Each of the girls have their own room, the sprawling grounds as their backyard and the adventure of a lifetime. They girls soon discover that this summer will be one that they will remember forever.Īrundel is nothing like the neglected little cottage they imagined. There's Rosalind (12), Skye (11), Jane (10) and Batty (4), and (of course) their dad and their dog (Hound Penderwick). People sometimes make unexpected choices when they're lonely.The Penderwick sisters are summering with their father on a 'cottage' (aka part of the Arundel estate). That’s more than I can say for many Newbery picks. It will still be a tough sell for boys, but I would not cringe to see The Penderwicks taught in the classroom. Here is a book driven by character and atmosphere rather than by plot, and yet, unlike some other books that used to drive my students crazy because “nothing happens,” this one never loses the reader’s interest. I read it in a single afternoon, and I’m not a fast reader. The book is funny, sweet, gentle and moving. Four sisters and their father take a three-week summer vacation to a rented cottage behind Arundel Hall, and become involved in the fate of the young boy who lives in the mansion.

I was happy to find that National Book Award winner The Penderwicks was an exception. We are told to read them because they are supposedly good for us, not because we will enjoy them. The books are like brussel sprouts on the literary table. All too often, children’s literature awards denote books that appeal to adult librarians and book critics rather than to children. I’ll admit I approach award-winning children’s books with some trepidation. Their house is old and comfortable, full of unruly animals, and surrounded by gardens. Jeanne's home now is with her husband in Northampton, Massachusetts. Michelson Galleries in western Massachusetts. Her work can be seen in several galleries, including the R. Some of Jeanne's photographs are included in the permanent collections of museums, including the Smithsonian and the Philadelphia Art Museum. In the years in between, Jeanne had many strange jobs to support herself, and also worked hard as a photographer, the kind that makes art. Penderwick) will be forever grateful.Īlthough she first decided to become a writer when she was ten years old, it took Jeanne until she was forty-one to get started. Tremonte, eighth grade algebra, who taught Jeanne to love and respect math and Miss Basehore, second and fourth year Latin, to whom Jeanne (and Mr.

Corkhill, sixth grade, who encouraged her intellectual curiosity Mr. Jeanne had lots of great teachers, but her favorites were: Mrs. Jeanne Birdsall grew up in the suburbs west of Philadelphia, where she attended wonderful public schools.

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