I realise that I was brought up on a rich diet of what can loosely be described as Moral Tales. I was explaining to Chris, last weekend the importance of always playing the "Glad Game". He looked a bit blank and I realised he has never read Eleanor H Porter's novel Pollyanna, and so has never been exposed to always looking on the bright side (except through the delights of Monty Python, of course). This set me off thinking about all the girls' novels which have an element of the moral tale about them.
All of Frances Hodgson Burnett's books definitely fall into this camp, especially A Little Princess, as do Susan Coolidge's Katy books. L M Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables novels have a strong vein of making the best of things, running through them, and Louisa M Alcott's Little Women promotes generosity and perserverance from the first pages.
The heroines of these novels typically face trials and hardships, and sometimes, even physical challenges, as in Eustacia Goes to the Chalet School. But they win through, and emerge as nicer and stronger characters. There are a couple of wonderful examples of where this doesn't happen. Gwendoline Lacey in Enid Blyton's Mallory Towers series and Betty Wynne Davies in the Chalet School books. In the case of the latter, she is expelled after consorting with a Nazi spy. Oh dear, this is really going too far!
Then I wondered if there were equivalent books for boys, or were they a peculiarly feminine phenomenan? Also are there equivalent children's books today? I wonder if these books would go down well with moden children? This is something I will have to look into.