The Penderwicks

A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy. How's that for a subtitle?

Author: Jeanne Birdsall
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Published in: 2005

As I look for good juvenile books, I find myself consistently drawn to older books. But there must be some contemporary books that I can recommend. Right? I was skeptical, but this is one contemporary book that is quite enjoyable. To begin with, there's the name: The Penderwicks. Anyone named Penderwick couldn't help being pleasant. The lengthy subtitle sums up what the book is about, and should suffice to draw you in. The Penderwick family, consisting of one father, 4 daughters, and one dog named Hound, takes a summer vacation at what turns out to be a guest cottage on an estate. The owner of the estate is mean enough to make things interesting, and increase sympathy for her poor son, who is just a nice, generous boy happy to have playmates for a few weeks. Of course, the Penderwick patriarch is just as kind and hands-off as can be. The book is filled with the everyday kind of adventures that children have when they are allowed to free range. Based on some of the themes in the book, I would say it is best suited for age 12 and up.

The setting and characters are not particularly new. I couldn't help thinking of Little Women as I read about the Penderwick sisters. Remember Laurie? The absent parent? Running between neighboring houses? The motherly sister? The tomboy? The baby of the family? All here. Nevertheless, there is enough that is fresh to keep a reader interested.

This is a modern book, and some parents might be concerned about some implied themes of divorce and a mention of "losing innocence" when a boy comes along. But such are the realities of modern life. While I am not a fan of making kids talk about whatever book they may be reading, books can open a conversation about delicate topics. So here are two talking points: divorce, and what to do with an unjust parent? Mrs. Tifton, the owner of the estate and mother to "the interesting boy," is an unpleasant, snooty, and apparently selfish creature, who--big surprise--doesn't understand her son and does not like the Penderwicks, as they are the "wrong kind of people." To top it all off, she is preparing to marry a shallow, fairly dense man who seems to (morality alert) live with her, though this is never actually stated. For a good portion of the book, the portrayal of a mother as so unlikable irritated me. By the end, however, some of the reasons for Mrs. Tifton's nastiness is explained (overbearing father, abandoned by her husband), and there is some food for discussion put on the table.

Oh! I almost forgot. The eldest Penderwick is 12 years old, but, as her mother died when she was quite young, is quite mature. She develops a crush on the teenage gardener on the estate. Now, I usually cringe at the way such things are handled in modern books. Sappy, unrealistic, generally annoying, are the range of thoughts I have about teenage romance in books. But here, a very real emotional experience of a young girl is portrayed with good sense. Rosalind, rather than retreating into fantasy, pursues a real friendship with the object of her crush. She does kind things for him, but resists the temptation to go overboard. She admonishes herself at one point, refusing to become a girl obsessed with boys, and aims to occupy her mind with school, friends, and things she enjoys doing. It is so easy for girls to get carried away with a crush, especially in our over-sexed world, but this book puts this part of feminine teenage life in good perspective, reminding the reader that there really is so much she can do and think about besides boys.

All in all, The Penderwicks is a good book, especially for girls. And a pleasant escape for their mothers!

Mr. Popper's Penquins

In Short:

Author(s): Richard and Florence Atwater
Illustrator: Robert Lawson
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Published in: 1938

I just finished reading this one with my son, who, though not much of a reader himself, is a great listener. He and I both were delighted by this book. It's farfetched and outlandish--perfect reading for kids. At one point, the family opens up all the windows in their house, to keep things chilly enough for their Antarctic guests, which allows snow to come in all night. Of course, Mr. Popper then creates a sheet of ice inside, by hosing water all over the floors. Mothers of the world shudder at the thought of such a mess, while the eyes of children gleam at the thought.

To sum up the story: Mr. Popper has never left the town of his birth, but longs to travel the world. Most especially he wishes to visit the Poles--North and South. He has a particular fascination with penguins. One day, he receives a message from an Antarctic explorer, who sends him a penguin of his very own. And thus the adventures of the Popper family begin. The penguin takes up residence in the refrigerator (where to keep the food?), until they find themselves with two penguins which are preparing to lay an egg, and they end up turning their basement into a mini-south pole to accommodate the hatching of 10 penguin eggs.* Money troubles and (literal) chilling troubles abound, but are solved with a national tour of performing penguins. I'll let you read the end to find out what happens. Wives and mothers will chuckle at the reaction of Mrs. Popper in the last pages.

Mr. Popper's Penguins is pure fun, though my homeschooling heart warms to the great vocabulary and phrasing. The penguin recovers his "customary dignity," after he protests "indignantly" at being put on a leash. The Admiral speaks "judiciously" to Mr. Popper, and Mr. Popper longs to see the "great shining white expanses of ice and snow" of the Poles.

In sum: read this one with your kids!

*Please note: Do not rely on this book for scientific accuracy!

Why?

Why am I starting a blog with the obvious name, "Books!"? Well, obviously, I love books. And with a certain number of children running around my house, I want them to love books, too. While they are still young, it is easy to direct them to "good" books--books that are thoughtful, well-written, intelligent, appropriate, and of course entertaining--while gently directing them away from the crass, poorly written, or just plain stupid objects that can unfortunately make it to the library shelves.

However, children will grow up, no matter what you try to do to slow the pace, and as I started to peruse the shelves of juvenile books at our local library, I realized that I don't want to set them free, unsupervised, to select and read whatever is there. While there are many good books, there are at least as many trash books resting on those shelves, waiting to corrupt some child's imagination with sin, impurity, and, let's just say it, plain old stupidity.

Let me clear the air a bit before signing off on this first post. I fully recognize that it is impossible to protect my children forever, and absolutely foolish to try. However, it is my duty to keep their childlike innocence intact. You might as well know that my first concern as a parent is for their souls: that they may freely choose the path God has laid out for them in His wisdom, so they may follow Him to eternal happiness. To that end, I will do all I can to protect them while they are young from what they cannot possibly comprehend, while answering whatever questions they may come up with on whatever topic, whenever they ask. Soon enough, they will discover all the sticky, messy things the world has to give, but first, they should know the gifts of God, be able to recognize them, so that they can recognize the Giver in whatever difficulties and challenges await them.

What does this have to do with books? Books inform the mind, and story informs the imagination. Children love stories, images, art. If we give them good, well-written, intelligent stories, their minds and imaginations take hold of that and form in the way of thoughtfulness and truth. And of course, the opposite is true as well. Feed them on nothing, or worse, on bad writing, poor, stupid, or corrupting stories, and their minds may well stagnate, their imaginations warp. And the older the child grows, the more eager his mind, the better the books must be. So I will endeavor to read. Not to forbid books to them, necessarily, but to know what they are reading, to be able to answer what questions they have, and to, when necessary, steer them toward those books that will feed and inform their imaginations with substance.

And so, I begin this blog. Because I wish, with the little time I have to do things, there was already a blog with a like-minded someone telling me about good books and books to watch out for. Maybe there is someone else out there already doing this project! But maybe there are also those who, like me, would like some honest reviews of books for children and not-quite-children-anymore, to make the stacks slightly less intimidating.