Chatting About Books:
Recommendations for Young Readers

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Episode 4—Summer Adventures

Book Chat

• The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall (Yearling, 2007)

This tale is a perfect summer read for families. Driven by fate, or perhaps by the greedy landlord that sold their usual summer house, the Penderwick family ends up staying in a cottage behind the Arundel estate. The four sisters (Rosalind, Skye, Jane, and Batty) are brimming with life. This book relives their adventures with their newfound friend, Jeffrey Tifton. Jeffrey just happens to be the son of Arundal's owner, Mrs. Tifton, who thinks that the Penderwicks are not at all suitable playmates for her son. With spirit and good intentions, the Penderwicks cause quite a stir in this small town and manage to turn life at Arundal upside down for three weeks one summer!
Best for grades 3–6, ages 8–12
Winner of the National Book Award

• A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever by Marla Frazee (Harcourt, 2008)

Two boys, James and Eamon, spend a week with Eamon's grandparents and have the best week ever! They go to nature camp (which should be named Camp Sweat-Alot), eat lots of banana waffles (yum!), and play video games (quiet meditation). James and Eamon have so much fun together they practically become one person; in fact, Grandpa Bill starts calling them "Jamon." Kids will enjoy this hilarious picture book that shares the fun week of two crazy boys!
Best for grades K–2, ages 4–8
2009 Caldecott Honor Book
2008 Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Award for Picture Book

Cookies and Milk
Sisters Kylie and Cameron (ages eight and nine, respectively) chat with Emily about the Penderwick sisters and those two crazy boys who could be brothers (but aren't). Kylie recounts how much she enjoyed the hilarious escapades of James and Eamon and the author's clever juxtaposition of words and pictures in A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever. Cameron gives many insights into the thoughts and feelings of the Penderwick sisters. In Cameron's words, The Penderwicks is "a perfect book!"

Marla Frazee, the talented author/illustrator of A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever and many other hilarious children's books, takes time to chat with Emily over the phone. She discusses the origin of A Couple of Boys and her secret to making the characters seem so real.

About the Host

Emily Manning started teaching first grade in 1999 and is now a reading intervention teacher for third- through fifth-graders. Emily’s passion is reading; she enjoys the challenge each year of finding books that will spark the love of reading in her students. Emily’s favorite books are the ones kids ask to read over and over — the ones that are worn out from so many readings, complete with wrinkled pages and loose bindings.

These include

• Bubba the Cowboy Prince by Helen Ketteman (Scholastic, 1997)
• Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh (Yearling, 2001)
• The Jazz Fly by Matthew Gollub (Tortuga, 2000)
• The Magical, Marvelous, Mystical Coat by Catherine Ann Cullen (Little, Brown, 2001)
• The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (Puffin, 2004)