her father educated her sisters esther and susanna much more than frances burney. when she was eight, she still had not learned the alphabet. she was also so shy that visitors at her father's house called her the "old lady". some scholars think she might have had a kind of dyslexia. her brother used to play tricks on her by pretending to teach her to read and giving her a book upside-down. she did not find out that it was actually upside down and tried to read it. people said that "the little dunce" should be whipped. however, esther sleepe burney always replied that "she had no fears about fanny". her sister susanna said that fanny has "sense, sensibility, and bashfulness (shyness)". she also added, "i am afraid...that my sister fanny is too reserved".