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

The tale is simple and sweet. Four sisters from New England live, if only for 3 weeks in the summer, near a mansion with a lonely boy and a piano. One of them is a writer who works in the attic. No, it's not Little Women, but a tribute to Alcott. It's an innocent story with little real danger or conflict, but well worth the listening. I was worried that neither Jeanne Birdsall nor Suan Denaker would be able to distinguish the four sisters and the supporting characters, but no fear. Both do an excellent job. If it has one flaw, it is a little too sanitized. But a very enjoyable listen for any member of the family.

there is no better approach to entering adulthood than by rereading the stories that shaped your childhood, and you may quote me on that......more

I’ll admit I approach award-winning children’s books with some trepidation. All too often, children’s literature awards denote books that appeal to adult librarians and book critics rather than to children. The books are like brussel sprouts on the literary table. We are told to read them because t......more

4.5 starsPeople sometimes make unexpected choices when they're lonely.The Penderwick sisters are summeringwith their father on a "cottage" (aka part of the Arundel estate). There's Rosalind (12), Skye (11), Jane (10) and Batty (4), and (of course) their dad and their dog (Hound Penderwick). They g......more

I'm upping to 5 stars on reread. This is a timeless, heartwarming middle grade story of the Penderwick family and their three week vacation one August in a rental cottage in the Berkshire mountains, in western Massachusetts. It may not sound too exciting, but with the Penderwicks, everything is an a......more

there is no book more lovely and summery and sweet than this one. man oh man. this is a story about sisters that my sisters and i used to read growing up, and it is just as delightful (this book makes me use words like delightful!!) at 21 as it was at nine, and ten, and eleven, and twelve. (i read th......more