 pollyanna is a best-selling 1913 novel by eleanor h. porter that is now considered a classic of children's literature, with the title character's name becoming a popular term for someone with the same optimistic outlook. the book was such a success that porter soon produced a sequel, pollyanna grows up (1915). eleven more pollyanna sequels, known as "glad books", were later published, most of them written by elizabeth borton or harriet lummis smith. further sequels followed, including pollyanna plays the game by colleen l. reece, published in 1997. pollyanna has been adapted for film several times. some of the best-known are disney's 1960 version starring child actress hayley mills, who won a special oscar for the role, and the 1920 version starring mary pickford. ==plot summary== the title character is named pollyanna whittier, a young orphan who goes to live in beldingsville, vermont, with her wealthy but stern and cold spinster aunt polly, who does not want to take in pollyanna, but feels it is her duty to her late sister. pollyanna's philosophy of life centers on what she calls "the glad game," an optimistic attitude she learned from her father. the game consists of finding something to be glad about in every situation. it originated in an incident one christmas when pollyanna, who was hoping for a doll in the missionary barrel, found only a pair of crutches inside. making the game up on the spot, pollyanna's father taught her to look at the good side of thingsâin this case, to be glad about the crutches because "we didn't need to use them!" with this philosophy, and her own sunny personality and sincere, sympathetic soul, pollyanna brings so much gladness to her aunt's dispirited new england town that she transforms it into a pleasant place to live. the glad game shields her from her aunt's stern attitude: when aunt polly puts her in a stuffy attic room without carpets or pictures, she exults at the beautiful view from the high window; when she tries to "punish" her niece for being late to dinner by sentencing her to a meal of bread and milk in the kitchen with the servant nancy, pollyanna thanks her rapturously because she likes bread and milk, and she likes nancy. soon, pollyanna teaches some of beldingsville's most troubled inhabitants to "pl
1913_novels American_children\'s_novels Characters_in_children\'s_literature Child_characters_in_film Child_characters_in_literature Fictional_orphans New_Hampshire_culture Novels_about_orphans Novels_set_in_Vermont