Tattine

In Short

Seven-year-old Tattine enjoys a summer of small country pleasures—making maple wax, visiting a farm, and raising pets—until she discovers that her beloved setters hunt wild rabbits and her kitten preys on birds. Horrified by these natural instincts, she struggles to reconcile her affection for her animals with their capacity for harm. Guided by her wise grandmother and patient mother, Tattine learns to accept the limitations of animal training, understand human agency, and embrace her pets despite their flawed natures. The book endures for its warm, realistic treatment of childhood moral growing pains.

The Story

Seven-year-old Tattine leads an enviable life in the countryside, spending sunny June days sketching in apple trees, camping with her friends Rudolph and Mabel, and playing with her family's Laverack setters, Betsy and Doctor. Her quiet happiness breaks when she catches her dogs holding a wild rabbit in their jaws. Though Tattine nurses the tiny creature with fresh lettuce and milk, it dies the next day. Tattine buries the rabbit under a wooden marker reading "Laverack setters not allowed," but Betsy and Doctor promptly dig up the grave. Shocked by what she sees as cold-hearted malice, Tattine demands to know why her gentle pets would do such a thing. Her mother, Mrs. Gerald, explains that setters are born and bred with an instinct to hunt, comforting her daughter with the thought that prey animals may feel little pain.

Life moves on to happier domestic adventures. Tattine, Mabel, and Rudolph build an elaborate camp in the woods, using a custom swing-crane built by Joseph the gardener to boil two pounds of maple sugar into sweet wax over ice. Later, Rudolph crawls into a tight, dark space underneath the porch foundation to rescue five newly born setter puppies, which the children lovingly settle into fresh straw. Tattine also forms a close bond with Patrick Kirk, an old Irish farm hand who patiently rakes gravel every morning. Patrick invites the children to his home in the Raritan Valley for a day-long visit. The children ride over in a donkey-cart pulled by Barney, tour the small farm, and receive three ribbon-tied white geese from generous Mrs. Kirk.

On their journey back, a sudden summer storm hits. Barney stubbornly stops dead in the middle of a muddy stream ford. Rudolph bravely pulls the girls and the cart out of the water to safety in a log playhouse, but Barney breaks loose and gallops off alone. When Patrick the coachman brings them home, Tattine feels betrayed once more, declaring she will never trust Barney again. Her moral confusion deepens when she catches her black-and-white barn kitten trying to raid birds' nests in the orchard.

The turning point comes during a visit from her grandmother, Grandma Luty. After Tattine practices her formal manners and complains about her animals' persistent misbehavior, Grandma Luty explains the old verse about animals doing what "is their nature to." She helps Tattine realize that animals cannot change their inherent instincts, but human beings possess the unique ability to reason, grow, and choose kindness. Comforted by this revelation, Tattine runs out to give her dogs a forgiving hug, accepting them—flaws and all—with a wiser, more compassionate heart.

How It Unfolds

A sad discovery While sketching from an apple tree, Tattine catches her beloved setters with a struggling wild rabbit. She tries to nurse the trembling creature in a box of cotton, but it dies the following morning.

The grave under the tree Tattine buries the rabbit and posts a sign forbidding setters, but Betsy and Doctor dig up the box the very next day. Mrs. Gerald explains to her heartbroken daughter that hunting is simply a setter’s inherited nature.

Making maple wax Tattine, Rudolph, and Mabel set up a campsite with a tent and a swinging fire crane. They boil maple sugar down and pour the syrup over ice blocks to make sweet maple wax.

The set under the porch Hearing faint cries under the house, Rudolph crawls through a cramped crawlspace to find four newborn puppies. The gardeners dig a trench through the foundation stones to extract them, only to discover a fifth puppy the next day.

An invitation to the farm Tattine works alongside old Patrick Kirk as he rakes the driveway and arranges an all-day visit to his small farm. The children ride over in a donkey-cart, eat bread and milk, look at geese, and receive three pet birds from Mrs. Kirk.

Trapped in the ford On the drive home, Barney the donkey refuses to move while crossing a stream ford. As a severe hail and rain storm breaks, Rudolph helps the girls escape into a nearby cabin while Barney runs off to the stable alone.

Lesson from Grandma Luty Grandma Luty visits and listens to Tattine complain about her pets' predatory ways and Barney's stubbornness. She teaches Tattine that while animals act on instinct, human beings have the power to overcome their nature and choose goodness.

The People

• Tattine: A sensitive, observant seven-year-old girl who expects the world around her to be orderly, fair, and gentle. She adores her pets and takes great pride in her drawing and manners, but she feels deeply unsettled when she discovers that animals act on violent instincts. By listening to her family, she learns to replace rigid judgment with understanding.
• Mrs. Gerald: Tattine's wise, compassionate mother. She constantly tries to shield her daughter from unnecessary sorrow, yet she speaks to Tattine with direct honesty when difficult truths about nature arise, helping her process grief without losing faith in her pets.
• Grandma Luty: Tattine’s old-fashioned grandmother, who wears gold eye-glasses and snowy lace caps. Warm and practical, she offers gentle philosophical guidance, teaching Tattine the distinction between animal instinct and human morality.
• Rudolph: Tattine’s energetic playmate. Bold and action-oriented, he braves dark, dirty crawlspaces to rescue puppies and acts decisively during a scary thunder and hail storm to get his friends out of a flooded stream.
• Mabel: Tattine's lively friend who joins in camping and farm visits, matching Rudolph’s energy and sharing in the summer's outdoor adventures.
• Patrick Kirk: A hardworking, genial Irish farm hand whose bowed back and quick smile reflect a lifetime of contented labor. He treats Tattine with deep respect and opens his home to the children.

In Its Own Voice

“It’s awful to find such a thing out suddenly about dogs you’ve trusted, and to think how good and gentle they look when they come and put their heads in your lap to be petted, just as though they would not hurt a fly…”

Tattine expresses her intense disappointment to her mother after discovering that her pet setters hunt wild rabbits in the yard.

“Trickle out of a tree!… Why, yes, don’t you know that’s the way they make maple sugar?”

Rudolph explains the origin of maple syrup to an astonished Tattine while they feast on homemade maple wax at their campsite.

“…the verses mean that we mustn’t blame animals for doing things that it is their nature to do.”

Grandma Luty uses an old nursery rhyme to explain to Tattine why she should forgive her pets for following their natural instincts.

What It's Really About

Beneath its cozy domestic surface, the book explores a child’s initial confrontation with the untamed, unyielding aspects of nature. Tattine begins the summer believing that adult care can mend every broken thing. Her discovery that her gentle pets harbor hunting instincts shatters her simple view of moral perfection. The story examines the boundary between animal instinct and human responsibility: animals act out of natural design without malice, whereas human beings possess moral agency and the capacity to change. It also touches on how children learn forgiveness—realizing that loving a pet, a friend, or a animal means accepting their inherent flaws rather than expecting them to conform to an ideal standard.

Why Read It Today

This small work will charm readers who appreciate gentle, atmospheric Victorian children's literature in the vein of Johanna Spyri or Frances Hodgson Burnett. It evokes a vanished world of simple outdoor pleasures: building leaf-hung camps, boiling fresh maple sugar over outdoor fires, riding in donkey-carts, and visiting traditional small-scale farms. Ogden captures the precise voice and intense moral earnestness of early childhood without sinking into sentimentality.

Modern readers should expect a slow, unhurried pace and late-nineteenth-century period details, including mild dialect spelling in the dialogue of the Irish farmhand Patrick and his wife. The book handles animal predation with straightforward Victorian realism rather than modern sanitized comfort; the rabbit's death and the dogs' instincts are presented as simple facts of rural life. What stays with the reader is the story's warm psychological authenticity. It honors the absolute seriousness with which children process moral disappointment, offering a comforting blueprint for accepting the world's imperfections with grace and affection.