Edith Nesbit

The Wouldbegoods Illustrated Edith Nesbit

The Wouldbegoods (1899) recounts stories about the Bastables, a fictional middle-class family that has fallen on relatively hard times. Sent away to the country after a particularly unruly episode, the well-meaning but wayward Bastable children solemnly vow to reform their behavior. But their grand schemes for great and virtuous deeds lead to just as much mayhem as their ordinary games, and sometimes more.