Childhood Classics Mother Carey's Chickens was written by Kate Douglas Wiggin in 1911. She authored many books for children, the most well-known of which is probably her Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm which she wrote in 1903. Mother Carey's Chickens follows the adventures- and misadventures- of the Carey family as, after the sudden death of their father, they move to a house in rural Maine where it is much cheaper to live. This part of the story is at least partly autobiographical; when Wiggin was quite young her family lived in Philadelphia. After the death of her father however, Kate's mother moved her family to rural Maine to live. The name "Mother Carey's Chickens" is a pun on the Carey family name, and is also the folk name for the seabird, the storm petrel. According to folklore, Mother Carey was a sea witch who controlled the petrels, which were said to portend bad weather and marine disaster. Mother Carey appears in numerous poems and stories in which she frequently is portrayed as a wrecker of ships. In Charles Kingsley's 1863 book The Water Babies however, which is frequently referenced in Mother Carey's Chickens, Mother Carey is a fairy. Some people complain that the Carey family is unbelievably nice, unselfish, and brave in the face of adversity. There is a kernel of truth in this criticism; the Careys behave with unnatural nobility and patience in the face of their financial ruin. But there's a reason for this: Wiggin is providing a picture of an ideal family's response to tragedy and crises- they pull together, support and rely on each other. The Careys are in this way contrasted with two other rather failed family units: the Lords and the Hamiltons who, for different reasons and in different ways have become estranged and disfunctional. The Hamiltons are separated by distance and differing ambitions, while Mr. Lord's self-absorption and callous disregard for the emotional needs of his children has left them even more estranged than the Hamiltons, though they still live in the same house together. In any case, the Careys are saved from being nauseatingly sweet by the fact that they possess active sense of humours, tempers, and various character flaws which they generally manage to overcome with the guidance of wise and patient Mother Carey. One joke which carries throughout the book is the saga of the hideous sculpture which was given to the family by their wealthy, well-meaning but taste-challenged aunt. This garish image of a young boy and a washtub is entitled "You Dirty Boy" and it is hated by the entire family. They can't get rid of it without offending their aged relative, however, so the children contrive at numerous "accidents" in an attempt to dispose of it. Unfortunately, the sculpture has more lives than the proverbial cat and keeps emerging unscathed, to the mystification and frustration of the Carey children. Mother Carey's Chickens was adapted and made into a play in 1917 and this play was in turn made into a movie in 1938. I haven't seen it, but the plot summary which I read of it indicates that the story told in the film bears little resemblance to the book's plot. In 1963, Disney produced a musical film based on Mother Carey's Chickens entitled Summer Magic. It starred Hayley Mills, Dorothy McGuire, and Burl Ives. I have seen this- saw it before I read the book, in fact. It's... not the worst thing I've ever seen. A lot of characters have been cut out- including one of the Carey children- and the plot somewhat changed, though not nearly as much as in the 1938 film. On the plus side, I love Burl Ives in everything. I guess what I'm saying is that Summer Magic is watchable, but the book is a lot better.
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