The Penderwicks [nomination]

Photo from Goodreads.com

 If you don't think The Penderwicks deserves to be called a timeless children's classic, then you are either living on a Neptune moon or you are completely flaming out of your mind. Or your a bitter, angsty teenager, but we won't go there.

 Any time I open up this book, I wish I lived in a cottage. And I dislike cottages, but really, while reading this it's hard to NOT want to go back to being ten, and have three sisters and a wild crazy dog named Hound and a friend named Jeffery. The Penderwicks takes all of the lovely things from the books we loved about summer vacation when we were pre-teen and puts it in a time capsule, one that is rightly buried on the grounds of Arundel, Number Eleven Stafford Street.

A few moments later, they were turning onto Stafford Street, and then suddenly Mr. Penderwick stopped the car in the middle of the road and everyone stared in amazement. What had the family expected from a rental cottage?  A cozy little tumbledown house with a few pots of geraniums in the front yard. Even Harry the Tomato Man's news hadn't changed that. If anyone had thought about it at all, they had figured snooty Mrs. Tifton lived in a cottage next to theirs and grew vegetables in carefully guarded garden plots.

 In any single given children's book about a family, one is more likely to get a headache keeping track of everyone in the family and what age they are then to get a grasp on what is going on. I have often read books where at the conclusion I am still forgetting who is oldest and who is not a cousin. Ah, nothing of that sort in this book. By the end of chapter one, Jeanne Birdsall makes sure we are at least acquainted with who is who in the Penderwick family; Batty being the youngest with the butterfly wings, and Jane is the second youngest, the whimsical and spacey novelist who wrapped her sandwich in the map. Which is why Hound ate the map, and why they are dreadfully lost. Rosalind is the oldest, and she is obviously so as she is the mediator of all fights. Skye... well once you meet Skye there is no mistaking who she is. Even though all four sisters star in every chapter, it's amazing how easy it is too keep up with it, because each sister is unique and hilarious. If some fig newton ever had the insane and outrageous idea to abridge this book some day (like they do to all the classics) they would have a tough job cutting any one of the characters out, because each is so vital and so important.

 And so I leave this nomination here, because you probably already know this book by reputation. I suggest you go check it out at the library forthwith, and enjoy yourself immensely, no matter your age. Though I must warn you, The Penderwicks of Gardam Street and The Penderwicks at Point Mouette will never be as awesome as the first book, so enjoy this one thoroughly before checking out the rest of this mini series.

 The only disappointment I had from this first book is that it wasn't even considered for the Newbery, or at least the Newbery Honor. But that is why we have VLA, to bring medals of honor to the forgotten and great books of the past decade. Whatever you do, don't let this one be forgotten!

Whatever edition this is, it looks really awesome! I wonder what country it's from.

 No official book trailer is available. You can't see it, but I'm pouting.

Have you read these books? Post your thoughts and discuss the books by making a comment.



NOMINATED BY: Jessie V.

THE PENDERWICKS (A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy) by Jeanne Birdsall
Yearling Books, 2005, Length Approx 262 pages, age range 7-12 [recommended to older readers as well]
 Realistic Fiction (MG)