We’ve spent a lot of time lately at the Blount County Library in Maryville, Tennessee. When asked which book I should review, all of the kids gave a resounding answer; The Penderwicks.

The Penderwicks: A summer Tale of Four Sisters,Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall is filled with adventure, mystery, suspense, friendships, and villains–all of these ingredients mixed together make the best summer ever for the Penderwick sisters Rosalind, Jane, Skye, and Batty. Rosalind, the oldest, assumes the responsibility of taking care of her younger sisters. Jane just wants to have fun and enjoy the outdoors. Skye wants to finish her novel. And Batty…wants to be a butterfly. When they arrive at Arundel Hall for the summer with their Botanist father and their dog, Hound, the girls had no clue what was awaiting them behind the high walls of the Arundel house.

During their stay at Arundel, they make lasting friendships that make the summer worthwhile. When Mrs. Tifton’s son Jeffrey gets pulled into the Penderwick family, problems run rampant. To Mrs. Tifton, the Penderwick’s just aren’t the right kind of people. When they learn that Jeffrey’s mother is planning to ship him off to military school, the summer takes a turn for the worse. Now they have to save Jeffrey from this most undesirable fate and still manage to enjoy their summer.

Can the Penderwick’s save Jeffrey? Will Batty ever have the courage to stand up to Mrs. Tifton? And will Skye finish her novel? Join the Penderwick sisters, learn the family oath, and save Jeffrey during this wonderful, adventurous summer!

We absolutely adored this story. It has a good old fashion storytelling feel  to it. There is such solidarity in their family life.

We especially liked the way the sisters formed different configurations to have secret meetings, complete with oath taking.The girls have MOPS (Meeting of Penderwick Sisters) and MOOPS (Meeting of Older Penderwick Sisters). I love how Ms. Birdsall made each of the girls so realistic for their age. They are all very relatable for all age groups.

Another aspect we liked in the book is the idea of family honor. Penderwick Family Honor! Whenever a situation arises in which the girls have to make a judgement call – and plenty do – they always revert back to Penderwick Family Honor. I love this because honor is clearly a value that’s been stressed as an integral part of the identity of this family. This is a family that values bravery, loyalty, integrity, imagination, learning, all things I’ve instilled in my own children. Mr. Penderwick has his hands full with his four creatively active daughters. He has taught his daughters values and trusts them to live accordingly. The Penderwick Family Honor is the code they live by.

The one thing you have to know about this great read is that it’s just lovely–mystery, adventure, and fun all wrapped into one. Mr. Dupree is the best villain and Churchie the best cook. I don’t see how you can’t fall in love with the Penderwicks and their new friends.

I just shared this last bit of news with my children, it’s a series! There’s so much more fun to be had with the Penderwicks and we’re so happy about that.

Add Something To Make

Mr Harry’s Tomatoes

Mr. Harry plays a fun role in the story. I asked the kids, “What are all the things we can do with Harry’s Tomatoes ?” After thinking of everything from tomato sauce, to eating tomatoes raw, the kids wanted to know if it’s possible to make ketchup or do we “have” to buy it in a bottle ? So there it was, we made a batch of homemade ketchup and I think this is the way we’re going to eat ketchup from now on.

Ketchup Recipe

This turned out so well and was so easy to make. We found it on Allrecipes.

 INGREDIENTS:

• 2 (28 ounce) cans peeled ground tomatoes
• 1/2 cup water, divided
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 1/8 teaspoon celery salt
• 1/8 teaspoon mustard powder
• 1/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
• 1 whole clove

DIRECTIONS:

1. Pour ground tomatoes into slow cooker. Swirl 1/4 cup water in each emptied can and pour into slow cooker. Add sugar, vinegar, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, celery salt, mustard powder, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and whole clove; whisk to combine.

2. Cook on high, uncovered, until mixture is reduced by half and very thick, 10 to 12 hours. Stir every hour or so.

3. Smooth the texture of the ketchup using an immersion blender, about 20 seconds.

4. Ladle the ketchup into a fine strainer and press mixture with the back of a ladle to strain out any skins and seeds.

5. Transfer the strained ketchup to a bowl. Cool completely before tasting to adjust salt, black pepper, or cayenne pepper.

Take a Quick Quiz

Which Penderwick Sister are You ? Or are you one at all ?

Each sister in the story is distinctly different. Each with their own personality, likes and dislikes, plus they had a variety of adventures.

Which Penderwick sister are you ? Or are you Jeffery ?

Here’s a quick review:

Rosalind is the oldest and very sensible. She is also very responsible and takes care of her younger sisters very well.

Skye is the beautiful blonde of the family who also happens to be a tomboy. She is very logical and adventurous.

Jane is a writer and very outspoken. She is a good athlete and very caring when she is saying something she shouldn’t be.

Batty is the youngest and very shy. She loves animals and considers them to be her best friends.

Jeffery is the son of a rich woman who lives in upper crust society. Jeffery loves having the Penderwick sisters as friends. He loves to play soccer and is a very good pianist.

Let’s Solve a Puzzle

Civil War Word Search

Cagney the teenage gardener loves anything having to do with the Civil War. Test your wits and see how many of these Civil War words you can find.

Now Answer This!

Family Oath

The Penderwick family has a family oath which defends their family honor. What values are important to your family? What would your Family Oath Be? Create a family oath and then come back and share it here.

**Some of these links are affiliate links. I was give a copy of this book for review. Opinions expressed are purely my own.

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The post A Day of Fun and Reading With the Penderwicks appeared first on Jump Into A Book.

#29 The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall (2005)
58 points

There are two families I would love to live next door to: the Cassons and the Penderwicks. Adorable in it’s classic charm, you can’t help but fall in love with the absent-minded professor father and his four sweet, normal, delightful daughters. – Melissa Fox

The characters are so well-defined, they felt real to me – like friends. Fierce Skye is my favourite; I wish I had had her to read about when I was young and uncompromising. – Emily Myhr

I’m including this book because it’s the perfect marriage between true classics of children’s literature and contemporary children’s fiction. The Penderwick girls live in our 21st Century Society, but they have the same imaginative and exciting outdoor adventures as any Moffat, Melendy, Swallow, Amazon, or Boxcar Child. Batty emerges as one of the strangest and best little sisters I’ve ever read about, and the girls’ empathy for Jeffrey in his struggle against his domineering mother allows them to have an enemy, but one who is not likely to physically harm or destroy them. There are a lot of books about girls that end up mired in friendship drama, boy/girl entanglements, and fights against evil teachers and overprotective parents. The Penderwicks takes a different route, which is refreshing, and which preserves the fun and innocence of childhood for just a while longer. - Katie Ahearn

Proof that you don’t need to live in the days of corsets and long skirts to experience satisfying sisterhood. Batty, Jane, Skye, and Rosalind may your days be long; I know your mark on children’s lit will be. – DaNae Leu

When The Penderwicks swept away  the competition at the 2005 National Book Awards for Young People’s Literature it was the first moment I’d heard of this clever mix of homage and downright awesome storytelling.  Some of us still scratch our heads from time to time and wonder why it never got that ALA accredited award it so deeply deserved.

The synopsis from the publisher reads, “This summer the Penderwick sisters have a wonderful surprise: a holiday on the grounds of a beautiful estate called Arundel. Soon they are busy discovering the summertime magic of Arundel’s sprawling gardens, treasure-filled attic, tame rabbits, and the cook who makes the best gingerbread in Massachusetts. But the best discovery of all is Jeffrey Tifton, son of Arundel’s owner, who quickly proves to be the perfect companion for their adventures.  The icy-hearted Mrs. Tifton is not as pleased with the Penderwicks as Jeffrey is, though, and warns the new friends to stay out of trouble. Which, of course, they will—won’t they? One thing’s for sure: it will be a summer the Penderwicks will never forget.”

On her website, Ms. Birdsall explains a bit about where some of the ideas for this book came from.  “From my own past, and from the children around me—in particular, my niece and nephew who live nearby. My nephew’s passionate love for animals went right into Batty. His sister’s calm way of going about being the oldest helped me with Rosalind. My nephew was also kind enough to turn into a brilliant soccer player—and is now my expert when I write about Skye and Jane and their antics on the soccer field.  I also borrow from other books, especially the ones I loved best when I was young. The idea of four sisters came from Little Women. Batty’s adventure with the bull came from Emily of New Moon.”

The Pe