Although "The Fairchild Family" has gained a reputation in the twentieth century as an oppressively didactic book, in the early nineteenth century it was viewed as delightfully realistic. It was often described as humorous and Charlotte Mary Yonge (1823–1901), a critic who also wrote children's literature, praised "the gusto with which dwells on new dolls" and "the absolutely sensational naughtiness" of the children. Although twentieth-century critics have tended to view the tale as harsh (John Rowe Townsend described it as "unspeakably cruel"), often pointing to the Fairchilds' visit to the gibbet, Cutt and others argue that the positive depiction of the nuclear family in the text, particularly Sherwood's emphasis on parents' responsibility to educate their own children, was an important part of the book's appeal. She argues that Sherwood's "influence," via books such as the "Fairchild Family", "upon the domestic pattern of Victorian life can hardly be overestimated."