Customer Reviews

Kit's Surprise: A Christmas Story, 1934 (The American Girls Collection, Book 3)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I thought Kit's Surprise was a much stronger book than either of the first two in the series. It really developed the characters more, including Kit and her best friend, Ruthie. It also had a legitimate problem and a good solution, as well as a nice Christmasy ending. I liked it a lot.

Kit's Surprise is my favorite American Girl Book! The setting is nineteen thirty four in Cincinatti. Kit's dad has lost his job and her family is struggling to have enough money to pay their bills. Kit is highly discouraged because she is asked to care for her nasty uncle. He always has a list of jobs ready for Kit. She becomes even more sad because she and her best friend Ruthie get into a huge fight. Can Kit find a way to brighten up the holidays? Read this book to find out!

In this book, Kit Kittredge is living during the great depression in the 1930's. She and her best friend, Ruthie, get into a fight one day and don't speak to each other. Kit has to take care of her Uncle Hendrick who is grumpy and rude and has a dog that is as mean as he is. At the end, all works out fine for Kit, and she realizes that it is not the worst Christmas ever.

Kit's Suprise is a great book written by Valerie Tripp. Kit's suprise is about a young girl who lived in the depresion. As Christmas approaches the bank threatens to through Kit and her family out of their home. Kit finds ways to save money and save her family. This is a great book!!!

I have read the new Kit books because when I was younger I loved the American Girls Collection and was curious to see how I would view a new book now. I actually enjoyed them. This book was an enjoyable story about a spirited and resourceful girl's attempts to help her family through the hard times of the Great Depression. It's Christmas, 1932, in the story, and Kit worries that with the fact they may lose their house looming over them like a dark cloud, they won't be able to enjoy the holiday. Kit has just had a fight with her best friend, Ruthie, and is forced to spend her afternoons with her mean Great Uncle Hendrick, who is ill and needs Kit to help him out and run errands for him. Although in the typical spirit of this series most problems are resolved by story's end, some things are left unanswered, and only the completion of the series will tell if the family gets to keep their home. I would reccomend this series to younger readers, although for this age group there are more realistic historical series, for example, the My America series, a younger version of Dear America, and Pioneer Daughters by Jean Van Leeuwen, set during the American Revolution.

Well, you would have guessed that right - since it is an American Girl Doll book.
Enough said - she LOVED it.

Nine-year-old Kit Kittredge is growing more and more concerned about her family's welfare, now that the Great Depression is getting increasingly worse. The fact that Christmas is slowly creeping up, only brings more worry into her life, as Kit's best friend, Ruthie - whose family is doing quite well in the midst of disaster - is counting on Kit and her mother to accompany her and her mother on a lavish day-after Christmas excursion - a tradition that can't possibly continue this year. The idea makes Kit upset, and soon the two girls are no longer speaking. Now, with the extra free time on her hands, Kit has begun doing various odd jobs for her rich Uncle, and is pocketing the money, in an attempt to give it to her mother as a surprise on Christmas morning!

I have taken up reading about Kit's adventures over the past few weeks, and each story makes me a bigger fan of the hopeful-reporter. Kit is a wonderful character, whose imagination, accompanied by the many obstacles she must overcome in life, create a marvelous story that will be loved. Valerie Tripp has done a wonderful job with this series, and the stories keep getting better and better. I am now very excited to read HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KIT! A lovely holiday story for the history fan in your life.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

This is another in the American Girls Short Stories series about Kit Kittredge, a nine-year-old girl living in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is 1934, the Great Depression is deepening, and Kit finds more to worry about. Having overheard that her family might lose their house, Kit jumps at a chance to bring in money by doing odd jobs for her rich but peevish uncle. Taking every opportunity to maximize her earnings, Kit gives a Christmas gift to the family...enough money to pay the electric bill for another month.

I often sing the praises of the American Girls books, and this one is just as good (if not better) than the others. Once again, this book teaches a wonderful lesson, and does it with an exquisite story. As before, I enjoyed Walter Rane's illustrations, which are just perfect for the story. Also, the final chapter is about Christmas 1934, and what it was like for so many Americans. My ten-year-old daughter and I give this book two thumbs up!

Kit's Surprise continues the story of nine-year-old Kit Kittredge, who is growing up during America's Great Depression. Kit's Dad has lost his job. Since the family can't pay the bill for their house, Kit finds out that they might be evicted (kicked out of their house)! To make things worse, Kit and her best friend Ruthie have gotten into a fight, and she has to care for her cranky Uncle Hendrick and his dog Inky, who is just like him. But then Kit finds a way to make the holidays bright, and a way to get her best friend back. Includes "Peek Into the Past," which tells about life during the Great Depression.