Little Lord Fauntleroy

About Little Lord Fauntleroy

Cedric understands people through the affection and goodwill he expects from them. That expectation can challenge his grandfather without the deliberate strategy an adult might employ. Money, rent, and assistance give the story’s moral lessons practical consequences. Notice how inherited rank changes the reach of Cedric’s kindness while leaving his assumptions about friendship largely intact.

Reading focus

Watch a child’s expectations of kindness challenge inherited authority, especially when his new position allows generosity to affect other people’s lives.

This reading edition contains 58,626 words in 15 original sections. Read the text online with adjustable type and three colour themes, or keep a printable PDF.

Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett. Language: English. Reading edition: 28 October 2026.

Opening excerpt

Cedric himself knew nothing whatever about it. It had never been even mentioned to him. He knew that his papa had been an Englishman, because his mamma had told him so; but then his papa had died when he was so little a boy that he could not remember very much about him, except that he was big, and had blue eyes and a long mustache, and that it was a splendid thing to be carried around the room on his shoulder. Since his papa's death, Cedric had found out that it was best not to talk to his mamma about him. When his father was ill, Cedric had been sent away, and when he had returned, everything was over; and his mother, who had been very ill, too, was only just beginning to sit in her chair…

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