Daddy-Long-Legs

by Jean Webster and Robert Ed. Webster

Book Overview

Judy Abbott is a lively, endearing young girl growing up in an orphanage. Her dreams of college seem in vain until the unknown benefactor offers to pay for her tuition. The only requirements are that she must write to him every month, and that she can never know who he is.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140374558
• ISBN13: 9780140374551
• Release Date: July 1995
• Publisher: Puffin Books
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.41 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.1" x 7.8"
• Age Range: 11 to 15 years
• Grade Range: Grades 6 to 10

Customer Reviews

Dear Daddy Long Legs THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING

I loved the musical version so I decided to check out the book and it was sooo good!!! I loved the epistolary format the writer decided to take and the character development was amazing! I only wish I had read the book before the musical because I already knew what happened by the end!!!

Enjoyable Rags To Riches Tale

I enjoyed this book full of letters from an orphan girl to the man who paid for her college and wanted to remain anonymous who she affectionately referred to as Daddy Long Legs. The original deal was that in turn for her college tuition and a monthly allowance she would write each month to let him know her progress in her studies. Her letters were amusing. All through the book I was pulling for her to finally meet this man and was surprised that it was someone she knew quite well. I really enjoyed the illustrations, but it's actually a romance. I would recommend it for young adults.

A Classic You Can Read in a Day

I've read this book a few times, and every time I come back to it, I can't put it down. It's short (around 200 pages) & sweet. The book was published in 1912, and is one-of-a-kind, as it consists almost entirely of letters written by Judy. Judy is an orphan from the John Grier Home, an orphange she was raised in since she was a baby. Her future seems very bleak until one day she is unexpectedly offered the opportunity for a paid college education to become an author by one of the orphanage's trustees. In return, she has to write monthly letters to the unknown trustee who is known as Mr. John Smith. She calls him "Daddy-Long-Legs" because she saw his tall shadow as he left the building. Her letters are very entertaining, and often impertinent. That is really all I want to tell of the story, but here are a couple of quotes from the book that I loved:"It isn't the big troubles in life that require character. Anybody can rise to a crisis and face a crushing tragedy with courage, but to meet the petty hazards of the day with a laugh -- I really think that requires spirit.""I think the most necessary quality for any person to have is imagination. It makes people able to put themselves in other people's places. It makes them kind and sympathetic and understanding. It ought to be cultivated in children."

A sweet story with a twist

Usually I absolutely hate novels that are supposed to be a collection of letters and/or diary entries for this simple reason, they are as transparent as saran wrap. Something along the lines of "I'm just jotting down a casual letter to inform you that I just had a terrible fight with so-and-so, here's what we said word for word complete with speaker attributes"That's why I was so pleasantly suprised with this book. The writing is entertaining, intelligent and always realistic. That is EXACTLY how a person in their late teens, early twenties writes (I know, I'm a letter writer in that age group) and it is so refreshing to read an author who knows what she is talking about on the subject.Judy Abbott is most certainly not a Pollyanna, she teases, gets angry and argues but she has a nice nature and always manages to patch things up. She is an orphan who writes to her mysterious benefactor whom she dubs "Daddy-Long-Legs". Because he is her fairy godmother for all purposes, she confides in him even though she knows he will never answer. The ending is marvelous with a great little twist. I think this book is great for girls 8-80 and am sorry I did not read it sooner

Daddy-Long-Legs is #1

Daddy Long Legs is one of my favorite books of all time. It looks like an old book, but it is as current as any of todays best seller. Throughout the years, I have re-read Daddy-Long-Legs, time and time again. When I read this novel, I laughed and I cried. Each event that happens in this novel has you glued to your chair. In every letter that Judy (aka, Jurusha Abbott) writes to her favorite Daddy-Long-Legs, she tells of her daily life. She shares her happiness, her sadness, her everything, to a man that she doesn't know, but loves so much. I strongly recommend this book to anyone that has a dream that they think will never come true. After reading this book, you will know there are miracles. Dreams do come true.