Pollyanna is a best-selling 1913 novel by Eleanor H. Porter that is now considered a classic of children's literature, with the title character's name becoming a popular term for someone with the same optimistic outlook. Also, the subconscious bias towards the positive is often described as the Pollyanna principle. The book was such a success that Porter soon produced a sequel, Pollyanna Grows Up (1915).

Eleanor Emily Hodgman Porter (December 19, 1868 – May 21, 1920) was an American novelist. She was born in Littleton, New Hampshire on 19 December 1868, the daughter of Francis Fletcher Hodgman and Llewella Woolson. She became an excellent singer after studying at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. She married John Lyman Porter on 3 May 1892 and started writing short stories, usually set in New England, which were published in the popular magazines and newspapers of the day including Woman's Home Companion and Harper's Weekly.