Kate Douglas Wiggin wrote a beautiful piece of literature with fabulous gift for providing serenity. This is an old-fashioned story about an old fashioned family. The Carey family faces seemingly insuperable troubles but persevere with dignity and grace. The characters are real, and they possess an innate integrity that comes with careful parenting and being bred in a time of high moral standards. The Carey's family has a magical quality that is all their own, bringing joy to those around them. Mrs. Carey refers to her children as her chickens, thus the title. Mrs. Carey is ideal mother, and she achieves perfect harmony mixing love and rebuking. And Nancy's high spirits are contagious. Compared to today's fiction, "Mother Carey's Chickens" may seem like a goody-goody-dreamworld-story, but it was an amazing story. The book is extremely positive and preceptive.