Gr 4-6-This enjoyable tale of four sisters, a new friend, and his snooty mother is rollicking fun. The girls' father is a gentle, widowed botany professor who gives his daughters free reign but is always there to support or comfort them. Rosalind, 12, has become the mother figure. Skye, 11, is fierce and hot-tempered. Jane, 10, is a budding writer of mysteries who has the disconcerting habit of narrating aloud whatever is occurring around her. Batty, four, is an endearingly shy, loving child who always wears butterfly wings. The family dog, Hound, is her protector. The tale begins as the Penderwicks embark on a summer holiday in the Berkshire Mountains, at a cottage on the grounds of a posh mansion owned by the terribly snobbish Mrs. Tifton. Her son, Jeffrey, is a brilliant pianist, but her heart is set on him attending a military academy like her beloved father. The action involves Rosalind's unrequited love for the 18-year-old gardener, Skye's enmity and then friendship with Jeffrey, Jane's improvement in her melodramatic writing style, and Batty's encounter with an angry bull whom she rather hopefully calls "nice horsie." Problems are solved and lessons learned in this wonderful, humorous book that features characters whom readers will immediately love, as well as a superb writing style. Bring on more of the Penderwicks!-B. Allison Gray, John Jermain Library, Sag Harbor, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Also making an appearance are a lonely young boy and a dependable yet dopey dog. Birdsall excels in developing characters, and her motley crew grows and develops in intriguing ways in this deeply enjoyable story of family and friendship. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

In our Best Books citation, PW said, "This timeless tale [and National Book Award winner] from a first-time author introduces the incomparable Penderwicks, on vacation in a rental cottage on a sprawling estate where lonely young Jeffrey lives. The sisters' delightfully diverse personalities propel the plot." Ages 8-12. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Gr. 3-6. Adults who have been longing to find books for children that remind them of their own childhood favorites need look no further. Birdsall follows in the footsteps of Elizabeth Enright, Edward Eager, and Noel Streatfeild, updating the family story yet keeping all the old-fashioned charm. The motherless Penderwick sisters--Rosalind, 12; Sky, 11; Jane, 10; and Batty, 4--are spending the summer in a Berkshire cottage on the Arundel estate. Their botanist father and protective dog, Hound, are also in attendance, though Hound is far more involved with the girls than their absentminded professor dad. After a bad beginning, the girls become friends with Jeffrey, the son of the lady of the manor, Mrs. Tifton, whose main concern is the welfare of her garden. On one level, Birdsall might be criticized for one-dimensional characterizations (Mrs. Tifton, her boyfriend), and certain minor elements that don't ring true: Tifton's prizewinning garden would hardly be left in the hands of a teenager (on whom Rosalind develops a crush). But what this comforting family story does offer are four marvelously appealing sisters, true childhood behavior (disobeying, running away, a first crush), and a writing style that will draw readers close. So satisfying, the story begs for a sequel: it would be nice to see more of the Penderwicks. --Ilene Cooper Copyright 2005 Booklist

Echoes of Alcott contribute to the intimate charm of this story of "summer and magic and adventure." Not since the Marches have readers met more engaging girls than the Penderwicks: Rosalind, 12, pretty and practical; Skye, 11, smart and blue-eyed; Jane, ten, aspiring author, whose alter ego, Sabrina Starr, is fearless and clever; and butterfly wing-wearing Batty, four. Dear Father is a botanist, fond of spouting witticisms in Latin; Mommy is in heaven. This year, vacation will be spent at the cream-colored cottage at Arundel, estate of snooty Mrs. Tifton, whose house is "like a museum, only without armed guards." Unless she has a change of heart, Jeffrey, her gentle, music-loving only child, is doomed to be sent to Pencey Military Academy, "Where Boys Become Men and Men Become Soldiers." Despite a few mishaps, the children become fast friends and partners in the sorts of lively plots and pastoral pastimes we don't read much about these days. Their adventures and near-disasters, innocent crushes, escaped animals, owning-up and growing up (and yes, changes of heart) are satisfying and not-too-sweet. (Fiction. 8-12) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

(Intermediate) ""Summer afternoon -- summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language,"" Henry James wrote. Surely the motherless Penderwick sisters -- responsible Rosalind, twelve; feisty Skye, eleven; creative Jane, ten; and shy Batty, four -- would agree. Along with their loving but preoccupied botanist father and a clumsy dog named Hound, they spend their summer holiday in the Massachusetts Berkshires in a rose-covered cottage on the grounds of a mansion called Arundel Hall. A fast friendship develops between the girls and Jeffrey, the only child of Arundel's icy owner, Mrs. Tifton. The adventures the children share over the next three weeks include much sneaking in and out of Mrs. Tifton's prize-winning gardens. Although Birdsall draws Mrs. Tifton and her snooty beau Dexter as one-dimensional, writer's muscle supports the entrancing sisters, who behave just as real children would, arguing, calling each other names, and disobeying adults. Suffused with affectionate humor, this charming, old-fashioned story feels familiar in the way the best books seem like old friends. The Penderwicks call to mind Edward Eager's quartet of siblings as well as those in Elizabeth Enright's The Saturdays; shades of Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden appear in Arundel's off-limits gardens and lonely Jeffrey Tifton. Nostalgic but never stale, this fresh, satisfying novel is like a cool breeze on a summer's day. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.