The Penderwicks
by Jeanne Birdsall
pub. David Fickling Books
ISBN: 0385610343
234 pages
We love The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall!
After our last bedtime read, I for one was ready for something easy and fun and so picked up this attractive new hardback from the library (I am easily influenced by a cover and always attracted to a crisp new copy). It looked like it would be light and fast paced, as it was subtitled " A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits and a Very Interesting Boy." Well it certainly moved along quickly but it was too well written for 'light' to do it justice. When Mum is volunteering to read an extra chapter, even though it looks a bit long, you know you're onto a winner.
At the core of this books' success are the four Penderwick sisters with their well defined characters; Rosalind: the eldest and most responsible, though at an age to have her head turned romantically; Skye: headstrong, outspoken and mathematically inclined; Jane - future novelist and romantic in the literary sense and Batty, the adorable youngest who wears wings and is devoted to Hound the family pet.
This novel has so many of the age old devices that can contribute to a successful children's story. Dad is widowed and though very loving and caring towards his girls he is distracted by his work and interest in the plants on the estate, leaving Rosalind to do much of the practical nurturing of her sisters, especially Batty who needs bedtime stories and special toys in her bed. There is a resident meany in the big house, Mrs Tifton, who plans to marry the slimy Dexter and send her son Jeffrey away to a military academy against his will. She is also obsessed with the perfection of her garden, thereby creating out of bounds areas for the children to transgress. Will the girls be able to save Jeffrey from this fate worse than death or will they be evicted before they get the chance? So far so Enid Blyton, potentially.
The other side which could have been played up is the emotional landscape of the story. The girls are motherless, Jeffrey is fatherless, Rosalind is on the edge of romantic angst and seems alot older than her twelve years. She also shoulders alot of the day to day responsibility for her siblings. Jeffrey's potential step-father is cold and disinterested in him, yet a bit slimy round the girls. I hear Jaqueline Wilson waiting in the wings, issues at the ready. Yet in Birdsalls' book these 'issues' sit comfortably within the more exciting elements of the story such as Batty in a field with a bull or Skye and Jane's three storey descent from Jeffrey's bedroom window.
As in all satisfying novels the central characters show signs of development. Rosalind comes down to earth in regard to Cagney the likeable gardener, yet still with a thumping heart; Skye begins to control her temper; Jane values her writing without needing the approval of a jumped up magazine publisher and Batty is getting old enough to think of others and give away precious possessions. Even Jeffrey learns bravery and his mother learns to listen. All of this without a drop of saccharine or moralising.
To be honest the two rabbits don't play a very big part in the story and Jeffrey isn't exactly 'very interesting' he's just a nice boy that's fun to play soccer with and is having a hard time from his mum but this is very much 'A Summer Tale of Four Sisters' and has the energy and excitement of a memorable summer holiday. Also, according to one daughter, it has "a good baddy", what more do you need?
by Jeanne Birdsall
pub. David Fickling Books
ISBN: 0385610343
234 pages
We love The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall!
After our last bedtime read, I for one was ready for something easy and fun and so picked up this attractive new hardback from the library (I am easily influenced by a cover and always attracted to a crisp new copy). It looked like it would be light and fast paced, as it was subtitled " A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits and a Very Interesting Boy." Well it certainly moved along quickly but it was too well written for 'light' to do it justice. When Mum is volunteering to read an extra chapter, even though it looks a bit long, you know you're onto a winner.
At the core of this books' success are the four Penderwick sisters with their well defined characters; Rosalind: the eldest and most responsible, though at an age to have her head turned romantically; Skye: headstrong, outspoken and mathematically inclined; Jane - future novelist and romantic in the literary sense and Batty, the adorable youngest who wears wings and is devoted to Hound the family pet.
This novel has so many of the age old devices that can contribute to a successful children's story. Dad is widowed and though very loving and caring towards his girls he is distracted by his work and interest in the plants on the estate, leaving Rosalind to do much of the practical nurturing of her sisters, especially Batty who needs bedtime stories and special toys in her bed. There is a resident meany in the big house, Mrs Tifton, who plans to marry the slimy Dexter and send her son Jeffrey away to a military academy against his will. She is also obsessed with the perfection of her garden, thereby creating out of bounds areas for the children to transgress. Will the girls be able to save Jeffrey from this fate worse than death or will they be evicted before they get the chance? So far so Enid Blyton, potentially.
The other side which could have been played up is the emotional landscape of the story. The girls are motherless, Jeffrey is fatherless, Rosalind is on the edge of romantic angst and seems alot older than her twelve years. She also shoulders alot of the day to day responsibility for her siblings. Jeffrey's potential step-father is cold and disinterested in him, yet a bit slimy round the girls. I hear Jaqueline Wilson waiting in the wings, issues at the ready. Yet in Birdsalls' book these 'issues' sit comfortably within the more exciting elements of the story such as Batty in a field with a bull or Skye and Jane's three storey descent from Jeffrey's bedroom window.
As in all satisfying novels the central characters show signs of development. Rosalind comes down to earth in regard to Cagney the likeable gardener, yet still with a thumping heart; Skye begins to control her temper; Jane values her writing without needing the approval of a jumped up magazine publisher and Batty is getting old enough to think of others and give away precious possessions. Even Jeffrey learns bravery and his mother learns to listen. All of this without a drop of saccharine or moralising.
To be honest the two rabbits don't play a very big part in the story and Jeffrey isn't exactly 'very interesting' he's just a nice boy that's fun to play soccer with and is having a hard time from his mum but this is very much 'A Summer Tale of Four Sisters' and has the energy and excitement of a memorable summer holiday. Also, according to one daughter, it has "a good baddy", what more do you need?
1 comment:
Loved this review. I could almost hear you racing through this bedtime book in order to fit another chapter in before lights out.
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