Harriet Mulford Stone Lothrop, who signed all of her works with the pseudonym Margaret Sidney, was the author of the Five Little Peppers series. The books concern the poor Pepper family with its five children, all of whom are happy in their poverty and rewarded eventually with wealth and a rich benefactor. Harriet Stone began writing of the Pepper family in short stories for Wide Awake monthly magazine for children in 1878. After the first two stories appeared, they were so popular that Stone was asked to write a year's worth of Pepper stories for the magazine. The stories were popular because of the obvious high spirits of the children while at play, for their optimism and hard work as well as moral rectitude in the face of temptation and nearly devastating poverty, and for the happiness of their home life.

Stone was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the...