This book is proceeded by two other books in a series, Ditte: Daughter of Man, and Ditte: Girl Alive.

I. God's little creatures -- II. Mother Ditte -- III. Little Georg -- IV. Our lord -- V. On the common -- VI. The rats -- VII. The confirmation party -- VIII. Old Rasmussen gets new boots -- IX. All sorts -- X. The congratulator strikes his flag -- XI. Everyday life -- XII. The solid jutlander -- XIII. The sewing-machine, the quilt, and the Samaritan -- XIV. Little Peter -- XV. Mother Ditte in the papers -- XVI. The woolen vest -- XVII. A meeting -- XVIII. Ditte takes a day off -- XIX. The little coal picker -- XX. God's heart -- XXI. Death -- XXII. Towards the stars -- A human being is dead.

""How few are the really first-rate novels interpreting a working woman's life! There is, of course, Martin Anerson Nexo's classic "Ditte," and there is - well, there is "Ditte."...Ditte is never poor in spirit, even from her early days as an unwanted, illegitimate child. Her aging grandparents who take her to live with them see life afresh through her wondering eyes and her fingers reaching out to explore the world about her. Later, Ditte is adopted by the kindly, naïve Lars Peter, the rag and bone man, looked down upon by well-to-do and poor alike as the least successful citizen in their midst. Going to live in Lars Peter's leaking, dilapidated "Cow's Nest," Ditte makes of it a shining home and becomes "Little Mother" to the younger children in the family...Ditte, growing up into young womanhood, is revealed in her complexities, her doubts and her rainbow joys. She participates in all experiences, hers is no shallow stream of consciousness, but a plunging into the moving current of life." -- From the book jacket.

Translated from Danish into English.