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

Author - Jeanne Birdsall ... [Goo?] [Posters]

This Paperback Book item from Yearling was reviewed on 8-Oct-2008.

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1) Paperback Book The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy (Penderwicks (Quality)) by Yearling. Parts of this book reminded me of Little Women - the movie version, with Winona Ryder (I am embarrassed to admit I´ve never read Alcott´s book itself). At any rate, here with the Penderwicks we have four diverse sisters - one motherly (Meg/Rosalind), one a writer with an adventurous spirit (Jo/Jane), one practical (Beth/Skye...I admit, this is the longest stretch in terms of character association), and one young and sweet (Amy/Batty). They make friends with a neighbor boy ("Laurie"/Jeffrey) and have their secret sisterly societies (The Pickwick Society/MOOPS). Even the fathers (Mr. March/Mr. Penderwick) are both gentlemen, intelligent and wise.

In this summer tale there are plenty of adventures and opportunities for the characters to grow. There is a sweet, old-fashioned pace and feel to the story, but it´s not too syrupy to me. If anything, I was disappointed that the story was so brief - the littlest bit of complexity introduced in each of the characters could have been explored so much more. I was happy to see, though, that Birdsall has written a follow-up to this summer story, so perhaps there are many more Penderwick adventures in our future.¤

2) Paperback Book The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy (Penderwicks (Quality)) by Yearling. My problem with the book, as many others have noted, is that it feels like it should be set in the past, yet isn´t. Two of the girls´ name evoke a different time period - Jane and Rosalyn - but then we get to Skye in her camo baseball hat, and I knew my mental image of the set up was wrong.

Mr. Penderwick is oddly absent through most of the book, yet the girls think he´s a great father. I don´t know how they even remember what he looks like, based on the fact that it´s the girls who cook the meals, watch the younger children, organize all their adventures, and put themselves to bed.

But the thing that annoyed me the most about the book is how completely unrealistic the children´s actions are based on their ages. Rosalyn, the eldest, is 11 I believe. Well, I have 6 and 8 year old girls, and I can tell you that really, the ages of these characters should be 18 to 6. Even odd little Batty is more articulate than your average 4 year old. I´ve read a number of children´s books recently where the characters are supposed to be 11 and act like adults, and it makes me crazy.¤

3) Paperback Book The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy (Penderwicks (Quality)) by Yearling. The Penderwicks (by Jeanne Birdsall) is honestly my favorite book. It took me two years to actually start reading it, but once I started I couldn´t stop! It´s about four sisters, 12 year old Rosalind, 11 year old Skye, 10 year old Jane, and 4 year old Batty. Them, along with their widowed father and loyal dog Hound rent a cottage in Massachusetts on the Arundel Estate. There they meet a boy named Jeffery who they quickly become friends with. The only problem is his rude mother, Mrs. Tifton who owns the estate and doesn´t like the sisters. Mrs. Tifton has Jeffery´s future completlely planned out, and it isn´t what her son wants. The Penderwick sisters must find a way to stop this problem.
But, through the book there are many other problems and conflicts involving all 4 of the sisters. This is a must read!¤

4) Paperback Book The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy (Penderwicks (Quality)) by Yearling. On the cover of this book it says the book is a summer tale of four sisters, two rabbits, and a very interesting boy. After reading The Penderwicks, a reader would find out that this book is about much more. Most of the characters are introduced in the first few chapters. The main characters in this book are Skye, Jane, Rosalind, Batty, Jeffrey, Mrs. Tifton, Cagney, Mr. Penderwick, Dexter, and Hound.

Rosalind, Skye, Jane, and Batty are the Penderwick sisters. All of the sisters have brown hair and brown eyes except Skye who has blonde hair and blue eyes. She is the second oldest of the four sisters. She sticks up for herself and others. Skye is kind, neat and tidy. She likes to solve difficult math problems for fun.

Rosalind is the oldest sister. Even though she is only going into seventh grade, she is like the mother of the family (the Penderwicks mother died several years earlier). Another thing to know about Rosalind is that she is interested in boys.

Jane is the third oldest of the Penderwick sisters. She is a very creative person who likes to write books for the pleasure of writing. The series she is working on is about her main character that she invented named Sabrina Starr.

Batty, who is four years old, is the youngest sister. Batty loves animals like dogs, horses, and bunnies. Her favorite thing to wear is a pair of butterfly wings. She is very shy around new people. She tells all her secrets to her favorite family member, Hound.

Mr. Penderwick is a good father who loves all his daughters. He is very relaxed and understanding when his daughters get into scrapes. He also loves plants and he talks about them to the gardener at Arundel Hall. He speaks in Latin a lot and loves Beethoven symphonies.

Jeffrey is a boy with freckles and straight brown hair. He´s Mrs. Tifton´s only child. He likes to play with the Penderwick sisters. Jeffrey also came to the rescue of Batty two times in the book. He loves music and wants to be a musician someday.

Mrs. Tifton is a single mother who is very rich and hardly ever works. But to win the Garden Club competition, she would weed in her flower garden for a week. She acted spiteful for almost the whole book. By the end of the book, Mrs. Tifton becomes an understanding, caring, and kind mother.

Cagney is Mrs. Tifton´s gardener. He is a very caring person. He is a teenager who is very interested in Civil War history. Cagney also likes all the Penderwick girls. Cagney came to the rescue of Rosalind.

Dexter is Mrs. Tifton´s boyfriend and plans to marry her. He is a very snobbish and selfish man. Dexter doesn´t like children or dogs. He wants to send Jeffrey to military school because he wants Mrs. Tifton all to himself.

Hound is the Penderwick´s dog. He is loyal, sweet, kind, and protective. He protects Batty the most. Hound also senses when someone is in danger. He does not listen to Rosalind when she gives him a command.

The Penderwick Family spent their three weeks of summer vacation at Arundel cottage in the Berkshire Mountains. The cottage is a part of a large estate. It is on the same land as the grand mansion named Arundel Hall. One thing the Penderwick sisters enjoy doing is exploring the beautiful gardens of Arundel. This was where Skye first met Jeffrey. When the sisters got to know him, they all became great friends.

Jeffrey and the sisters went through many exciting adventures. Some of these events included saving Batty from Farmer Vangelder´s bull, looking in the attic at Mrs. Tifton´s old party dresses, and celebrating Jeffrey´s birthday. Churchie, the housekeeper, remade the dresses so the sisters could wear them to Jeffrey´s birthday dinner.

Jeffrey´s birthday dinner was a disaster! The Penderwick girls were invited. Dexter and Mrs. Tifton were there too. They don´t like the Penderwicks at all. Everyone was rude, but in a polite way.

After that, Mrs. Tifton and Dexter forced Jeffrey to visit Pency Military School for an interview. Mrs. Tifton wanted Jeffrey to attend the same school as her father did. She wanted Jeffrey to be exactly like him. When they got back from the school, Jeffrey ran away to the cottage where the Penderwicks were staying. Then Mrs. Tifton and Dexter came over looking for Jeffrey. Jeffrey told his mother that he does not want to go to Pency Military School. He adores music and wants to be a musician. His mother was shocked at this news. But, she did what her son hoped she would do. She let him go to a different school and agreed to let Jeffrey take music lessons.

Soon after that, the Penderwicks had to leave. It was the end of an unforgettable summer and the end of this book.

My favorite scenes in this book were when Skye and Jane climbed up the rope ladder to Jeffrey´s room. I thought that was awesome because they acted like spies. The disastrous birthday dinner was interesting because nobody liked each other and they all knew it, but they were polite in spite of it. I also liked the scene where Batty was rescued from the bull. It was intense when Skye, Jane, and Jeffrey rescued her. My most favorite scene was when Rosalind fell into the pond and hit her head on the rock and Cagney came and saved her. It was romantic.

I recommend this book because there is something for everyone. It is funny and loaded with excitement. There are also unexpected events in every chapter! Plus there are many colorful characters that are all different. Almost everyone can find someone they can relate to. The characters I related to were Skye and Jane because Skye looks like me and she is good at math, and Jane is creative.

If I could rate this book from 1 to 10 (1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest), I would rate this book a 7 ˝. I gave it a 7 ˝ because it was a great book. It wasn´t the best book I´ve ever read though. If I read this book five times, I would get the same thrill the first three times. But the fourth and fifth time it would just become boring. This is still a wonderful book and I really enjoyed it. Go and check this book out!

¤

5) Paperback Book The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy (Penderwicks (Quality)) by Yearling. I read with my daughters every night - once or twice a year, we find a book that makes me sneak back into their room late at night to read a few chapters ahead because I just can´t wait for the next day. This is one of those books. The sisters are amazing - funny, bright, each very much their own person - from Rosalind - mature beyone her years to little Batty, each character a joy. Dare I say modern March sisters?

Other reviewers have already covered the plot - I just want to empahsize how enjoyable this book was for both me and my kids. Enjoy!

I am just ordering the follow up - I can´t wait for it to arrive.¤

6) Paperback Book The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy (Penderwicks (Quality)) by Yearling. 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.¤

Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 5-Nov-2008, 04404204749780440420477, 560-560-070-740-990-40B-8

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