story is told through her letters. The language, the humor, the sheer goodness of the letter-writer all work together to make this a delightful read. Here are a couple of passages I especially enjoyed:"The crows in the pine trees are making such a clamour! It's an intoxicating, exhilarating, calling noise. You want to close your books and be off over the hills to race with the wind."Regarding her visit to New York: "But aren't the streets entertaining? And the people? And the shops? I never saw such lovely things as there are in the windows. It makes you want to devote your life to wearing clothes."

I'm glad I was able to get this. I have read this book many times. Lovely story.

Having come down with a cold on Black Friday, I've been obliged to spend a great deal of time resting. Years ago I sent my granddaughter at Purdue a large brown envelope labeled "Sick Day." It contained a tube of aspirin, a box of cough drops, a little packet of tissues, and a paperback copy of " Daddy Long Legs."Granddaughter wrote back to say how she loved the contents of the envelope. Suddenly I was seized by a desire to read this classic novel all over again. I've just finished the reread and heartily recommend this book to anyone who needs to laugh, grow misty-eyed, and have her faith in human nature restored. Enjoy!