Louise Howard is the mother of Stirling Howard; she and her son are boarders in Kit Kittredge's home.
Personality and Facts[]
Louise Howard is a peer of Margaret Kittredge. She has big, round eyes, and is illustrated with short light brown hair and brown eyes.
At the start of the series, her husband, Mr. Howard, has moved to Chicago (according to her) and she states she is due to leave there shortly with her son and only child, Stirling. She is likely also a housewife, and did not originally have a job; her skills are very much those of a housewife rather than working class, and she is part of the local garden club, indicating she is of (initially) similar class to Margaret.
Louise is very overprotective of Stirling, even more so after she and Stirling are abandoned by her husband (though this fact is not to her knowledge at first), and calls him "lamby" often. She initially speaks for her son to Kit and Ruthie, rather than him speaking for himself. Kit finds her "fussbudgety" and persnickety, and that she makes a fuss about everything: flowers, cleanliness, baseball, and her son especially. She states that in her day--likely the early 1910s--girls were graceful, gentle, and quiet. She does not understand baseball--or Kit's interest in it. However, Kit later learns that she is patient, kind, gentle (including to injured people), calm, and a good cook.
She worries a great deal about money and her usefulness, as she has no income and has not worked in a job before. She is a skilled gardener, able to restore sick and drooping plants. She is a thorough cleaner; she notices things such as dust in the corners, insists on cleaning the room she and Stirling live in, and doing their own laundry. She feels useless due to her lack of skills, meek, and reluctant to take help from others; she does not take the money Stirling initially offers her so they can pay rent until it is disguised as a letter from her husband. She later pays for her and Stirling's room and board by being a housekeeper with Margaret, but stops once Aunt Millie comes to stay and takes over, with her only "job" being weeding the flower beds at the hospital. She feels that this is all she is capable of, until she later gets a job at the hospitality shop with Mr. Hoffstader.
Her usual laugh is a nervous giggle.
In the Books[]
Meet Kit: An American Girl[]
Louise is startled when Kit hits her with the door.
Louise is first seen when she says she cannot take her turn at weeding at the flower bed at the hospital, as she won't be part of the garden club anymore due to her and Stirling moving to Chicago to follow her husband, who is pursuing a business opportunity. She says she's not sure where she and Stirling will live in Chicago; this tips Kit (and Margaret) off that they are leaving their house because they can no longer afford to stay there. Margaret offers Louise and Sterling to stay in their guest room until Mr. Howard sends for them; Louise is reluctant but quickly accepts.
When the Howards arrive to move in, Louise and the cab driver are unloading the boxes and suitcases while Stirling stands there, not helping. She thanks Margaret for offering them space, then prompts Stirling to shake Margaret's hand and say hello to Kit and Ruthie. She then says the excitement isn't good for him and he needs to lie down and rest right away. Over the first days of their stay, Louise speaks where Stirling doesn't, frequently about what he can't do (such as run in the sprinkler with them). When Stirling gets a bad cold, she says he has to stay in bed and have his meals brought to him.
Louise is bringing Stirling tea while he is sick when Kit, unthinking, flings open the door and hits her; she drops the silver tray she's holding, shrieking, and then fusses after the tea spills and the cup breaks. She is among everyone who is trying to explain to Margaret what's happened. Kit initially puts the blame on Mrs. Howard--and Stirling--for the accident.
After Charlie explains why things are hard right now--and thus not fair, and the risk they're in--the Howards are among the people Kit thinks about as things not being fair for. When Margaret says that they'll be taking in boarders now, Kit brings up the possibility of the Howards moving out, only to hear they'll be paying guests and will move into Kit's room as boarders with her moving to the attic.
Kit Learns a Lesson: A School Story[]
Happy Birthday, Kit!: A Springtime Story[]
Kit mentions that Mrs. Howard is very particular with her laundry and insists on doing all of her laundry herself. As a result, Kit does not have to do the Howards' laundry as part of her chores.
Kit Saves the Day: A Summer Story[]
Changes for Kit: A Winter Story[]
Kit Uses Her Head[]
Kit's Home Run[]
Louise comes out of the house--fluttering--to tell Stirling to sell papers and to leave soon so he doesn't rush and get overheated, and to wear his cap to keep the sun off his skin. When Kit falls on the roses, she along with Stirling rush over, and she asks if Kit's all right--then is upset the roses are squashed, saying they've been killed. They had been Louise's pets that were limp and lifeless until she nursed along to health with steps such as covering when cool and cooing to them. She fusses about baseball as she tries to restore the roses--she doesn't like Stirling playing due to his delicate bones, then says he should go to his job so as not to be late. She doesn't accept Kit's help to fix the trellis and says she doesn't understand why Kit likes baseball--she grew up in a time when girls were graceful and quiet and not tomboys. She complains about Kit's sweaty, dirty appearance and suggests that she go inside and wash up.
Louise is offered a job at the hospitality shop thanks to Kit.
Later, after Kit has played a pickup game of baseball (and been injured in the process) she thinks Louise and her mother will know how to help her before remembering her parents and Aunt Millie aren't at home and only Louise will be at home. She thinks Louise will have a fit about her injury and say a lot of disapproving things about Kit and baseball. When she arrives Louise sees Kit's appearance and asks what happened before saying she was playing baseball, clearly. She then directs Kit to a chair, calling her "lamby" (like she does Stirling). She handles her injuries with cool wet dishcloths and the blood and dirt on Kit's dress by soaking it in cold water. She comforts Kit after she changes clothes, and says they should go to the hospital in case her lip needs stitches. There's no money for a cab, so she asks if Kit can walk, and says she's a brave girl when Kit says yes. Kit is grateful for Louise's presence and arm holding her as they walk to the hospital; she doesn't rush them on the walk and speaks soft encouragements as if Kit were a toddler, which is comforting in the moment. She explains that taking care of injured things like people and plants is all she's good at other than cooking and cleaning. She says Kit makes her feel useful for a change, as she has not since Aunt Millie's arrival and Stirling not needing her to fuss over him like before. She then shushes Kit before she can speak up.
At the hospital Louise speaks to the nurse about Kit seeing a doctor as soon as one is free, and then leads Kit to the hospitality shop to rinse out the dishcloth Kit has been keeping at her lip as she has been there before to wash her hands after attending the flowers. She greets the man in charge, Mr. Hoffstader, and says they'll be using the sink. Louise rinses the dishcloth and wrings the water over the nearby potted plants on the counter. Mr. Hoffstader mentions that he's noticed that Louise is at the hospital beds more than other ladies and she admits it. After Kit asks after the flowers in the shop and Louise's skills--Mr. Hoffstader offers her a job for two dollars a week. She is too shocked to speak at first, then agrees, starting the next day at eleven a.m. She thanks him, then, dazed, asks Kit if she just found her a job. She says it's lucky Kit got injured and says she won't fuss about baseball again.
Louise attends the baseball game with Kit and Stirling.
She is true to her word, no longer fussing about baseball or anything else; Stirling says it's because she's happy she can pay the Kittridges some rent, but Kit thinks its because she gets all her fussing out at the hospitality shop, and Louise says Kit found the perfect job for her. She finds the perfect way to pay Kit back by taking Kit and Stirling to a baseball game on Ladies Day. She doesn't have the faintest idea of what is happening but tries to follow along. She is puzzled when everyone cheers at Ernie Lombardi hitting a grand slam, and Kit thinks she doesn't understand the explanation; however, she does by saying it was like Kit's own grand slam in her game, in that four good things happened: she has a job, Stirling isn't fussed over so much, Kit's parents have rent from her, and they went to a game, making Kit's home run a grand slam.
Really Truly Ruthie[]
Louise insisting that Margaret go on the special day.
When Margaret laments that she and Kit might not be able to go on their special day trip due to all the chores that need to be finished, Louise speaks up and says she, Stirling, and Charlie will take over the chores, allowing Margaret and Kit to spend the day with Ruthie and Lily Smithens.
A Thief in the Theater[]
The Jazzman's Trumpet[]
Full Speed Ahead: My Journey with Kit[]
In Kit Kittredge: An American Girl[]
She is portrayed by Glenne Headly.