Reviews for The Penderwicks : a summer tale of four sisters, two rabbits, and a very interesting boy
Publishers Weekly
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Ah, summertime and the living is easy-even if it's off to a rough start-in this sprightly audio edition of Birdsall's debut novel, which won the National Book Award. The Penderwick family, consisting of four daughters, their widower dad and family pet Hound, are at a loss when the cottage they routinely rent on Cape Cod each summer is sold. They luck into a new situation, however, staying at a cottage on the grounds of a mansion in the Berkshires, and their adventurous holiday provides the plot here. Mrs. Tifton, owner of the manse is rather chilly to the Penderwick clan, but her son Jeffrey proves to be an ideal playmate. Listeners fond of gentle stories of closely-knit families and innocent fun will flock to this recording. Denaker is perfect in the role of kindly narrator, though she's less so in the sometimes grating voices of little sister Batty and Latin-spouting Mr. Penderwick. Nonetheless, her performance captures the appealing, timeless nature of the tale. Ages 8-12. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Along with their loving but preoccupied botanist father and a clumsy dog, the motherless Penderwick sisters spend their summer holiday in the Massachusetts Berkshires in a rose-covered cottage on the grounds of a mansion. Suffused with affectionate humor, this charming, old-fashioned story feels familiar in the way the best books seem like old friends. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Library Journal
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Also making an appearance are a lonely young boy and a dependable yet dopey dog. Birdsall excels in developing characters, and her motley crew grows and develops in intriguing ways in this deeply enjoyable story of family and friendship. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publishers Weekly
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In our Best Books citation, PW said, "This timeless tale [and National Book Award winner] from a first-time author introduces the incomparable Penderwicks, on vacation in a rental cottage on a sprawling estate where lonely young Jeffrey lives. The sisters' delightfully diverse personalities propel the plot." Ages 8-12. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Publishers Weekly
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This timeless tale from a first-time author introduces the thoroughly likable Penderwicks, on vacation in a rental cottage on Arundel, a sprawling Massachusetts estate. Their spirited family dynamics and repartee call to mind those in Hilary McKay's novels, and the sisters' delightfully diverse personalities propel the plot. For instance, when they pull up to the estate's mansion, 10-year-old Jane feels certain she has spied a "lonely boy" in a window and promptly begins a novel about him once they reach their cottage. Skye, 11, elated to have her own room with two beds (she plans to use both), immediately "wrote the bed schedule next to her favorite word problem about trains traveling in different directions." Batty, a shy four-year-old, faithfully wears her butterfly wings and is devoted to her dog, Hound (who "insisted on licking faces in the middle of the night"). The girls' loving, amusingly distracted father is a botany professor with a fondness for spouting Latin phrases. Rosalind, the oldest at 12, has looked after the others since their mother's death (shortly after Batty's birth), and when she meets gentle Cagney, the estate's teenage gardener, he captures her heart. The "lonely boy" turns out to be sensitive, sincere Jeffrey, a talented musician. Tension arises when Jeffrey's pretentious mother and her fianc? decide to send the boy to military school. Certain to be as sorry as the sisters are when it's time to leave Arundel, readers will hope for a return visit from this memorable cast. Ages 8-12. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.
Gr. 3-6. Adults who have been longing to find books for children that remind them of their own childhood favorites need look no further. Birdsall follows in the footsteps of Elizabeth Enright, Edward Eager, and Noel Streatfeild, updating the family story yet keeping all the old-fashioned charm. The motherless Penderwick sisters--Rosalind, 12; Sky, 11; Jane, 10; and Batty, 4--are spending the summer in a Berkshire cottage on the Arundel estate. Their botanist father and protective dog, Hound, are also in attendance, though Hound is far more involved with the girls than their absentminded professor dad. After a bad beginning, the girls become friends with Jeffrey, the son of the lady of the manor, Mrs. Tifton, whose main concern is the welfare of her garden. On one level, Birdsall might be criticized for one-dimensional characterizations (Mrs. Tifton, her boyfriend), and certain minor elements that don't ring true: Tifton's prizewinning garden would hardly be left in the hands of a teenager (on whom Rosalind develops a crush). But what this comforting family story does offer are four marvelously appealing sisters, true childhood behavior (disobeying, running away, a first crush), and a writing style that will draw readers close. So satisfying, the story begs for a sequel: it would be nice to see more of the Penderwicks. --Ilene Cooper Copyright 2005 Booklist
School Library Journal
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Gr 4-6-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!-B. Allison Gray, John Jermain Library, Sag Harbor, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Echoes of Alcott contribute to the intimate charm of this story of "summer and magic and adventure." Not since the Marches have readers met more engaging girls than the Penderwicks: Rosalind, 12, pretty and practical; Skye, 11, smart and blue-eyed; Jane, ten, aspiring author, whose alter ego, Sabrina Starr, is fearless and clever; and butterfly wing–wearing Batty, four. Dear Father is a botanist, fond of spouting witticisms in Latin; Mommy is in heaven. This year, vacation will be spent at the cream-colored cottage at Arundel, estate of snooty Mrs. Tifton, whose house is "like a museum, only without armed guards." Unless she has a change of heart, Jeffrey, her gentle, music-loving only child, is doomed to be sent to Pencey Military Academy, "Where Boys Become Men and Men Become Soldiers." Despite a few mishaps, the children become fast friends and partners in the sorts of lively plots and pastoral pastimes we don't read much about these days. Their adventures and near-disasters, innocent crushes, escaped animals, owning-up and growing up (and yes, changes of heart) are satisfying and not-too-sweet. (Fiction. 8-12) Copyright ŠKirkus Reviews, used with permission.
