The Penderwicks

Title: The Penderwicks
Author: Jeanne Birdsall
Series: The Penderwicks, book 1
Major Themes: Family, Adventures, Siblings, Friendships
Synopsis: When the Penderwick family goes on vacation to a place they’ve never been before, they discover adventure and make friends with a lonely boy who has a snobbish mother.

Years ago, when we took family trips to various places, we often took a book along and Mom read to us while we rode. Eventually, when we got a vehicle that had a good sound system, we were excited to be able to expand our trip entertainment to audiobooks! Recently, while on a trip, my brothers asked for an audiobook to listen to. I looked through some of the ones we had available to listen to, and we finally settled on The Penderwicks, mostly because I’d had a discussion with Mom the week before about friends who enjoyed the book. I was interested to try it, and since I love family stories, it became an easy pick. And what a delightful book this turned out to be!

The Penderwick family—father and four daughters—has finally managed to get away on vacation, and although their original accommodation plans fell through, they were able to secure a cottage at the last minute in a place none of them have ever heard of. When they arrive, they realize they will be staying in a cottage behind an expansive estate named Arundel, owned and run by Mrs. Tifton. Rosalind, 12, is determined to honor her mother’s memory—her mother’s dying wish was that she’d look after everyone. Skye, 11, is somewhat stubborn, the tomboy of the family, and can be somewhat impetuous at times. Jane, 10, is the family’s dreamer, who can have a level head at times unless she’s dreaming up her next Sabrina Starr book. And Batty, 4, is the baby of the family who dearly wants to keep up with her older sisters and has a special relationship with the family’s dog, Hound. Together, the sisters explore the estate, meet the gardener, Cagney, and make friends with Mrs. Tifton’s son, Jeffrey. But with too much time on their hands and plenty of things to potentially cause problems—not to mention Mrs. Tifton’s disdain for the girls—can they stay out of trouble the entire summer?

Somewhat reminiscent of Carol Ryrie Brink’s books and All-of-a-Kind Family, this is a family story that feels like it could have easily happened at some stage in history. One thing that delighted me about this book was how the family stood up for each other. When one sister got in a scrape, one of the others invariably did her best to help her out of it. The girls also developed a system for managing family order and making difficult decisions. Then there’s the aspect that they just act like little girls—they are not perfect, and often come across difficult circumstances where their wit and ingenuity are called upon to rectify the situation.

This is one of those fun adventure stories that I love sharing with my family. As soon as we got back from our trip, I told Mom, “You need to read that book to the ones that didn’t hear it.” She’s almost done reading it aloud now, and I think my younger siblings are enjoying it just as much as my older ones did! It’s fun and clever, and it has delightful characters and a good dose of mystery and danger. It also has the kind of innocent trouble children get into when their imaginations are allowed to run wild and they aren’t stuck using screens all day. If you enjoy books about children just being children and families that work together, The Penderwicks would be a great option. I’m hoping to read the sequels eventually!

WARNING: “Holy bananas” is used in ch. 1; someone is called a moron in ch. 4; someone is called an idiot, people swear, and there is lying in ch. 5; heck is used in ch. 11 and 14; darn is used twice in ch. 12; God’s name is misused twice in ch. 17; and “darn it all” is used in ch. 18. Children are disobedient a couple of times and disrespectful of certain people behind their backs. There is a story about a man who was gored in ch. 5. Someone jokes about drowning someone in ch. 6. An unmarried couple kisses in ch. 14. A child plays vampires and yells “Blood, blood!” in ch. 15.

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