Sophie (book series) facts for kids

Sophie is a fun series of six children's books written by Dick King-Smith. The books were brought to life with pictures by David Parkins. These stories were published between 1988 and 1995.

Sophie's adventures take place when she is between four and eight years old. Her family lives near Wessex, but later moves to the Scottish Highlands. Sophie is the youngest of three children. She lives with her parents and her older twin brothers, Matthew and Mark. Sophie loves animals and dreams of becoming a "Lady Farmer" one day. She saves her pocket money, called 'farm money', to buy a farm. By the end of the series, her dream starts to come true!

Meet the Characters

Sophie

Sophie is the main character of the books. She is born on Christmas Day. In the first book, she is four years old. Sophie often wears a faded blue jumper with her name on it, jeans, and red wellies. Her hair is often described as messy.

Sophie's biggest dream is to become a Lady Farmer. She starts by looking after insects like woodlice and snails in the garden shed. As the stories go on, she gets more pets. These include a cat named Tomboy, a rabbit named Beano, a dog named Puddle, and a pony named Lucky. People often describe Sophie as "small but very determined." Even though she can be stubborn, she is very lovable.

Sophie often says "yikes" when she is surprised or worried. When she is unhappy with someone, she calls them "mowldy, stupid and assive." The stories are told from Sophie's point of view. She sometimes thinks animals use the same words or act like her. For example, a snail she finds is called "small but very determined." She also thinks her cat, Tomboy, makes a sound like "Yikes!"

Sophie usually doesn't like crying or telling lies. But she does cry when her parents surprise her with Puddle the puppy. She also cries when her great great Aunt Alice, Aunt Al, passes away.

Matthew and Mark

Matthew and Mark are Sophie's twin brothers. They are two years older than her. They look so much alike that it's hard for others to tell them apart. They often say and do the same things at the same time. They love to trick visitors into guessing which twin is which.

Sometimes, they tease Sophie or leave her out of their games. They even told her she couldn't be a farmer because "farmers are men." But they are also very loyal and supportive. They gave her a toy tractor for her birthday to help with her farming dream. They also called a girl named Dawn "beastly" for hurting one of Sophie's woodlice. They are very sporty and love playing football. Their catchphrase is Matthew saying "I know!" and Mark saying "I know what you're going to say!"

Sophie's Parents

Sophie's mother and father are a loving couple. They are not named in the books. At first, they don't take Sophie's farming dream seriously. But when they see how determined she is, they help her in every way they can.

Sophie's mother is good at art. She drew five farm animals for Sophie's bedroom wall. She is gentle and patient when Sophie uses the wrong words or misunderstands things. Sophie's father likes all animals except cats at first. But Sophie convinces him to let her adopt Tomboy, and he grows to like the cat. He loves cricket and organizes "olympic games" at home for the twins' birthday. He can sometimes get a little impatient with Sophie, especially when she interrupts his cricket games.

Aunt Alice

Aunt Alice, or 'Aunt Al' as the children call her, is Sophie's great great aunt. She is eighty years old when Sophie first meets her. Aunt Al and Sophie are very close because they both love animals and are practical. Aunt Al lives in a big house in the Scottish Highlands. She is very encouraging of Sophie's dream to become a Lady Farmer.

Aunt Al passes away peacefully at the age of eighty-four. She leaves her farm to Sophie, with the condition that Sophie's family moves to Scotland. This helps Sophie's dream of owning a farm come true.

Dawn

Dawn is a girl in the year above Sophie at school. Sophie does not like her much. Dawn is described as pretty, always wearing neat dresses and pink nail polish. She has golden hair tied in bunches. Sophie and Dawn first meet when Sophie's mother invites Dawn over. Dawn calls Sophie "Silly" and steps on one of Sophie's woodlice. Sophie gets even by breaking Dawn's toy pony.

Dawn is usually timid and seems scared of Sophie. But she does get back at Sophie by bribing Sophie's friend, Duncan, with sweets.

Duncan

Duncan is a small boy with red hair in Sophie's class at school. He is one of Sophie's playmates. Sophie decides he will work on her farm when they are older. She often makes him pretend to be a horse. She promises to pay him with eggs, milk, and cornflakes.

However, when Sophie gets chickenpox, Dawn gives Duncan sweets. This makes Duncan switch his loyalty to Dawn. When Sophie returns to school and finds out, she "sacks" Duncan from his future farm job.

Andrew

Andrew is a farmer's son the same age as Sophie. When Sophie finds out he is a farmer's son, she decides she will marry him. She plans for them to have four babies and inherit his father's farm. When she tells Andrew her plan, he is watching TV and just says "Oh, alright." He doesn't seem to understand or care much about her plans for their future, even when she reminds him before she moves away.

Tomboy

Tomboy is Sophie's first pet, a coal-black cat. Sophie first meets her on her fifth birthday. Sophie mistakenly thinks Tomboy is a boy and names her Tom. But when the cat has four kittens, Aunt Al suggests the name Tomboy. She says a tomboy is a "high-spirited girl who likes romping around."

Tomboy has four kittens. Sophie names them Molly, Dolly, Holly, and Polly. It turns out only one, Dolly, is a girl. Two boy kittens are given to new homes. Dolly, the only girl, goes to Meg Morris, who owns the local riding stables. The last kitten, a boy, goes to Aunt Al and is renamed Ollie.

Beano

Beano is Sophie's second pet, a large albino rabbit. Aunt Al gives him to Sophie. Sophie names him Beano because he has pink eyes, and she learns he is an albino.

Puddle

Puddle is a white terrier puppy with a black patch over his eye. Sophie wants a dog, but her parents say she is too young. She falls in love with a puppy from Andrew's farm. For Sophie's sixth birthday, her parents surprise her with the puppy. Sophie names him Puddle because he pees in the corner.

Lucky

Lucky is a pony who appears in the last book. Sophie first sees Lucky when visiting Aunt Al in Scotland. After Aunt Al passes away, Sophie's family moves to Scotland. On Boxing Day morning, Sophie is given Lucky as a present. She says she is "the happiest that I have ever been in my whole life."

Dolly

Dolly is Tomboy's only daughter, a tortoiseshell cat. Sophie hopes all of Tomboy's kittens are girls. But when Meg Morris comes to buy a kitten, she tells Sophie that only Dolly is a girl. Meg buys Dolly. Years later, when Sophie visits Meg's stables for riding lessons, Dolly remembers Sophie and runs to her.

Ollie

Ollie is Tomboy's son, a black cat like his mother. He is the last kitten left. Aunt Al asks if she can have him and changes his name from Holly to Ollie.

Books in the Series

• Sophie's Snail
• Sophie's Tom
• Sophie Hits Six
• Sophie in the Saddle
• Sophie is Seven
• Sophie's Lucky

All six books have also been recorded as audiobooks read by Bernard Cribbins. They were released on cassette tapes and CDs.