The Penderwicks (2005)
The Penderwicks is a 2005 family book written by Jeanne Birdsall.
The four Penderwick sisters, sensible Rosalind, hot-tempered Skye, dreamy story-writing Jane and small Batty in her butterfly wings, arrive at a rented cottage on a grand estate called Arundel for three summer weeks. Their widowed father is kind and distracted, their dog is enormous, and the estate's lonely boy, Jeffrey, soon becomes their fifth. Over the weeks there are runaway rabbits, a prize garden, a stern mother to keep clear of and small rescues to manage. Jeanne Birdsall writes in the warm, unhurried key of an older kind of children's book, where an ordinary summer is adventure enough.
Quick answers
What is The Penderwicks about?
The four Penderwick sisters, sensible Rosalind, hot-tempered Skye, dreamy story-writing Jane and small Batty in her butterfly wings, arrive at a rented cottage on a grand estate called Arundel for three summer weeks. Their widowed father is kind and distracted, their dog is enormous, and the estate's lonely boy, Jeffrey, soon becomes their fifth. Over the weeks there are runaway rabbits, a prize garden, a stern mother to keep clear of and small rescues to manage. Jeanne Birdsall writes in the warm, unhurried key of an older kind of children's book, where an ordinary summer is adventure enough.
When was The Penderwicks published?
The Penderwicks was published in 2005.
Who made The Penderwicks?
The Penderwicks was written by Jeanne Birdsall.
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A few thoughts on The Penderwicks
This belongs beside the gentlest family stories in other forms. Greta Gerwig's Little Women carries the same affection for sisters who squabble and then close ranks, and Anne with an E shares the bookish, big-hearted heroine and the pull of a summer landscape. For younger viewers, Studio Ghibli's My Neighbor Totoro matches the Penderwicks' unhurried wonder.
Slow, gentle stories where kids turn ordinary days into real adventure
The four Penderwick sisters turn three weeks at a rented estate into a whole world, and these keep that same unhurried warmth. Little Women and Anne with an E give sisters and orphans alike the same wide-eyed wonder at ordinary days. My Neighbor Totoro, Little House on the Prairie and Natsume's Book of Friends all let quiet children turn a rural summer or a lonely house into real adventure.