Do you know this “eat this, not that” series of books? The idea is to help you make good choices in food and drink to avoid hidden calories that will tank your health.
Well, Rosie had the thought that we could do something similar with books for the Library Project*.
The book we are looking at — and maybe, after all, this is the only book we'll do this for, but you never know — is The Penderwicks, by Jeanne Birdsall. The Penderwicks is lots of fun and is written well, in that it doesn't talk down to the child and would keep a reading-aloud parent amused. Many, many people really love it.
The cover is super attractive. It's no wonder the book is so popular; the cover takes me to those wonderful books of my own childhood that kept me entertained. The charming silhouette of children and animals frolicking on the cover can't help but draw the reader in. (And it has an award!)
This genre — children on holiday in the country — is a tried-and-true one. Right away The Penderwicks promises to be a favorite, and I wanted to love it.
However, there are many other books with the same theme that are better and don't contain a certain moral ambiguity. So here I will tell you what I don't like and then give you suggestions of what to read instead.
At the heart of The Penderwicks is an episode in which the girls' youngest sibling is left unattended by her sisters and is nearly attacked by a bull, only to be rescued at the last moment. The children make a pact not to tell their father about the danger.
This pact begs to be put to the test. For the rest of this book, one is hoping that the conflict will be resolved. And here is the crux of my objection: in a better book, it would come to light and the children would make a clean breast of their negligence, which was a dereliction that clearly ought to have weighed on their consciences.
In fact, an opportunity arises later in the book for them to say something to their father; but rather than do so, they lie to cover up the event and their culpability. Astonishingly, this lie is not resolved.
The girls also tell another small but unmistakable lie to the unpleasant neighbor/landlady about their dresses, which actually belong to this lady, unbeknownst to her.
An author has a responsibility to moral reality. For a children's author, this is a sacred duty. The child is being formed to a great extent by the stories he reads, watches, and hears. It's really important that these stories be completely wholesome!
Lying in particular is intrinsically wrong. You can't just excuse a lie because of the circumstances! The moral code has always stressed the importance of telling the truth — even in small matters — and children have to be taught that without trust, people can't relate to each other at all. That this book treats lies, great and small, as easily glossed-over and rather neutral is not acceptable.
There are a couple of other themes that I object to — I do! You can call me picky, but I don't see the point of exposing 8-12 year-olds (the recommended age group for the book) to any of it.
There is a silly one-way crush of the eldest Penderwick girl on the caretaker's son. Where in a book from a different era their friendship (for they are friends) would have been handled with appropriate delicacy, in this story it's really unsatisfactory: the crush kills the friendship, which is exactly the contemporary real-life difficulty that the author should have been able to show an alternative to. Somehow, in older books, children are given a way to handle awkward, premature feelings. It's almost as if the author doesn't know what those ways might be, or thinks that in a modern story, a boy-girl crush has to be a feature.
The neighbor herself, Mrs. Tifton, is problematic as a character in a children's story. I can't remember a children's book in which a difficult adult character is left to be either rather misunderstood or with her failings unresolved.
In this case, Birdsall makes a point of introducing the subject of Mrs. Tifton's divorce and her husband's abandonment of their son — rather a heavy issue, no matter how common it might be these days. To put such a theme in a book for young children is inadvisable, it seems to me.
Mrs. Tifton ends by marrying her equally obnoxious boyfriend; this is just sad, even for her.
I remember this outcome really bothering Bridget, who felt that the lady and her son (the “boy” of the subtitle) deserved a happy ending, or at least not a dreadful one. For sure, today's mores are reflected in this plot development: to most people, a remarriage involving two unchanged people is not significant as a moral issue.
Of course, to a child reader — who is trying to understand the world and the choices adults make — it's very significant and potentially harmful to his sense of whether Providence has in store for everyone a happy (or at least a deserved) ending. Mrs. Tifton is neither that bad character who comes to a bad ending nor a complicated character who finds understanding. She is just a selfish, weak person whom the author manipulates the children into not liking — but also not understanding. This whole plot element ends up having a “young adult lit” vibe that is particularly objectionable to me. It has the air of grooming the reader for further, more “realistic” sorts of stories.
It's simply a fact that today, most in this age group are reading young adult fiction or desperately wanting to. We need to protect them and give them really innocent, good literature — the “1000 Good Books.” They need challenges but not confusion.
Other books offer the fun of a summer-vacation adventure with good morals and solicitude (or justice) for all the characters. And the children don't just get into difficulties; they exercise that most important of childhood qualities, pluck, to get out of them.
So instead, read this, not that:
Magic by the Lake, by Edward Eager — Children on holiday navigate tricky magic and must use their wits to stay ahead of it. Their stepfather (their mother is a widow, which you discover in the equally excellent previous books) is doing his best to provide; they end up helping him, which is really sweet.
Swallows and Amazons, by Arthur Ransome — Children on holiday have wonderful adventures in a boat and on an island. The adults who, from our own adult point of view, might not have things entirely under control, nevertheless maintain high standards for personal responsibility — standards which the children must live up to in the course of their escapades.
Gone-Away Lake, by Elizabeth Enright — A girl and her boy cousin find an abandoned summer village and make friends with two elderly and odd siblings whom they must learn to understand (and it's well worth it). They also, like the Penderwick children, try to keep a secret from the adults in charge, but the secret is not a guilty one, and it comes to light for reasons not in their power — but also not unwelcome to them.
The Woodbegoods, by E. Nesbit — (a sequel to The Treasure Seekers) the children try to be good but only cause disaster; since this is the plight of children everywhere and in all times, the story is most fulfilling, amusing, and clever.
The Railway Children, by E. Nesbit — The children are quite sheltered by their mother for the real reason for their exile, which they take to be a summer holiday but which is necessitated by their father's imprisonment. Yet they are the means of bringing about his vindication. Honor is a particularly important subtext in this story. (The movie is delightful — a really fun family film. I've written about E. Nesbit — and this movie — before.)
The Cottage at Bantry Bay, by Hilda van Stockum — The children are poor and the family is loving; they have many adventures, ending with the discovery of a treasure that enables them to procure medical care for their brother.
All of these make great read-alouds. The age level is 8-12 but all ages will enjoy them! (The Amazon links are affiliate links — thank you!):
What are your favorite summer adventure stories?
priest's wife (@byzcathwife) says
some of your recommended books are unknown to me- thank you! …. now can you and/or your dear readers recommend some great boys for a newly 9 year old non-rough boy who enjoys both Encyclopedia Brown and The Hobbit (plus Lamb’s tales from Shakespeare)
Are there books that depict a boy who is not rough and tumble but still very much a boy? We will start on Stevenson- because they are great, but I don’t know how much he will relate to the protaginists. (He likes Mole better than Rat)
priest's wife (@byzcathwife) says
great books- not great boys 🙂
Carol Kennedy says
There are characters in the Swallows and Amazons books that fit the bill…especially Dick who appears in the the third book I think, and then a couple of others after that.
shwell says
My boys that age have enjoyed
Freddy the Pig – many books in the series – Walter R Brookes
Childhood of Famous Americans and similar books from the non fiction biography section in Junior Library
Dick from the Swallows and Amazons series comes in the Winter Holiday and then continues. Coot Club & The Big Six are two that do not have the rest of the swallows and amazons in them, and feature Dick
The Famous Five – Enid Blyton
Milly Molly Mandy is sweet and her best friend is Billy Blunt – Joyce Lancaster Brisley
Magic Faraway Tree – Enid Blyton
My kids have not read Harry Potter, they have read The Hobbit
they have enjoyed How To Train your Dragon, at a slow pace, the first few would be OK for a 9 year old and then pace them out, they are perhaps not what LMLD would BUY for the bookshelf, but the main character is a non athletic bookworm, who reluctantly becomes a hero
Anamaria says
Farmer Boy?
Mrs. B. says
I have a boy like that, too 🙂 He loves Jules Verne’s novels, though they’re not about children, and even though he’s not the rough-and-tumble kind of boy, as you say, he adores high adventure novels, like The Three Musketeers or any mystery stories, from the easy ones like the Blyton series (Famous Five and Secret Seven) or the Hardy Boys books, to the more complex like Father Brown by Chesterton. Kipling books are also wonderful, and they do have boys in them.
Elizabethanne says
My Father’s Dragon
Kimberlee says
The Family Under the Bridge, Emil and the Detectives, Pyes and Moffats and Rufus M, Shadrach and Along Came a Dog and Wheel on the School by de Jong, Marguerite Henry titles, McCloskey’s Homer Price, all of Thornton Burgess, Sam Campbell as mentioned below. Fr. Finn and Howard Pyle perhaps when he’s a bit older.
Kimberlee says
My kindred spirit! I read the first of this series and had serious problems with all the themes you mentioned. A bunch of seemingly nice, educated girls (and Latin!) with a chronic lying problem. So many lies. And the book tries so very hard to emulate all the great old books (while falling miserably short) that I knew my kids would hate it for its farbyness. (Why read Melendy and March wannabes when you can read the glorious real deal? Didn’t it just make you pine for dear Cuffy?) I find the charming cover particularly deceitful. Why so many love this series I do not know.
Swallows and Amazons was the herald of summer here for many years. Some of my kids read all twelve several times over.
Carol Kennedy says
So agree!! We longed for Cuffy when we listened to the Penderwicks too! We generally hated it and were highly disappointed.
DKJ says
Is the Penderwicks book the one that begins with a car ride, during which all the children call each other names? I have a voracious reader, who I can not read enough fast enough to appease her…and this book is constantly being recommended. I feel like I started to read it and with in the first few pages was put off…we try to avoid books with hapless parents and/or where are the grown ups are bad guys.
Thank you for all the alternative suggestions. The Swallows and Amazons series has been a great find!
Julie says
I’m so glad that I wasn’t the only one troubled by this “must-read.” We have read & loved most of your suggestions (and will definitely get the others this summer!). All the Moffat stories (Eleanor Estes) have been good reads, and we more recently enjoyed Adventures with Waffles by Maria Parr.
Lindsay Rhein says
In addition to Gone Away Lake, I would also recommend Elizabeth Enright’s Melendy Quartet. We so thoroughly enjoyed this series. And we love van Stockum’s Bantry Bay books but love her Mitchells series even more, and their second book Canadian Summer is also a wonderful one that follows the “children on holiday” theme.
I have eyed The Penderwicks many times but could never quite pull the trigger. There were always other books on the list that called me more. I feel affirmed, now, having read your review.
Diana says
Firstly, I have to agree with Kimberlee, above – I’d also add in the Melendy Quartet! Yes!!!!!
Secondly, I cannot say a big enough THANK YOU for this post.
I have read all four of the Penderwicks books. And… I loved them.
BUT.
It was a love-hate relationship. And my dislike and distrust are greater than my love, in this case.
The Penderwicks have lovely things going for them. No bad language, mostly orthodox behavior rules, a cleverly rendered academic-and-forgetful father (I actually know a man just like this), fun adventures, and… Latin! How bad can a book be when they’re speaking Latin, right??
But seriously. There are so many problems. Here a whiff, there a hint, of… problems. As you say, moral ambiguities.
– The lies.
– The boy-girl relationships at ridiculously young ages. In another book, a boy-and-girl couple kisses (if I’m remembering correctly), and then there is something said to the effect of, “We can’t date. We’re too young. We need to wait till next year, when we’re thirteen.” UM, and no one thought that THIRTEEN was too young to be dating and kissing?
Another thing that really bothered me was the carefully atheistic worldview that is painted. No mention of God, or of the basis for morals – just a moralistic world in which there are rules but no reason for them. This is nothing new, of course – everything from the Boxcar Children to most of the other series of the past century joined into the “Morals, but no God” club. I’m just more sensitive to it now that I realize the serious worldview harm that was being put into the minds of the generations who were raised with it.
Another thing that bugged me was how dating (and young dating) were totally accepted, and there were NO bad consequences. It’s like Hollywood – everyone sins, and everyone’s happy. If this were a realistic portrayal, then we would have seen Rosalind end up pregnant at age 14 or 15, and having an abortion, or getting an STD, or whatever. That’s what happens when unchaperoned 13-year-olds have dating freedom. But this was a carefully crafted happy-go-lucky setting in which bad things have no consequences.
(I’m sorry I’m getting so long-winded. This series has been on my mind for a year now, so I’m just unloading.)
My main OH-MY-GOODNESS moment was in the fourth book, when Batty overhears Skye wishing that their mother had saved her own life instead of sacrificing her own life to cancer in order to have Batty. The word abortion is never mentioned, but that’s my interpretation. I found it beyond horrific. And in the end, there is no real fixing of that horrible statement. The father just explains to Batty that they had thought the mother could make it to the end of the pregnancy and then treat the cancer successfully, so she didn’t *really* sacrifice her life for Batty. Oh, well, then, that just makes everything better. I’m still sickened over that book.
If you ever read the rest of the series, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
And I’ll be quiet now, because I’ve talked far too much!
LOVE your blog. Keep up the awesome work.
Leila says
Diana, I have not continued on to read any of the other stories in this series, but the episode you mention where Batty overhears Skye basically saying she wishes Batty had not been born — in essence putting the blame on her little sister — yes, horrifying.
There is no question in my mind that the issue of abortion is deeply destabilizing for this reason: the child now feels that his life is *contingent* — contingent on being “wanted” — on someone’s consent to bringing him into the world *after* he exists.
I believe a lot of mental illness can be explained by this one new reality, so ubiquitous in our time. The idea that it can be a theme in a child’s book is just terrible.
Anamaria says
The fourth is the only one I haven’t read! How horrifying.
Daphne says
I’m coming along a few years later, but I echo your words!
Emily says
I read The Penderwicks before I was consciously pre-reading books for my kids, and it had been recommended by many friends who should have known better. I remember putting it in the category of books-not-good-enough-to-buy-for-my-kids but had forgotten about it until now. You’ve expressed all the issues I had with the book (which I admit is charming in many ways). I’m especially sensitive to children’s books that do not show the realistic results of sin. I have friends who don’t let their children read books in which children lie, cheat, or steal, but since my children have been known to do all three, I prefer to have them read books where those sins are dealt with in an age-appropriate way. The Railway Children is a perennial favorite here–the librovox version is lovely–and we’ve had many conversations about incidents like Peter stealing the coal. His motives are good (he wants to help his family) and yet he keeps it a secret because he knows it is probably wrong. He gets caught, and the children (and mine) all learn a lesson, but it’s winsome rather than moralistic. And the scene with Bobbie and her Daddy on the platform makes me cry every single time.
Agree with Julie that the Moffat books scratch the same kind of itch for me. Also, while the Betsy-Tacy books are set largely during the school year, my kids love the adventures they have running around the neighborhood and climbing up the Big Hill in the afternoons and weekends. In a helicopter parenting society, I want my kids reading lots of stories about children who entertain themselves (and resolve minor conflicts) outdoors on their own, while their parents are safely within reach at home in case of emergency.
My kids also love Jack and Jill (LM Alcott) for many of the same reasons. I know Alcott can be preachy, but the seaside vacation in Jack and Jill and the island and countryside vacations in Eight Cousins always captured my imagination and inspired hours upon hours of outside play in our woods growing up. I suppose they’re at a higher reading level with more archaic vocabulary, but don’t tell that to my six year old, who has been listening to Alcott audiobooks for years now.
Stephanie says
Hooray, Louisa May Alcott! 😉 I just posted below about recommending “Eight Cousins” and was delighted to read this here! Have you read its sequel (“Rose in Bloom”)? It’s lovely to read as an adult. I think Alcott’s higher reading level and vocabulary are a good thing – how nice that your little one can enjoy the audiobooks! – and there’s room for her moralistic tone, though I confess I appreciate that more as an adult, and sometimes had less patience for it when I was a child! 🙂
Katherine says
My girls didn’t read the Penderwick series until they were older, so your concerns weren’t an issue with me. They were a good read, but not great. I had to laugh at the objection to the boy-girl thing. My husband tried to kiss a girl in kindergarten and was always an incurable romantic. My 13yo still thinks girls are gross. When my youngest daughter was in her teens, she decided after attending a few homeschooling co-ed teen social events that all teenage boys were jerks. She almost 18 and getting ready for college and hopes the quality is better at the Catholic college she’s been accepted to.
We’ve gone through the whole Swallows & Amazons series; my husband (the primary read-alouder) thought Swallowdale was a yawner and one of my sons couldn’t stand Dick and Dorthea in the later books, but overall they’ve been enjoyable. I think our favorites were the Melendy books (one of my sons is a musician and could relate to Rush, especially his outing to hear Wagner, and my littles thought Oliver was a hoot). We’ve also enjoyed the Moffat series.
A sibling book that was good, but is out-of-print, is Barbara Willard’s “The Richleighs of Tantamount.” Most homeschoolers are probably familiar with Willard’s historical fiction republished by Bethlehem Books; however, she has also written some regular juvenile fiction involving good family relationships.
We’ve haven’t read “The Woodbegoods” or “Magic by the Lake” although we’ve read their prequels. I’ll have to see if our library has them.
Emily G says
I second the recommendation for the Richleighs! I’ve always loved that book!
Carol Kennedy says
We have been fans of the Moffats, the Melendys and the Walkers (in SandA) and my kids have often imagined what would happen if Oliver Melendy, Rufus Moffat, and Roger Walker were friends. We have all enjoyed the Louisa May Alcott books too. And the Cottage at Bantry Bay….come to think of it, what if Francie and Liam joined that group of boys above?
As for the Penderwicks….we were so disappointed when we first listened to book 1 (that is as far as we got) because the author had talked about loving books in which the siblings all liked each other (which is buy complaint about almost all modern books…I am so tired of siblings being mean!!) and then when we listened to the story and the kids are really not that nice to each other (though they love each other in the end, but they are not as loving as any of the other books mentioned above….or maybe it is just that the sibling rivalries of these older books are not so in depth–the pass quickly and without a lot of mean talk in the heads of the kids.) Anyway…that and “barfing”—another frequent subject of modern kids books that I just don’t get. And yes, crushes, mean adults who never get nice, divorce, etc.
I am excited to check out the other books listed that we haven’t read! We just finished Linnets and Valerians too and loved that group of siblings!!
Leila says
Yes, Carol, thanks for bringing up the mean sibling issue — that bothered me too.
If we don’t like our children bickering incessantly — and bicker they will — we really shouldn’t be giving them fodder for more bickering! How tiresome.
Liz says
Ahh thank you! I have seen the Penderwicks at the library and loved the cover but for some reason I got a funny feeling about it and didn’t check it out. I can’t remember if I peeked inside or what, but I have been wondering since if I was just being overcautious or silly trusting my gut–guess not as the lying would definitely put it on the “banned” book list for us.
I hope you do more…this is a great idea! Always good to give better options.
sibyl says
Completely agree with that Penderwicks series should be avoided, for all the reasons Auntie Leila mentions. And Swallows and Amazons!!! It would never have gotten off the ground in this household, except that I had just finished reading the Patrick O’Brian seafaring novels (to myself) and knew all the nautical terms. Thus as I read aloud, I explained the parts of the boat, the maneuvers, and the references to Robinson Crusoe and R.L. Stevenson’s adventure books. Once we got through the exposition, even the 6-year-old girl was entranced. She threw herself onto the carpet face down and howled, “Why don’t YOU let US go camping by ourselves all summer!!??”
One other summer adventure book we love is the 2nd in the Hilda von Stockum Mitchells series, “Canadian Summer.” (All those books are absolutely delightful, about a big family during and after the second world war.) Again, siblings taking care of each other, a living (and happily married) mom and dad, plenty of realistic but exciting happenings. My one caution here is that the children (as seems common for a certain era) make friends with adults, so when we read this book I did have to stop and remind my kids that this is fiction, and that in real life you never make friends with an adult unless your parents are there too.
For people who are Eleanor Estes fans, besides the Moffats books, she wrote two wonderful stories, “Ginger Pye” and “Pinkie Pye.” I’d start with the first, which takes place over a school year, but then the second is a summertime book. They are quirky and very, very funny.
Finally, I can’t recommend the Elizabeth Enright books highly enough. They’re literate, charming, and very compelling; in the fourth, we meet a character who is a neglected (and possibly even abused) boy, but the whole portrayal is so delicate, so oblique, that it never becomes troubling. I think of all those Melendy books, “The Four-Story Mistake” might be my favorite.
Right now we are reading Howard Pyle’s “Tales of Merry Robin Hood,” out loud.
Logan says
It makes me sad to think children shouldn’t be friends with adults. What an unfortunate world that would be.
Woman of the House says
I completely agree about The Penderwicks. I loved the cover and was ready for an old-fashioned holiday adventure book, but I was disappointed. I also think you hit the nail on the head when you said that elements of the book seemed to be grooming children for YA literature. So much of the book just rubbed me the wrong way.
“Read this, not that” is a great idea for a series of blog posts!
Elizabethanne says
I second that. . More of these kind of posts please!
Katie says
Oh, Gone-Away Lake! This is one of my very favorites from childhood. I loved reading about children traveling alone at the beginning of the book, and on an old-fashioned train trip no less– so far removed from my own experience. (Until my husband and I booked a sleeper-car Amtrak adventure; and even then as a married grown-up I was harkening back to Portia and Foster, when we sat down to a tablecloth and fresh flowers in the dining car!) Busy raising littles now, but I do look forward to sharing with my girls as they grow. There is a sequel, too, Return to Gone-Away.
Angelique says
Couldn’t agree more and I hope this becomes a feature!
Jessica says
You have no idea how refreshing this is! I had heard the Penderwicks lauded by so many. I checked out the second one (the library not having the first on hand) but didn’t even read the whole thing because of the crush mentioned in the first chapter. I very much dislike the boy/girl crush thing in books for my 9 yr. old daughter. She has enough confusing feelings on her own without adding fictional characters to the mix. Thank you for sharing other reasons I didn’t even know about to avoid this series. I love the alternatives you gave and we have enjoyed many of them! Can’t wait to see more from this series!
Rachel says
Hmmm. Gone Away Lake was such a snoozer to me, but I was listening to it in the car. Couldn’t stand it. Now I’m wondering?
Is Van Stockum’s book anything like The Winged Watchman? Because I just read that to the kids this year and we are all glad it’s over and I won’t do it again. Personal preference, I guess.
Little Britches, though….YES. Over and over and over and over! And a much better way of handling lies!
We weren’t fans of the Penderwicks, either. Not when there are such other good stories (E. Nesbit is another favorite over here, too).
The Happy Hollisters is a series my children enjoy, and so do I!
Leila says
Rachel, Gone-Away isn’t a huge favorite of mine, but it’s morally fine, and I think that the sequels are even better. I agree that it’s got some boring sections, although the part where the little brother almost sinks into the swamp reverberates with the quicksand-worrier that I was in childhood!
I think that what I’d like to point out here is not that everyone has to like each and every book — some will appeal and others won’t — but that the list of possible books must be morally sound!
Jennifer Gregory Miller says
I just loved Gone Away Lake and Return to Gone-Away. My sons love it, too. I think it’s the historian and naturalist in me.
Rachel says
Yes, I agree. But your recommending it did give me pause that perhaps I should give it (Gone-Away Lake) another shot. Most of your Library recommendations have been HUGE hits here. That makes me think that maybe only listening to it as an audio book was not giving it a fair chance, especially as I am not in the best of times an aural learner.
And now Jennifer Gregory Miller is making me wonder even more if I would not indeed like it, esp. as 6 years have gone by and I have found a previously undiscovered love for science and the natural world due to progressing with my children in homeschool…hmm.
Julie says
Second the Happy Hollisters!
Barbar says
I won’t get rid of my Happy Hollister books and all my children read them! And Alcott’s books may be archaic but the basic underlying goodness of them still makes me recommend them. And does no one read Laura Ingalls Wilder any more? Saving them for possible grandchildren. As the children get older try Where the Red Fern Grows and a A Wrinkle in Time ( and the others by same author).
Cristina says
Oh dear, I had heard several recommendations for The Penderwicks so I let my oldest son listen to the audiobook. I’m afraid I wasn’t paying much attention to it but he really liked it. I think he even got sequels from the library? Now I’ll have to read some of these others to him to dilute the effects 🙂
Leila says
Cristina, judging by what some have said here, it sounds like the sequels are REALLY not appropriate. I’d just deflect him on to some of these others, yes!
Anamaria says
Yes, keep him away from the sequels! Too many adult themes!
Christine says
Great insights! My discerning daughter handed the Penderwicks back to me as unsuitable (at about age 10). Your alternatives are all first rate–as children’s lit should be. Now if we could somehow inform the minds of all those book award folks…
Christine says
Oh, and we are rereading Hilda can Stockum’s The Mitchells series now, Canadian Summer is a perfect family read.
Stephanie says
Ooh, I don’t know most of these recommended books … I now look forward to discovering them! I really enjoyed this thoughtful post. Thank you so much!
For other wholesome children’s books that incorporate fun adventures/episodes with solid morals and family values, might I also recommend the “All-of-a-Kind Family” series by Sydney Taylor? (Five books in all – I still remember the joy of discovering each new one in turn at the library as I read my way through the series as a child, and I still enjoy revisiting them as an adult. They also, I think, gave me some of my early knowledge about Jewish holidays and traditions, and a glimpse at New York History and tenement life, though as a child I don’t think I realized quite how long ago the series was taking place, as it creates the setting so well that I was quite naturally absorbed by the universe it depicts, so to speak.) I’d also wholeheartedly recommend “Eight Cousins” by Louisa May Alcott. I like Alcott in general, but this novel and its sequel, “Rose in Bloom,” are my absolute favorites. I wouldn’t recommend “Rose in Bloom” to a child – while it’s wholesome, I don’t think it’s relatable for a child as it’s more about the protagonists entering early adulthood and navigating the life choices, romantic questions, etc., that come along with that. I think its messages and values are good and important, but it’s more likely to be appreciated by someone who can more or less understand those aspects of life! (“Eight Cousins” was the one I preferred as a child, and while I was excited then to discover that it had a sequel, I couldn’t really “get into it” then, but I rediscovered it with tremendous appreciation, which I maintain to this day, in adulthood.) Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Little House” series is also lovely, of course, but it differs from these other recommendations in a fundamental way that I can’t quite identify as I write here in the moment… but I’d recommend the series too!
Look forward to seeing other readers’ recommendations and to checking out these books!
I love the LMLD Library Project! 🙂
Barbara says
Is the All-of-a-Kind Family still in print?? It was wonderful and made me want to learn about the religious traditions of others so much! They were wonderful!
Stephanie says
Happily, yes, it is! It looks like the last four books of the series have gotten a new illustrator. I much prefer the style of the original illustrations, but I’m glad that the books are still in print regardless, as I agree that they are wonderful! (And I imagine that there are copies of earlier editions with the original illustrations available at book sales, secondhand bookstores, and so forth!) 🙂
Anamaria says
Thank you! I enjoyed the Penderwicks as an adult- there were many charming parts as you say- but would be hesitant to give it to my child. This is an age where I look back and think I read utter garbage, so I am already looking for alternatives. Even though my oldest is two.
But, Diana, I disagree that premature relationships necessarily lead to premature physical intimacy. It certainly makes it more likely (especially in today’s climate), but it doesn’t necessarily follow. It’s problematic by itself, however.
Elizabeth says
I remember the lying being a concern for many parents when Harry Potter became popular. Now I am wondering, dear Auntie Leila, have you posted any thoughts on those books? Haley, at Carrots For Michaelmas, can’t say enough good things about them. I would really love to know what you think. I’ve been trying to decide if I want to let my children read them or not.
Leila says
Yes, I think the lying is an issue. To me, magic in Harry Potter is not an issue; it’s a “rules of the game” thing, which is delightful, actually — setting the parameters for the world you’ve made and requiring the characters to live by them. As sub-creator, the author gets to do that. But having the main character tell lies betrays a moral sloppiness on the part of the author.
I think with HP it is just sloppiness. It’s a defect, a laziness. The books have so much in them that’s worthwhile, and have become such a part of the cultural background that it is perhaps better to let the child read them and discuss those defects than to prohibit them entirely. (I would caution though, that it’s important to notice the development of the character and correlate it to the development of your child — in other words, don’t let the young child rip through all the books.)
I don’t wholeheartedly recommend them, though, the way I do the ones I do 🙂
Dixie says
I think I’m with you about Harry Potter, Leila. Good in lots of ways, problematic in others. The thing that stuck out to me was the cheating that Harry, Hermione, and Ron all regularly and casually do at school.
I do think that this is the sort of thing that can be discussed with kids if they do read it, and I wonder if the cheating and lying stuff is a author’s awkward way of trying to keep from having “perfect” protagonists. But it actually confuses morally and makes me uncomfortable, because of course we all do things wrong and of course we often don’t get caught, but on the other hand we do KNOW these things are wrong. The Harry Potter characters do not consider these things wrong. And they don’t think it wrong to hurt or deceive someone who is mean to them, or silly, or whom they dislike. And yet millions of people just worship these characters.
I’m not sure if this is bumbled portrayal of the complexity of real people, or a hierarchy of morals that really doesn’t make sense in terms of building up the kind of moral fiber you would really need to fight Voldemort. Or maybe it’s just a British school thing that I don’t get.
Sarah Chepkirui says
Such an interesting question. Along with moral laziness, the HP books are simply not as well-written as many older books. This is also a kind of laziness—not as important perhaps, but I also think a great deal about the kind of language I want to expose my daughter to.
Elizabethanne says
This is tangential, but what you just said about Harry Potter books is, so far, our family “take”on a variety of things, for example, some movies. There might be a movie that is 95% fine or episode of a tv show (I’m talking Little House on the Prairie, not Modern Family) where we need to talk through the little thing or two that isn’t right or maybe a joke scarey. My kids are still pretty young, but I’m hoping these discussions will help them have a sense of what is right and how to process the media they consume.
I don’t know if you have any thoughts about this or about how to help navigate kids watching tv as they get older and start to choose tv (and books). Obviously there’s always some supervision and I do edit library selections as per your suggestion on a post a while back. ..
Jennifer says
yes thank you! I wanted to love Penderwicks too and the bull scene, etc, also bothered me…as an adult even! I love Gone Away Lake. How lovely and I will have to read your other suggestions too!
Do you have a list for boys somewhere? My oldest is six and a good reader and I want good read alouds for him! I had only sisters so I feel unprepared for little boy reading and my husband was not much of a reader until adulthood. Thanks!
Jamie says
See the reply below about the Sam Campbell books. Enjoy!
Mrs. B. says
There is a great list for boys in this post mentioned by Leila: http://www.crisismagazine.com/2012/naughty-boys-and-the-defense-of-civilization-must-we-choose-between-great-or-good-books
Karen M says
Ambleside Online and the 1000 Great Books should keep your library request line quite full! 🙂 These are both available for free online–just search for them!
Julie says
Oh, and I do love when you post on books. We just finished The Wouldbegoods, and are reading Rascal (really a child who is on holiday most of his days without ever realizing it.) My children enjoyed the “naughty” things that the children did, and were still glad when all of their mischief came to light. It is a relief to children, that things can be made right. And really isn’t that our great hope? That there is redemption in the end?
Thank you for the other suggestions. We listened to one of the Penderwicks books. My daughter didn’t think the girlfriend/boyfriend theme was “appropriate.” I agree. No one has asked for them since.
Mrs. B. says
Everyone was oh-ing and ah-ing about the Penderwicks, so when I saw a copy of the first book at a library sale, I got it. But since my default is not to trust a modern book, I read it before deciding if I could give it to my kids (it’s not that old book = great book, but a bad old book is usually just a poor book from a literary point of view, which is a different from what we deal with these days, when it could very well be a kind of moral poverty, as this post and the comments show).
I did not like the book, for all the reasons that have already been said. I especially hated the lack of trust in the father, who seemed to be just the kind of clueless man commercials have been giving us for ages now, with the up-in-the-clouds intellectual air simply a thin veneer. And it’s not that children in books should be perfect – it wouldn’t be good art if they were, and they would even be counterproductive, as the kids reading these books would smell the phoniness from a mile. There can be plenty of lying, stealing, and what not, but it all depends on how the author handles these things. Look at a rascal like Tom Sawyer – what mother dreams of having a boy like him?? And yet, the book is wonderful, and Tom is wonderful, too, in his own way 😉
After the Penderwick disappointment, I lost hope of finding modern books for children older than 8 that are as sound as the old ones. There are niche authors, of course, but the mainstream books, those everyone talks about, can’t be trusted. The source of our moral code is rejected more and more, and books reflect this as well, they can’t help it.
Thank goodness we seem to have plenty of choices – thank you to all who offered suggestions!
Heather E says
Very well put, Mrs. B! I wish there were more contemporary stories that were suitable for o!der children, and you just explained very well why they don’t exist anymore… But maybe some of our children will write new stories one day!
Sarah Chepkirui says
Oh thank you so much Auntie Leila! I’ve been thinking about this a lot, as my MIL just gave my 6-year old daughter a series of (modern) books called “Just Grace,” which I find just not-quite-right. I can’t actually say that I don’t like the books, because of familial complications, but I’ve been trying avoid them for my own reading. Any book where the children are rude to their parents, hate school (with no subtlety), and are not kind to other children (again without subtlety) is problematic for me. Why would I expose my young child to this? We love the books you’ve mentioned here. And we just read The Children of Noisy Village, which I think you’ve discussed before. Oh, and dating and crushes—for children under 12—no!!! Dreadful. I too have simply given up on more modern books.
Any other recommendations for a six year old who, a) is not reading on her own (another story), b) loves complex ideas and plots, but c) is young (at least compared to many of her friends) emotionally?? She’s not ready for orphans, something happening to parents, war (in Little Women, for instance), etc. “Betsy & Tacy,” the early Laura Ingalls Wilder books, and the Melendy’s are current favorites.
What a joy to find a community of like-minded reading parents. Truly, thank you!!
Jamie says
I have a suggestion for young readers. The Sam Campbell books. Mr. Campbell was a naturalist in the early part of the 1900’s. His book series is really amusing. I read them thru to my children at breakfast when they were ages 5-15 or so. We all enjoyed them and they are hilarious. So many parts at which I could not stop laughing. Your young reader should have no problem reading them.
We received these books not all at once. Our neighbor and her husband would gift us with the next one or two after watering and looking after their dog during summers when they would leave town. A nice surprise. These books can be read out of order but……who wants to do that! Books 11 and 12 are a little different then the others: get them but don’t expect the same format.
The books are about he and his wife living out in the wilderness in their cabin and their adventures with the animals. There are a few extra dear people that they meet who are delightful.
Sarah Chepkirui says
Those sound wonderful! Thank you.
Nicole Reed says
I read aloud the Adventure Sophie Mouse books to my 5 year old. They are sweet with a little bit of old sensibility.
Kimberlee says
She might like de Angeli’s titles like Henner’s Lydia, Copper Toed Boots, Skippack School and Yonie Wondernose.
sibyl says
I highly recommend the Moffatts by Eleanor Estes. These books are best as read-alouds, because in one way nothing much happens in them, and furthermore they are slow-paced. In another way, they are funnier when read aloud. The author takes very small happenings in the lives of children living during the Depression and makes sweet little vignettes out of them. There is nothing scary in them, except in one chapter when the kids look into sewer pipes lying along the side of the road and see glowing eyes, and it turns out to be the family cat!
Another idea would be Robert McCloskey’s “Homer Price,” which I’ve not read in a long time but I remember being very fun.
And if she really can follow plots, let me recommend “Anne of Green Gables,” and “Understood Betsy.”
Emily says
I read Little House when I was in first grade, and then I flew through the rest of them. She might like A Little Princess, too.
Dixie says
Does she like animals? “Mr. Popper’s Penguins” and “Ribsy” both come to mind.
Mona says
Dear Leila, I have never heard of the Penderwick books, but my children and I read aloud all the others you listed. How we loved all the Swallows and Amazon books. There are so many really, really good books out there. Why read those that are second rate? I refer to Dr. John Senior’s “The Thousand Good Books” listed by age categories. Thank you for all your excellent advice.
Rosie N says
We listened to this on a car trip last summer at a recommendation from other people, and we listen to a lot of books on long car trips. And I’m not one of those who wants the moral shoved down one’s throat, but I almost stopped this one in the middle and just shut it off. In the end, we ended up having a number of long conversations about how the story was wrong in the respects you pointed out. We talked about lying and making adults out to be bad people (even if they aren’t very agreeable). The love story didn’t really register with any of my kids. In the end, I simply said that the rest of the series would not make an appearance in our house. So much that is better out there!
Tia says
Auntie Leila,
Would any of these books be appropriate for kids around age 4? I feel like my older son is in this weird book chasm — I remember reading some beloved books like Little Women etc. around age 6, and books like Wind in the Willows around age 5, but he’s definitely too young for those. He has a very long attention span and is loving an illustrated (Abridged) version of Heidi, but still needs those pictures to get him through a story. Would love to start on some chapter books that are actually enjoyable for younger ones to start on.
Mrs. B. says
Tia, you know your own child, though to me 4 sounds very young still – still lots of picture books to love, like Elsa Beskow’s stories, or Robert McCloskey, or Aesops and all kinds of fairy tales. But perhaps he will also enjoy Winnie The Pooh, or Kipling’s whimsical animal stories (Just So Stories), or some of Astrid Lindgren’s books (like the Emil series). There is nothing wrong in reading more advanced books at an early age, especially as a read-aloud, though one will not understand everything – but don’t neglect the age-appropriate gems: there’s time for the rest!
Tia says
Yes, Mrs. B, I think you’re right that there’s still plenty in the picture book camp! It’s just that he wants to read for so very long every night — usually an hour or more. And somehow I find that to be more enjoyable with a chapter book rather than 15 separate short ones. He really likes books like The Great Pie Robbery by Richard Scarry or Jonah by Peter Spier, and I don’t mind those, but when we’re talking 15 books some really bland pop-up or baby picture books wind up in the mix (cow says Moo! owl says Hoot!), or the dreaded Biscuit anthology, which makes me want to plug up my ears.
Mrs. B. says
“Cow says Moo!” LOL… I know what you mean, I’ve eliminated those books already, and my son is 2! He’s free to look at them, but they’re not going to be “read”! We are going through a big Thomas the Tank Engine phase here, and also Frog and Toad, by A. Lobel, but your son is too old for F. and T., until they become great friends again when he can read them on his own…
Carrie says
I would recommend the My Naughty Little Sister books by Dorothy Edwards and illustrated by Shirley Hughes. They are delightful, decades old stories in chapters and with nice large printing. My six year old daughter has started reading them to herself and is feeling very proud of reading ‘proper books’. Don’t be put off by the ‘naughty’ in the title: it’s just regular, age-appropriate mischief. I’m in the UK but hopefully you can get them where you are. I would also recommend a book for parents by Dorothy Butler called ‘Five to Eight’: it was published in 1986 and gives suggestions for excellent, quality reading material. Butler had eight children herself, recommends Rumer Godden and quotes Chesterton – in my head she sounds very like Auntie Leila!
Carol Kennedy says
Oh Shirley Hughes!! You have to check out the Alfie books! So sweet, the illustrations are great and the stories endearing. My kids (10, 11, 14) still talk about Alfie. Another British setting too.
Kimberlee says
Shirley Hughes is one of our all time favorite picture book authors. Alfie and Annie Rose are the best!
Carrie says
We love the Alfie books! I remember reading Annie Rose is My Little Sister for the first time when pregnant with my second child. The obvious love between the siblings is beautifully portrayed.
Anitra says
How about the Wizard of Oz, or Alice in Wonderland? I read those aloud to my oldest, starting around age 5. She was a precocious reader and could read all our picture books by herself, and wanted something with a little more meat. These still have a few illustrations per chapter.
sibyl says
Tia, have you seen any of the Howard Pyle books illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman? These are picture books, but with very high level storytelling. My kids all loved these. Just page through them — there was one (can’t remember for sure which) that had somewhat scanty clothing on one of the characters.
What about Winnie the Pooh? Like, the actual books? Super fun.
And while they’re not great literature, I think Beverly Cleary’s books about Henry and Ribsy are very, very fun for both boys and girls. But those don’t have as many pictures as your son might need.
Karen M says
My 7-year-old son loved the Henry books and went on to read the Ramona books. Another literature-loving Catholic blogger, Karen Edmisten, recommends them and I decided to let him read them after I read the first one aloud. There is some name-calling, but I don’t think there is anything malicious in them. Does anyone not like the Cleary books?
Theresa Fagan says
I do not recommend the
Ramona series by Beverly Cleary. She’s a talented writer, but she subtly undermines respect for authority. In her interesting memoirs (A Gurl from Yamhill, and sequel) you see she’s an only child with an overly involved Mother. I suspect her frustrations come out in some of Ramona’s impatience w ‘uncomprehending’ adults.
Leila says
I agree about the respect; the depiction of the family is sometimes too worldly and reactive. But I like Ramona books (in the larger context of a full, rich library, not as a solitary diet) for their humor and for their insight into what really bothers kids and what sorts of problems kids have trying to figure out what on earth adults want from them.
I remember reading a book — I think it’s called God and Your Children? By a priest? Do you remember this book? Although it’s somewhat old-fashioned, the author encourages parents to understand their children’s behavior from their point of view; I remember one part where he says something like “when they are using soap it’s not what you think it is” — because he gets that they are fascinated with the soap itself and have little or no interest in getting clean!
Anyway, that’s what I think the Ramona books offer. They aren’t great, like Anne of Green Gables, but they have their place I think.
Sarah says
Tia, I have a few recommendations for you: My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett and Milly Molly Mandy by Joyce Lankester Brisley. Both of those proved to be just what my boys needed at that age when they had a pretty good attention span but weren’t quite ready for longer, more involved chapter books. My Father’s Dragon has just the right blend of humor and adventure without being overwhelming. Milly Molly Mandy was fun and cozy since it is about the little adventures of a girl and her friends (including a boy) in a small village. Even my battle-loving second son loved Milly Molly Mandy. I’m realizing more and more that it was perfect for him at age 4, because we’ve since moved on to books like Narnia and The Hobbit and I’m not sure it would have had the same effect after those!
Kathy@9Peas says
I so wanted to love The Penderwicks, while reading it I realized I was pushing back a thought that this really wasn’t the charming book the jacket described or the cover eluded to. It took me to the end before I finally gave in and said ‘enough’. It was a let down and I’m glad to know other’s found it disappointing too. I love your suggestions. We’ve just begun ‘The Secret Garden’ but I’ll be looking for new titles soon.
briana says
The Wouldbegoods had me laughing so hard I was crying.
Heidi says
I was very tired and distracted when I saw the Facebook link to this post yesterday – and my first impression (entirely unwarranted, as I realized when I was more awake!) of the post was that you were going to promote the Penderwick books as somehow preferable to Swallows and Amazons. Oh, the sinking in my stomach… I’d tried The Penderwicks, but hadn’t been able to make it beyond the first chapter because the contrast between it and the books it was trying to emulate (the Melendy books came to mind in particular) was too jarring. When I read this post, though, I was so relieved. So very, very relieved. Thank you!
MerMer says
Love your plug for Swallows and Amazons–I started collecting the series in original hardbacks as soon as we found out we were having a boy!
I confess I haven’t read all the comments…has anyone mentioned the Moomintroll series by Tove Jansson? Lots of fun adventures and a very loving family that happily cares for all strangers who cross their path. Do not be put off the weird Japanese animation series, if you’ve seen that and not read the books yet!
Polly says
This is great!I Love this idea for a series. Keep it going, I say!!
Emily G says
I love this discussion! I’m getting so many great ideas. I read many wonderful children’s books in my own childhood and I was nerdy enough to keep a list which I still have. This has given me some new ideas, too. I love to read aloud with my 7, 5, and 4 year olds. We are reading “Adam of the Road” right now. It is their first trip into the medieval world and they have learned a lot in addition to loving the story.
Auntie Leila, please make this an ongoing series! And bless you other ladies for caring about giving your children good books.
freckled hen says
Yes! I love this feature. I have very similar thoughts about The Penderwicks. A dear friend gifted three of the series to me–signed even–and I carry a little pocket of guilt that the story line doesn’t make me feel as happy as the cover does. I have copied down several titles you recommend, thank you for that!
Wendy says
Thank you so much for this post. As always, it needed to be said – thanks for saying it. We have loved the Swallows and Amazons, stretching them out between other read alouds. We have been through the Melendy Quintet a couple times aloud, others have read them on their own, we will read them again somewhere down the road. I am excited to check out your recommendation that are new to me. Thanks again
Leila says
A good Harry Potter discussion going on up above. Good distinctions. Here’s the thing — the one distinction that I want to be sure gets made: There are many forms of entertainment (books, movies, etc) that are pretty darn good. But perhaps they are flawed beyond the ordinary flaws that every human endeavor encompasses… especially perhaps in some moral area. Or there is a lapse in quality, but overall the work has merit.
You don’t have to eliminate them completely, necessarily (nor must you include them!) It depends, and you have to judge wisely, given the circumstances.
You just don’t want to *form* your child’s imagination with them. And you don’t want to set the standard with them.
Form the imagination with the very best. Set the standard high.
Then he has the criteria to judge the pretty good. So, Narnia and The Hobbit and The Wind in the Willows… and then HP, not the other way around.
BridgetAnn says
Talk about late to the party- 4+ years later!- but some of these books came up today with friends at the playground & I came back to this post.
Ever since I found the following link from an exorcist, I can’t help but pass along the real dangers in Harry Potter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGNaruEYOE0
“The spells in the books are actual spells….60% of the names in HP are actual names of demons that exorcists have booted out of people.”
“There is an exorcist who is a friend of mine…he has had to exorcise three children just for reading the books.”
Rebecka says
I really enjoyed this blog post and find it very useful. I was wondering if you wil be doing more of “Read This not That” blog post
Kaitlin @ More Like Mary says
Please do more of these! I LOVE this!
Mary says
I agree about Penderwicks.
I love Melendys and Moffats.
Right now we are on a Lois Lenski kick.
But other go to favorites are Van Stockum and Nesbit!
Catherine says
Oh please, please! Now that I have read this post, I feel great need for many many posts like it. Please do many many more “read this not that” posts! So helpful and creative.
Alea Wassmuth says
This is a wonderful idea! We listened to the Penderwicks on a car trip. It was a fun book, but I agree with all your issues with it. Thank you for the good alternatives. Please do more of these posts! I just had confirmation that my 11 year old daughter reads at a 12th grade level so I’m on the search for appropriate books at that level. The only safe way to do it is to go with the classics!
Karen M says
Alea, I read far ahead of my age as a child. Looking back, I wish I hadn’t read some of the YA fiction that I did, as I voraciously cleaned out the shelves at the local library. I think your plan to go with the classics is perfect!
May I also add that it is just fine if she reads under her technical reading level, at her grade level or even lower? Sometimes it’s nice to just read a simpler book. Even now, as a mom in her thirties, I enjoy reading easy chapter books aloud to my young children (as long as they are well-written).
Melinda says
I have six children technically–but feel like I have twelve thanks to Swallows and Amazons. Nancy, John, Tiity, etc. are our second family, and–barbecued billigoats–I couldn’t ask for a better.
Suzanna says
Thanks for the detailed review. My son read the first two and then we quit because I was too uncomfortable with some of the things you mentioned to go on.
Janet says
Late to this party again. Another beautiful idyllic depiction of a childhood in the past is Ray Bradbury’s “Dandelion Wine”. Not a lot of action in the plot, but makes a great peaceful bedtime read aloud.
It has no science fiction connection–hard to believe it’s the same author.
Karen M says
Yes!!! Auntie Leila and Rosie, you are the best. Thank you so much for this amazing blog and continuing book recommendations. My 7-year-old is voraciously reading through the age-appropriate 1000 Great Books. I have also found gems in Ambleside Online (thank you for suggesting that over The Well-Trained Mind!) and in the “Program for Achieving Character Education for Catholic Schools and Homes,” by M. Monica Speach. May I suggest that you review that for your readers? I really admire her meticulous organization.
We will finish the (unabridged–wow, the abridged versions have awful prose) Swiss Family Robinson soon and I was thinking Swallows and Amazon must be next with summer coming up quickly. These read-alouds are for my sons, ages 5 and 7. My almost-2-year-old daughter is obviously still interested in board books, but she greatly enjoys being the keeper of the bookmark and being a little busybody while I read aloud.
May I suggest Tale of Despereaux for the next”Read This, Not That” edition? I had heard some good things about it, but was hesitant. I read it one night and was not only disappointed, but also disgusted. There was no justice for the wrong deeds and the evil rats lived on under the castle. It was so anti-climatic, while the author could have done so much more with it. I also despised the unnecessarily morbid tone and child abuse. These aspects would upset any child rather than set a serious tone, as I think the author was shooting for…? There were a few interesting sections, but it was mostly just lipstick on a pig. Gross.
Hope E Jenkinson says
Do you have any book recommendations for books where “children are given a way to handle awkward, premature feelings”?
Leila says
Yes, see the recommendations in the post! And one good book leads to another.