In Timothy's Quest, Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin showcases her signature heartwarming storytelling style, offering readers a charming tale suitable for all ages. Set in a small New England village, this classic novel follows the adventures of an orphan boy named Timothy and his quest to find his long-lost sister. Wiggin's descriptive writing transports readers to a simpler time, filled with endearing characters and moral lessons. The book's engaging narrative style and thoughtful exploration of themes such as family, friendship, and perseverance make it a timeless piece of literature. Drawing on her background as a teacher and children's advocate, Wiggin infuses the story with empathy and wisdom, making it a poignant and uplifting read. Timothy's Quest is a delightful literary gem that continues to captivate audiences of all generations, making it a must-read for anyone seeking a heartwarming tale with enduring lessons.

When Massachusetts passed America's first comprehensive adoption law in 1851, the usual motive for taking in an unrelated child was presumed to be the need for cheap labor. But by 1929 -- the first year that every state had an adoption law -- the adoptee's main function was seen as emotional. Little Strangers examines the representations of adoption and foster care produced over the intervening years. Claudia Nelson argues that adoption texts reflect changing attitudes toward many important social issues, including immigration and poverty, heredity and environment, individuality and citizenship, gender, and the family. She examines orphan fiction for children, magazine stories and articles, legal writings, social work conference proceedings, and discussions of heredity and child psychology. Nelson's ambitious scope provides for an analysis of the extent to which specialist and mainstream adoption discourse overlapped, as well as the ways in which adoption and foster care had captivated the public imagination.

Timothy Jessup is a wise and sensitive 11 year old orphan boy. He has an inseparable friend, a beautiful and fiery toddler Gabriella, who is called Lady gay, and a faithful dog named Rags. They are forced to take care of themselves and Timothy takes the role of guardian for Lady Gay. Forces of circumstance bring the children to White Farm where they are, reluctantly and quite temporarily, taken in by two older women. During their stay at the farm, they are both dealing with anguishing issues from their past. Kate Douglas Wiggin (1856-1923) was an American educator and author of children's stories, most notably the classic children's novel Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. She started the first free kindergarten in San Francisco in 1878 (the Silver Street Free Kindergarten). With her sister during the 1880s, she also established a training school for kindergarten teachers. Kate Wiggin devoted her adult life to the welfare of children in an era when children were commonly thought of as cheap labor.