"When you look for the bad in mankind expecting to find it, you surely will."— Eleanor H. Porter, Pollyanna
Eleanor H. Porter
The writer of Pollyanna
Eleanor Hodgman was born in a small New Hampshire town. Her mother and father loved music, and Eleanor grew up wanting to be a concert singer. She studied at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston.
But Eleanor's health wasn't strong enough for a singing career. She gave concerts and led church choirs for a while, but eventually had to stop. So she did what she'd always done on the side, she wrote. Magazine stories first, then novels.
Quick Facts
- Born: December 19, 1868
- From: New Hampshire, USA
- Job: Singer, then writer
- Famous for: Pollyanna and its sequels
The word 'Pollyanna' is now in real dictionaries! It means a person who's stubbornly cheerful, looking for the silver lining in everything. Eleanor's character was so famous her name became an actual English word.
Her Famous Stories
Read Porter's stories on Worldly
Pollyanna is gentle, warm, and quietly powerful. On Worldly, every page is adapted to your reading level.
1913Orphan Pollyanna comes to live with her gloomy Aunt Polly in a small town. She brings with her one thing, the Glad Game her father taught her. And everything starts to change.
1915Pollyanna is older now, traveling in Boston and Europe, navigating friendship and a first love. Still bringing the Glad Game with her wherever she goes.
Her Life, Year by Year
From music to the Glad Game
Eleanor Porter's life was quiet, but her cheerful heroine touched millions.
Born in New Hampshire
Eleanor Hodgman is born in Littleton, New Hampshire.
Music school
Eleanor enrolls at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, hoping to become a concert singer.
She marries John Porter
Eleanor marries John Porter, a businessman. She becomes Eleanor H. Porter.
She turns to writing
With her singing career closed by poor health, Eleanor starts publishing stories in magazines.
Cross Currents
Eleanor publishes her first novel, Cross Currents. It's modest but lets her keep writing.
Pollyanna
Eleanor publishes Pollyanna, the book that will make her famous. It tells the story of an orphan girl whose Glad Game changes her gloomy aunt and an entire town.
Pollyanna Grows Up
Eleanor publishes a sequel showing Pollyanna as a teenager. Readers love it.
She dies unexpectedly
Eleanor dies in Cambridge, Massachusetts, age 51. Other writers continue the Pollyanna series after her death, but none capture her original spirit.
The Glad Game
What Pollyanna taught
Pollyanna's Glad Game is the heart of the book. Here's how it works.
The Game
Find something to be glad about
In any situation, no matter how hard, Pollyanna tries to find ONE thing to be glad about. When she's sent a pair of crutches instead of a doll, she's glad because she doesn't need crutches.
Why it works
It changes everyone around her
Pollyanna doesn't lecture people. She just plays the Game out loud. Her neighbors slowly start playing it too. The whole gloomy town lights up.
What it's NOT
It's not pretending things are fine
Pollyanna feels sad too. She's an orphan. Things go wrong for her. The Glad Game isn't denial. It's finding the small bright thing in a hard moment.
Wait… really?!
Six surprising things about Eleanor H. Porter
Pollyanna is in the dictionary
Eleanor's character became so famous that 'Pollyanna' is now a real English word. It means a person who's relentlessly cheerful, always looking for the bright side.
She wanted to be a singer
Eleanor trained at the New England Conservatory of Music and hoped to be a concert singer. Poor health made that impossible, so she turned to writing instead.
Pollyanna sold over a million copies
The book was one of the bestselling novels in America in the 1910s. It was made into a play, a Disney movie, and many other adaptations.
Disney made a famous Pollyanna movie
In 1960, Disney made a Pollyanna movie starring Hayley Mills. The movie won Mills a special Academy Award and helped keep the book famous for new generations.
She wrote over a dozen novels
Pollyanna is by far her most famous, but Eleanor wrote at least 13 other novels including Miss Billy, Just David, and Sister Sue.
She died young
Eleanor died unexpectedly at age 51. Other writers continued the Pollyanna series after her death, but none captured her original tone.
Good questions, answered
Eleanor Porter FAQ
Is 'Pollyanna' really a word?+
Yes! Eleanor's character became so famous that 'Pollyanna' is now in real English dictionaries. It means a person who's stubbornly cheerful, always finding the bright side.
What's the Glad Game?+
It's the game Pollyanna's father taught her. In any situation, no matter how hard, you try to find one thing to be glad about. When she gets crutches instead of a doll, she's glad she doesn't need them.
Is the Glad Game too cheerful?+
Some people think so. But Pollyanna also feels sad in the book. The Game isn't about pretending nothing's wrong, it's about finding small things to be grateful for even in hard times.
What age is Pollyanna good for?+
Pollyanna works as a read-aloud from age 6, and as a chapter book from age 8. The Worldly version is adapted to fit each reader's level.
Did Eleanor write the sequels?+
She wrote Pollyanna Grows Up (1915). After Eleanor died in 1920, other writers continued the series, but those are not Eleanor's work and don't have her original tone.
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