The Penderwicks -- Jeanne Birdsall

Well.  I finally read the 2005 National Book Award winner, and I STILL maintain that Chris Lynch was robbed.

As you may have gathered from the cover art, The Penderwicks is a sweet little book: 

Now, if Rosalind had been the first to discover that tunnel, she would have noticed that it was too neatly trimmed and pricker-free to be there by mistake, and she would have figured that someone used it often and that the someone probably wasn't Mrs. Tifton.  If Jane had been the first, she, too, would have realized that natural forces hadn't formed the tunnel.  Her explanation for it would have been nonsense--an escape route for convicts on the run or talking badgers--but at least she would have thought about it.  But this was Skye.  She only thought, I need a way through the hedge, and here it is.  And then she plunged.

The four Penderwick sisters, along with their father and their beloved dog, Hound, rent a cottage in the Berkshires for a few weeks in the summer.  While there, they have many wholesome and charming adventures including running from an angry bull, trying to catch a rabbit that Batty, the youngest Penderwick, accidentally let out, and getting muddy and/or wet on a daily basis. 

They spend a lot of time with the handsome (and much older) Cagney the gardener, Churchie the housekeeper, and Jeffrey, the only son of the cottage's owner, Mrs. Tifton.  Mrs. Tifton is so horrible and frightening that one of the girls likens her to Narnia's White Witch.  Her boyfriend, Dexter, is a smarm-fest who wants to send Jeffrey to a military academy.

Here's a question:  These girls are very well-read -- they reference Nesbit's Bastable family, Edward Eager, C. S. Lewis, Katherine Paterson and others -- but they don't recognize the garden statue of a man "wrapped in a bedsheet and holding a thunderbolt over his head" as Zeus?  That didn't seem right.  Granted, it was Skye (she's the math-oriented sister) who first noticed it, but surely one of the others would have recognized him? 

Also, Mrs. Tifton was just too mean.  I was grateful that there wasn't some huge schmaltzy reunion all-is-forgive-everything-was-a-huge-misunderstanding scene, but I really thought she was a tad over the top.  Those are just little annoyances -- over all, the book was completely enjoyable.

So.  If you've read all of the Enright books and the non-fantasy Nesbit books, this would be a logical step in that progression.  I don't think it was on the same level, and I don't think there was anything particularly new and/or fresh about it, but I adore the Melendys and the Bastables, so I might not be being objective.  (And I know I'm not being objective in regards to the National Book Award.  I really just don't get it.)

Comments

[MotherReader]

What I enjoyed about the Penderwicks is how old-fashioned it was in theme yet current in writing. Did this take place fifty years ago? Yesterday? You can't tell. The problem with some the good books that we grew up with is that the language and writing style is so dated that they are an immediate turn off to today's kids. This book gives today's kids what we got in our day - a nice, gentle, real-life adventures, story - but without the reference to the icebox. So, no, it's not new in theme, but among all of the angst books, and techno-adventure books, and Snicket copies, it's a nice break (hey, not that I don't like angst, techno-adventure, and Snicket).

[Leila]

There were a few modern references -- the one that immediately springs to mind was the Katerine Paterson mention -- but I know what you mean. It felt timeless. I don't have an issue with old-fashioned stories at all, and I thought it was totally enjoyable. It was nice to read a book that featured a dog that lived, too.

I just didn't think it was super special.

[Colleen Mondor]

This is funny - I also read the Penderwicks and thought it was very sweet and fun in an Elizabeth Enright sort of way but I maintain that Walter Dean Myers was robbed! I think "Autobiography of My Dead Brother" should have won! ha!

I almost think they went for the Penderwicks as some knee jerk reaction about what adults want kids to read. And it was a good book, just not the best one I read or the most amazing. And that's what annoys me about awards, they play it safe too much.

[Leila]

YES. I am with you. I think that the Newbery has been especially guilty of that recently.

PS. Well, I'm mostly with you. Except that Chris Lynch totally beat WDM's ass, but that's okay.

[Lilian li]

I loved the Penderwicks=)

[Lilian li]

I loved the Penderwicks=)

[Lexi23]

i cannot find a single website that can explain to me all the themes, motifs, and symbols in this book! Not even sparknotes was helpful. I'm very confused.