The Penderwicks

Bibliography
Birdsall, Jeanne. 2005. The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Foour Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN: 9780375931437.

Plot Summary
The Penderwicks, father and four sisters, rent a cottage for the summer vacation and get more than what theyhad expected at this place. The Penderwick sisters – Rosalind, is 12 and the mother figure; Skye, 11, is adventurous and courageous; Jane, is 10 and is a creative writer and lives in her own fantasy world; Batty, is 4 and is a very shy person and likes to wear wings all the time – have lost their mother very early in their lives, but have a very supporting father who loves them immensely. The Penderwick sisters meet Jeffrey, the son of the cottage owner. Jeffrey’s mother is very mean and controlling person and the Penderwick girls always get into trouble with her. Through their summer adventures, Jeffrey becomes very good friends with the Penderwick girls. The Penderwick girls help Jeffrey speak up for himself and let his mother know what he really wants to do in his life.

Critical Analysis
The Penderwicks is a hilarious tale of friendship, standing up for each other, and being oneself. Each character is defined differently and has unique traits. The characters have many imperfections but are still lovable. They do many mistakes like any other child would but are still loved by their forgiving father. Birdsall has excellently shown the importance of family and how each character supports each member of the family. Friendship is valued in this story and the Penderwick girls would do anything to save their friend Jeffrey. Jeffrey also finds the fun and freedom he would love to have in the Penderwick sisters and reciprocates their friendship by saving the girls from many messy situations. The themes of finding ones own identity, friendship, blossoming romances, and learning from mistakes is all neatly packed into this story. The scenes are very funny allowing the readers to let their imaginations loose. Children will love this story as it will remind them of their own summer adventures. The characters are very natural and their experiences are very close to what children might experience. The language used in this book closely resembles how children of that age would talk and act. The plot is very engaging and will keep the readers glued to the book from the first page. The small town setting and the natural surroundings in the story gives that vacation home feeling where there is lot of fun adventures awaiting to be explored. The importance of family, friendship, and love is very subtly expressed through this story.

All in all it’s a very enjoyable story and readers will be laughing aloud as the read the comical escapades of the four Penderwick sisters, their friend Jeffrey, their dog Hound, the rabbits, and the bull!!

Review Excerpts
School Library Journal – Problems are solved and lessons learned in this wonderful, humorous book that features character whom readers will immediately love, as well as a superb writing style (www.Amazon.com).

Booklist – But what this family story does offer are four marvelously appealing sistes, true childhood behavior (disobeying, running away, a first crush), and a writing style that will draw readers close (Ilene Cooper, www.amazon.com).