Living the Fictional Dream

Over the holiday weekend, I read The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy and The Penderwicks on Gardam Street. Actually, the first one was a re-read, as I discovered the original Penderwicks novel last year, but the story definitely stood up to re-reading, which is a good point in favor of author Jeanne Birdsall.

These books would be considered middle grade, I believe, as the main characters, the sisters, are all 12 or younger. The oldest sister, Rosalind, is the mother of the brood, as their mother died of cancer two weeks after their youngest sister was born. Skye is 11, and the rebellious and tempermental one of the bunch — she always speaks before she thinks. Skye is brilliantly smart at math and teaches herself algebra for fun. Jane, the third Penderwick sister, is 10 and a budding creative writer. She writes adventure stories about a heroine named Sabrina Starr, who always rescues things. Jane also is a budding soccer player (and she turns into an English soccer player named Mick when she’s challenged or frightened on the field), and in the second book discovers a talent for acting. Finally, there’s Batty (full name, Elizabeth, after their mom), four years old, with a nose for trouble, a penchant for becoming invisible at a moments notice (being invisible means standing very, very still) and a nearly psychic relationship with the family dog, Hound.

In The Penderwicks the girls and their absent-minded professor father rent a cabin for the summer where the girls become friends with Jeffery, the son of the tempermental woman who owns the cabin. Skye learns about the dangers of first impressions. Jane has her first experience with a “real” publisher. Rosy experiences her first crush, and Batty meets the two rabbits and has other adventures, such as finding herself being charged by a bull. We learn about the Penderwick Family Honor, MOPS (Meeting Of Penderwick Sisters) and MOOPS (Meeting Of Older Penderwick Sisters), and other tidbits of the life of this charming family.

When the Penderwicks return to Gardam Street, the girls find themselves embroiled in the “Save Daddy” plan — a plan meant to thwart their Aunt Claire’s plan to make Mr. Penderwick re-enter the dating game. In the process, Rosy discovers hidden depths in their neighbor, Tommy; Jane and Skye switch homework assignments with disasterious concequences; Batty encounters the Bug Man; and they meet their new neighbors, Iantha and her son, Ben.

These books are written for children. An adult can see the plot coming a mile away (I was not fooled for a moment when Mr. Penderwick announced his date with Marianne Dashwood). But the strength of these tales is their charm and the ease of the writing. They took me back to being a girl who loved spending her days with the March sisters, the Pepper children, and so many others in old fashioned stories like Little Women, A Little Princess, The Five Little Peppers, and The Secret Garden. In books like that, everyone tried to be good, accepted the consequences of their actions with honor, and were rewarded in the end. They also always loved each other and knew how to make their own fun with their imaginations.

The Penderwick stories are firmly set in the current day world, but they are written with the charm of those old fashioned children’s stories. The Penderwick girls always have much more important things to do than play video games or watch TV. They would much rather practice their soccer, play secret agent, write stories, splash in fountains, or wear butterfly wings. It’s like The Daring Book for Girls and The Dangerous Book for Boys come to life!

I’ve always had an idea in the back of my mind — writing Little Women for today’s world. I even have the names of my sisters all picked out. It looks like Jeanne and the Penderwicks beat me to it!

Unless you really enjoy children’s literature, like I do, I probably wouldn’t recommend sitting down with the Penderwicks. However, if you do enjoy children’s books, then definitely give the Penderwicks a try. And if you have kids, especially daughters, I think this would be the perfect book to give them, or, even better, to read with them at bedtime.