Books

Vacation Books:
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy (Penderwicks (Quality))

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Manufacturer: Yearling

List Price: $6.50
Our Price: $2.62
You Save: $ 3.88 ( 60% )
(prices subject to change)
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Average Customer Ratings:

This summer the Penderwick sisters have a wonderful surprise: a holiday on the grounds of a beautiful estate called Arundel. Soon they are busy discovering the summertime magic of Arundel’s sprawling gardens, treasure-filled attic, tame rabbits, and the cook who makes the best gingerbread in Massachusetts. But the best discovery of all is Jeffrey Tifton, son of Arundel’s owner, who quickly proves to be the perfect companion for their adventures.

The icy-hearted Mrs. Tifton is not as pleased with the Penderwicks as Jeffrey is, though, and warns the new friends to stay out of trouble. Which, of course, they will—won’t they? One thing’s for sure: it will be a summer the Penderwicks will never forget.

Deliciously nostalgic and quaintly witty, this is a story as breezy and carefree as a summer day.


From the Hardcover edition.


PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS:

Binding: Paperback
EAN: 9780440420477
ISBN: 0440420474
Label: Yearling
Manufacturer: Yearling
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 272
Publication Date: 2007-03-13
Publisher: Yearling
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Release Date: 2007-03-13
Studio: Yearling


SIMILAR ITEMS:

• The Penderwicks on Gardam Street
• The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
• The Mysterious Benedict Society
• The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread (Tale of Despereaux)
• Whittington


CUSTOMER REVIEWS:

Charming -
This is a charming book. It is extremely well-written with a simple plot and excellently drawn characters. It feels like a classic. In fact, I kept checking the copyright to make sure it really said "2005" and not "1935". My son and I can't wait to read the second, and hope that Jeanne Birdsall continues writing for many years to come.

A Kids Review -
I loved this book because i liked how Jane,Skye,Batty, and Rosalind were always going on adventures. Theres also a guy named Cagney, he had bunnies. Batty always liked to play with them, but one time an accident happened and she was afraid cagney might get mad at her. The Penderwick sisters also made a friend that had a very strict mom with a mean boyfriend.Skye put a rope on the tree to their friends house because their friend told them his mom might get mad. All in all the penderwicks had a wonderful summer even though Rosalind bruised her head. Jane,Skye,Batty,and Rosalind where great characters in the book. This book was amazing you should read it!

The Penderwicks -
One day I found this book lying around in my house. As always, I love to curl up with a good book. So when I started to read it, I couldn't put it down. This is a realistic fiction book that talks about an adventure four sisters encounter with. The summer adventure has twist and turns, sure to stay in your memories at all time. I read this book when I was nine and I recommend it to readers aged 9-11. The Penderwicks is a book your whole family can enjoy.

Good, but not great -
Honestly, I don't understand what all the fuss is about this book. It was pleasant and enjoyable, but from all the reviews and awards this book received I was expecting something really unique. I think what bothered me most was that it seemed like the author was too in love with her characters. The Penderwicks were presented as always being right even when they were supposedly doing wrong, and everyone who opposed them was just bad, evil, and two-dimensional.

As far as it being so unique, ummm... four "poor" sisters from an eccentric family with a rich boy as a next-door neighbor? Doesn't that remind anyone of "Little Women"? And of course, there's the chubby, low-class but kind-hearted housekeeper/cook, a perfect dead mother, and a handsome working-class boy for the eldest Penderwick daughter to fall in love with. There seem to be elements taken from every children's book ever written.

The writing wasn't bad, but again I don't understand all the raves about how wonderful the writing was.

I think this is worthwhile to read if you just want something fun and light-hearted. But it's not the end-all and be-all of children's books.

Well-Written, Character-Driven Novel That's Fun! -
Don't judge a book by its cover, or its title. The subtitle--"A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy"--may be accurate (though the boy isn't all THAT interesting!) but...dullsville. The cover has a sweet, old-timey feel to it that's appropriate to the book but aimed more for a grown-up like me than for today's kids, who tend to want tons of action and humour just as they want flashy covers. However, it's a wonderful book, and I hope that children will ignore both cover and title and discover it on their own, in case they don't have a librarian like me who will book-talk it and sing its praises.

"The Penderwicks" breaks a few basic children's book dictums. There's no single protagonist, no one eye (or "I") through which we view the world. Doesn't matter. The book works. And it's been a long time since we've enjoyed a story with siblings who, no matter what their differences and occasional tiffs, truly enjoy each other. There's also no one single, overarching conflict, although there are any number of small conflicts, and one major problem for the "interesting boy" whom the Penderwick girls meet and spend time with over the course of this summer. That doesn't matter either. Can a book be episodic? Certainly. Think "Pickwick Papers" (is the similarity in names a coincidence, I wonder?). Think "Tom Jones." For an episodic book to work, you need strong characters, which this book has, and strong writing, which it also has.

What I also delight in is that the book has a timeless feel to it. When I read on the back flap that the author wanted to create a book like the ones she devoured as a child, I thought, Yes, this is just that kind of book. However, today's children readers won't have to be immersed in Edward Eager or Betsy Byars to relate to these characters. These are everyday kids living in the 21st century, complete with computers and backpacks. They also have ambitions (hoorah for Jane, doggedly penning her own series of adventure books), pets (hoorah for Batty and Hound, neither of whom is completely well-behaved but both of whom are lovable), bad tempers (hoorah for Skye, who often puts her foot in her mouth, but also has the grace to apologize when she does--at least sometimes), and crushes (hoorah for Rosalind, who falls in love for the first time, experiences a serious humiliation, and has the wisdom to understand she'll live to get over it). These are strong female characters, and if Dad is a bit of a scatter-brain, he's also both loving and a man of strong values (if he were constantly supervising the girls, there'd be no plot!).

Oh, and did I mention that there's plenty of good humour? It's a fun read, and I look forward to the future adventures of the Penderwicks.

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