(*Affiliate links are present throughout this post. If you purchase through them, I get a teeny commission with no extra cost to you. 🙂 ) The first book of the The Penderwicks Series by Jeanne Birdsall is set in summer. It was published in 2005, which, in my mind, is pretty recent, so I consider this a new book since most of the books of this kind that I read are usually at least 40 years old.
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy was a New York Times Best Seller. Echoing the vibe of beloved classics like Little Women by Louisa May Alcott and The Story of the Treasure Seekers by E. Nesbit (I have to give this one a read; I’m only familiar with her The Railway Children), it also won the National Book Award in 2005.
The story revolves around a family of five: Mr. Penderwick, a widower father, and his four daughters – Rosalind, Skye, Jane, and Batty – recounting their time spent in Arundel Cottage.
Synopsis
Having stayed in Cape Cod the previous summers, the Penderwick children and Hound (their sixth family member!) find Arundel Cottage to be their new frontier to discover and explore. They get acquainted with their landlady, the not-so-nice Mrs. Tifton, and befriend a boy who could use their influence – or not, you be the judge. In any case, there’s also a handful of other endearing and less endearing characters to meet, and they also contribute to the overall charm of the story.
It’s essentially a series of adventures that end up being one mishap after another, but each one is able to showcase the character-building that ensues or the values the Penderwick Family upholds and offer a satisfying solution/conclusion.
Here’s my Goodreads review:
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is just the kind of story I’ve always loved to read — even in college when I was delving into heavy, erudite stuff that I pretended to enjoy. It has all the ingredients of an awesome read for tweens and those who’ve never gotten over their hankering for juvenile adventures.
I love the imperfect relationship between the sisters, how they remember their late mother, how distinct their personalities are from each other but continue to learn to smooth out the kinks their differences create.
The characters are realistically portrayed; nobody is too good to be true. They are kind and caring, but they can also be nasty to each other as siblings tend to be. I love how Ms. Birdsall insightfully captured the innocence and artless logic of children’s thoughts.
The plot itself was limited by those few summer weeks they were to spend in Arundel, so you’re kind of left wanting more, but that might have been a strategic move since this book is the first in a series. I’m just not sure if that was the original intention.
This book was compared to the works of Elizabeth Enright and it made me think of the Melendy children’s series right away. Those books are meatier, involving many months in which multiple adventures can take place. I love The Penderwicks completely, but when compared with The Four-Story Mistake or Then There Were Five, I tend to think it’s lacking in some way, so it’s best not to compare and just enjoy it for the awesome book that it is. 🙂
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The Penderwicks Series
The The Penderwicks books have just become another series I’m collecting. There are five installments, the first of which is this one. The succeeding four books are:
- The Penderwicks on Gardam Street (2008)
- The Penderwicks at Point Mouette (2011)
- The Penderwicks in Spring (2015)
- The Penderwicks at Last (2018)
About the Author
This was Jeanne Birdsall’s first book. She was 54 years old when it was published. This naturally gives me hope. I publish my own books, and the anthologies that include my stories are pretty indie too. The hope that a big-time publisher will release my books still persists.
Going back to Ms. Birdsall, she also worked as a photographer prior to being a best-selling writer. She has been compared with favorite children’s book authors Noel Streatfeild (raise your hand if you only found out about her from You’ve Got Mail) and Elizabeth Enright (whom I adore).
I’m going to ignore the fact that I already have an ever-growing TBR pile and state that I’ll be on the hunt for the rest of the books in the series. I don’t think they’re available in local bookstores, so I have to be more resourceful in sourcing them. That sounds laced with criminal intent for some reason. Don’t worry; I just meant I’ll probably have to get them pre-loved or order them from overseas but find a way to make the most of the accompanying shipping fee.
Here’s the reel I made on Instagram when I first got this book.
Have you read any of the The Penderwicks books? Can you recommend anything that you think has a similar feel to this one? It doesn’t have to be a summer book. That’s it until the next post! Oh, and don’t forget to comment below if you want me to follow you back on Instagram.
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