One of the classics of American children's literature, Daddy-Long-Legs tells the tale of Judy Abbott - an ebullient orphan beginning a college degree with the aim of becoming a writer - through her letters to the anonymous patron who is paying for her education.
Judy is informed that she must write him monthly letters, but that she will never know his identity or receive a letter in reply. One day, Judy catches a glimpse of the man's shadow and sees a pair of long legs, but just who is this mysterious benefactor?
"I think that the most necessary quality for any person to have is imagination. It makes people able to put themselves in other people's places. It makes them kind and sympathetic and understanding."
Jean Webster (1876-1916) was born Alice Jane Chandler Webster in Fredonia, New York. A grand-niece of Mark Twain, she had several novels published in her lifetime, but it was the bestseller Daddy-Long-Legs (1912) that brought her great popular acclaim. It was later developed into a stage play and several movies.