He is an older widower and is in uncertain health when the series starts. J Horatio King, Senior is the Pepper family’s benefactor.

Phronsie calls her dolls Seraphina and Baby, her kids and treats them as such. She starts the series as a wide-eyed blonde at the age of three that sees the good in just about everybody. Sophronia (Phronsie) is the baby and the pet of the Pepper family. A bit of a dandy late in his adolescence, he is teasingly called “Davina” by the other students. Davie is an obedient student, and is equally willing to give up anything at all to make Ben or Joel happy. He allows the world to go on all around him while calmly absorbing each of the family’s doings. He settles down a touch in college and gets active in some student church group.ĭavie is the youngest boy and the quietest of the children. Joel is the most troublesome of the kids, often getting himself into mischief or just causing others grief with all the things he says. He is an enthusiastic sportsman that loves parties, entertainment, and treats. At the start of the series he is eight years old. Joel is the middle Pepper and the middle boy and is the most active. She loves flowers, music, and her baby sister with the same passion. She is so eager to cook for the family, as well. She is a bright, busy, and cheerful child that makes the family’s life as happy and comfortable as she can.

Mary (Polly) is the eldest daughter, and is ten years old at the start of the series. At the start of book one, he is eleven years old. With his sister, he manages the younger kids and will sacrifice anything he can for them. He is an avid scholar but willingly puts his schooling aside for providing for his family. The oldest of the five kids is Ebenezer (Ben) who has blue eyes. Adoniram Fisher with the full approval of her brood. She is the moral backbone of the family and her kids are entirely devoted to her. Pepper, who is called “Mamsie” by the kids, is a widow struggling to keep her five kids educated and healthy. The books follow the lives of the five kids (Ben, Polly, Joel, Davie, and Phronsie) of Mamsie and the deceased Mister Pepper that are born into poverty in one small rural “little brown house”. Six of these books are “background” and are set around the same time of the first three books. All of the later books are set before the third book in the original series. Letters from her readers from all around the world prompted her to continue writing about this family, which she would do for almost twenty more years. She stated this in the introduction to the book. The series began publication in the year 1881, when “Five Little Peppers and How They Grew” was released.Īfter writing the fourth book of the series, called “Phronsie Pepper”, Margaret felt that she had finished the books. Five Little Peppers series by Margaret SidneyĪuthor Margaret Sidney wrote the “Five Little Peppers” series of children’s fiction books.

5 little peppers books