Summary:
This delightful story follows the four Penderwick sisters throughout their summer on the lovely estate of Arundel in the Berkshire Mountains. The sisters have a plethora of adventures including befriending the boy of the estate, falling in love, and a rather traumatic run-in with a bull. Each of the girls (responsible Rosalind, imaginative Jane, brave Skye, and sweet Batty) and their friend Jeffrey grow and learn more about themselves as a result of their wonderful summer.
My Evaluation:
I believe this book will make every reader remember with sweet nostalgia the summers of their youth - it certainly did for me. One of the wonderful things about the book is the rich characterization. It is part of what makes the book relatable because almost every reader can relate to at least one of the characters. Furthermore, because each character is a different age, children (and adults) of all ages can relate to the particular concerns of each age group. It also dealt with some very relevant topics that many children have to deal with such as the loss of a parent or a parent's marriage. However, I do not want to give the impression that it is story simply filled with lessons - it really is a fun read that you will have great difficulty putting down.
Reviews:
Gray, A. (2005). Book of the Week -- The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy. School Library Journal. Retrieved from http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA621491.html
This enjoyable tale of four sisters, a new friend, and his snooty mother is rollicking fun. The girls’ father is a gentle, widowed botany professor who gives his daughters free reign but is always there to support or comfort them. Rosalind, 12, has become the mother figure. Skye, 11, is fierce and hot-tempered. Jane, 10, is a budding writer of mysteries who has the disconcerting habit of narrating aloud whatever is occurring around her. Batty, four, is an endearingly shy, loving child who always wears butterfly wings. The family dog, Hound, is her protector. The tale begins as the Penderwicks embark on a summer holiday in the Berkshire Mountains, at a cottage on the grounds of a posh mansion owned by the terribly snobbish Mrs. Tifton. Her son, Jeffrey, is a brilliant pianist, but her heart is set on him attending a military academy like her beloved father. The action involves Rosalind’s unrequited love for the 18-year-old gardener, Skye’s enmity and then friendship with Jeffrey, Jane’s improvement in her melodramatic writing style, and Batty’s encounter with an angry bull whom she rather hopefully calls “nice horsie.” Problems are solved and lessons learned in this wonderful, humorous book that features characters whom readers will immediately love, as well as a superb writing style. Bring on more of the Penderwicks!
Bird, E. (2010). Top 100 Picture Book Poll Results. School Library Journal. Retrieved from http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/afuse8production/2010/02/23/top-100-childrens-novels-poll-50-46/
When The Penderwicks swept away the competition at the 2005 National Book Awards for Young People’s Literature it was the first moment I’d heard of this clever mix of homage and downright awesome storytelling. Some of us still scratch our heads from time to time and wonder why it never got that ALA accredited award it so deeply deserved.
On her website, Ms. Birdsall explains a bit about where some of the ideas for this book came from. "From my own past, and from the children around me—in particular, my niece and nephew who live nearby. My nephew’s passionate love for animals went right into Batty. His sister’s calm way of going about being the oldest helped me with Rosalind. My nephew was also kind enough to turn into a brilliant soccer player—and is now my expert when I write about Skye and Jane and their antics on the soccer field. I also borrow from other books, especially the ones I loved best when I was young. The idea of four sisters came from Little Women. Batty’s adventure with the bull came from Emily of New Moon."
The Penderwicks was Ms. Birdsall’s amazing debut, but it didn’t come out of nowhere. In an interview with The Orange County Register she said, "All my life I had wanted to write children’s books. I spent at least five years in the process of writing ‘The Penderwicks.’ It took so long because I wasn’t just writing – I was learning how to craft a book, how to make chapters, how to create characters. It’s hard! By the time the book was published in 2005, I had been working on it about 10 years."
When Little Willow asked about the subtitle and whether or not the "very interesting boy" might not refer to Cagney, Ms. Birdsall replied, "Aha! Another person with a literal brain. You’re absolutely right. Hound (whom I placated with a bone over his omission) plays a much larger role in the book than the two rabbits. And which boy is more interesting? Skye and Jane would answer one way, and Rosalind the other. And then there’s a father, and a bull, and . . . My wonderful editor, Michelle Frey, and I struggled mightily with this subtitle. We discovered that there really was no way to include everyone without making it too ungainly. So, in the end, we stopped worrying about details and chose what we hoped would evoke the mood of the book."
People who love the book and those who are indifferent to it both say that the book feels like a throwback to the classics of yore. Elizabeth Enright and all that. I would agree that there are classic elements to it, but the book is very much its own beast. Not a cobbled together set of previously worn out ideas, but a whole new set of stories and characters, written in such a way as to cause folks to fall in love with it. Which, coming in at #48, they clearly do.
It won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature in 2005 beating out a very teen selection that included Where I Want to Be by Adele Griffin, Inexcusable by Chris Lynch, Autobiography of My Dead Brother by Walter Dean Myers, and the younger and also lovely Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles. And when she accepted the award, Ms. Birdsall had this to say: "I’ve gotten many, many wonderful reviews for this book but my very favorite comes from a third grader on Long Island named Scott. He said, ‘This book is about being a good listener even if you’re a grown up’.” Amen to that.
My Suggestions for Use in a Library Setting:
I would use this book as the first in a list of summer reading for children. Whenever school was out, we would present this list of books about summer with The Penderwicks heading up the list. After each five book the children read, there would be a reward. At the end of the summer, we would have a party at the library for children who participated and would encourage them to dress up like their favorite character from one of the books.
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