[2] It tells the story of siblings Laura, Harry, and Frank Graham, who live with their uncle and grandmother.

[6] Frank's death ends Laura and Harry's childish mischief and turns them toward a Christian ethic.

[7] In her preface to the novel, Sinclair rejects the didacticism that had dominated children's literature in English since the late 18th century.

[1] She writes that Holiday House aims to show characters who exemplify "that species of noisy, frolicsome, mischievous children, now almost extinct".

[8] Critics have viewed Holiday House as a transitional work between this earlier period and later children's fiction by authors including Lewis Carroll,[9] and have explored its gendered portrayal of childhood as preparation for imperial careers.