Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.36 AVERAGE
4.36 AVERAGE
I adore the Penderwick family. I also am convinced that Jeanne Birdsall is the bee's knees. In any other hands, the story of four sisters, their dog, and friends would be a sappy, overly sentimental assault. However, Ms. Birdsall interjects the right notes of humor and sadness to make these novels superb. I think she's the best writer for children's realistic fiction since Beverly Cleary.
"The Penderwicks at Point Mouette" is almost as outstanding as the first book in the serious (and better than the second.) Despite the plot's simplicity, the story feels rich with details and personalities. It is a lovely book.
"The Penderwicks at Point Mouette" is almost as outstanding as the first book in the serious (and better than the second.) Despite the plot's simplicity, the story feels rich with details and personalities. It is a lovely book.
In short, a good story, but lacking some of the charm of the previous two books about the Penderwicks.
I love the Penderwicks! This one does not disappoint. I'm loving the return of Jeffrey. And as always, everything is perfectly hilarious. Is it possible for sequels to get better and better? Because I believe this one was my favorite.
The Penderwick family is split up for the summer. Dad, new wife, and little stepbrother are off in England; Rosalind is visiting New Jersey with a friend (a happy vacation from being OAP); and the rest of the girls go to a cabin in Maine (Point Mouette) with Aunt Claire. Skye has been entrusted as OAP and is nervous that she won't get things right. And sure enough a lot happens on their vacation.
Another modern classic by Birdsall. After reading this installment I thought, "I'm so glad that Jeanne Birdsall writes. These books are so uplifting and delightful).
Grades 5-7.
Another modern classic by Birdsall. After reading this installment I thought, "I'm so glad that Jeanne Birdsall writes. These books are so uplifting and delightful).
Grades 5-7.
Another Charlotte bedtime book. This one was poignant and bittersweet, with lots of growing up for the characters. It also had an interesting dynamic of having a third of the family not in it, but the story didn't suffer for that.
Last month I read the first couple books in this series. I'm continuing on, as it's a pleasant break from other heavier works I might find myself tackling.
This book had the sisters in two locations while their father and stepmother take their honeymoon - Rosalind, the oldest, was invited to vacation with her best friend's family. Other than at the bookends of the story, she doesn't appear for any significant length. The story centers on the three younger sisters' adventures in Maine for a couple weeks with their aunt. Skye is thrust into the OAP role (oldest acting Penderwick), and we watch her struggle with the role, as she's convinced she will be a huge failure, but as we all suspect, she rises to the occasion.
Their good friend from the first book, Jeffrey, joins them for the time, and there's a big plot point that involves him, quite a convenient revelation, nothing of the sort that tends to happen in real life. That doesn't detract from the story, but as an adult reading a book aimed for a younger audience, I found myself not completely buying into how smoothly it unrolled. All the same, I plan on reading the fourth book to conclude the series.
This book had the sisters in two locations while their father and stepmother take their honeymoon - Rosalind, the oldest, was invited to vacation with her best friend's family. Other than at the bookends of the story, she doesn't appear for any significant length. The story centers on the three younger sisters' adventures in Maine for a couple weeks with their aunt. Skye is thrust into the OAP role (oldest acting Penderwick), and we watch her struggle with the role, as she's convinced she will be a huge failure, but as we all suspect, she rises to the occasion.
Their good friend from the first book, Jeffrey, joins them for the time, and there's a big plot point that involves him, quite a convenient revelation, nothing of the sort that tends to happen in real life. That doesn't detract from the story, but as an adult reading a book aimed for a younger audience, I found myself not completely buying into how smoothly it unrolled. All the same, I plan on reading the fourth book to conclude the series.
The Penderwick family is split up for vacations: a honeymoon for Dad and Iantha, Rosalind hanging out with friends in New Jersey, and the rest of the crew in Maine. But this book mostly centers around Jeffery.
Still filled with typical Penderwick antics and heartwarming incidents, but I didn’t love having the family split up. It somehow lost a little bit of magic.
Still filled with typical Penderwick antics and heartwarming incidents, but I didn’t love having the family split up. It somehow lost a little bit of magic.
Another awesome addition to the series! I love those sweet Penderwick sisters and their adventures. I can't wait for the series to be continued!
I don't much like the audiobook narrator of the Penderwick series, and that might have something to do with my not much liking the stories, either. I think I'll actually book-read the 2nd in the series and see if that makes a difference, but once you have a narrator's voice in your head, it's hard to get rid of it. Susan Denaker, you may have ruined these books for me forever. You make Batty sound like a baby, even though she's five. You make Jeffrey sound like a cardboard cutout boyscout. You make Jane sound daft. The only character you do well is Skye, and so Skye is the only character I really root for. As I said in my review of Penderwicks #1, you somehow make a precious, twee sort of story even more precious and twee with your old-fashioned lady voice. What this series needs is a narrator who will even out the sweetness, not one who dumps her own pound of saccharine into the mix.
Jeanne Birdsall, you are a good writer, but I don't think I can forgive the giant, unbelievable coincidence on which a great deal of this story hinges. I did, though, like the part about Batty blowing up.
Jeanne Birdsall, you are a good writer, but I don't think I can forgive the giant, unbelievable coincidence on which a great deal of this story hinges.
Spoiler
I expected Jeffrey to meet his father somehow eventually, but I didn't expect the Lost Dad to randomly turn up as the Penderwick's neighbor at Point Mouette. Highly unlikely. Completely improbable. Ridiculously unbelievable.
I love that each book seems to have it's own location to characterize each book. At point mouette the penderwick sisters take a journey with their aunt, without their parents or older sister and it turns out to be a fine adventure full of stress, injuries, tears, shocks can change a persons entire future and the maturity of Skye Penderwick. This book is a darling book and I can't wait to read it again when I read it aloud to my daughter this next summer.