Sarah Chauncy Woolsey (pseudonym Susan Coolidge) was the author of many novels and short stories for children, but she is known chiefly for the Katy series of five books, published between 1873 and 1890. The Katy books center on the title character, Katy, a lively and mischievous young girl, the eldest of a family of five whose mother has died. Katy means well and fully intends to be a mother to her younger siblings, but in the first volume of the series she strays from her original purpose because of her childish thoughtlessness. The books trace not only Katy's maturation, but also that of her sisters and brothers. The first book of the series is definitely the best, but throughout Woolsey shows an ear for the chatter of children at play and a keen sense of the waywardness of basically good children into various forms of naughtiness.

Woolsey was born...