The Bobbsey Twins of Lakeport

The Bobbsey Twins of Lakeport, originally titled simply The Bobbsey Twins when first published in 1904, is the first volume in what would become one of the longest-running American children’s series. The book introduces the two sets of twins: Bert and Nan, age twelve, dark-haired and serious, and Flossie and Freddie, age six, blond and mischievous. Their parents Richard and Mary Bobbsey live in the comfortable small town of Lakeport on a fictional lake somewhere in the American Midwest. Richard owns a lumberyard. Mary runs the household with help from the cook Dinah and her husband Sam.

The original book is essentially a year in the family’s life, with chapters built around small set-pieces: school days, a picnic that goes wrong, a fishing expedition, a winter sledding accident that turns out fine, the first appearance of Bert’s nemesis Danny Rugg. The plotting is episodic by design, since the book was meant to introduce the cast and the setting rather than tell a single story. The Bobbsey Twins formula was established here and barely changed across seventy-five years of sequels.