What Katy Did
First edition cover | |
| Author | Susan Coolidge |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Series | The Katy Books |
| Genre | Children's literature Coming of age |
| Publisher | Roberts Brothers |
Publication date | 1872 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover and Paperback) |
| Pages | 277 (Little, Brown edition, 1925) |
| Followed by | What Katy Did at School |
| Text | What Katy Did at Wikisource |
What Katy Did is an 1872 children's novel written by Sarah Chauncey Woolsey under her pen name "Susan Coolidge". 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. Katy is a tall untidy tomboy, forever getting into scrapes but wishing to be beautiful and beloved. 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.
Two sequels follow Katy as she grows up: What Katy Did at School and What Katy Did Next. Two further sequels relating the adventures of Katy's younger siblings were also published—Clover and In the High Valley. There is also a short story about the Carr children, Curly Locks in a collection called Nine Little Goslings. The books were frequently reprinted and all are available online.
Coolidge modeled Katy on her own childhood self, and the other 'Little Carrs' on her brothers and sisters. The title is a play on the katydid, a family of insects – which explains the insects on the first-edition book cover.