Little Women

About the story

With their father away in the Civil War, the four March sisters — responsible Meg, bold Jo, gentle Beth, and artistic Amy — make the best of a small income and a full house. Through friendships, quarrels, illness, and first loves, they grow up and choose very different lives.

Before reading

• If you have brothers or sisters, how are you alike and different?
• What does it mean to be "rich" in ways that aren't about money?

Discussion questions

1. Which sister are you most like? Why?
2. Jo wants to be a writer. How does she work toward her dream?
3. How does Laurie become part of the March family?
4. The sisters give away their Christmas breakfast. Why does Marmee ask them to?
5. How do the pictures show the difference in each sister's personality?
6. What do the sisters learn from hard times?

Words to know

• Marmee — the sisters' name for their mother.
• Genteel — polite and respectable.
• Burden — something heavy to carry, or a worry.
• Ambition — a strong wish to achieve something.
• Sacrifice — giving something up for someone else.

Activities

• Sisters' newspaper. The March sisters write a family newspaper. Make one page of your own, with a story, a poem, and a drawing.
• Character map. Draw each sister and list three words that describe her.