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ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSWhen their usual Cape Cod vacation falls through at the last minute, the four Penderwick sisters, twelve-year-old Rosalind, eleven-year-old Skye, ten-year-old Jane, and four-year-old Batty, pile into the car with their widower father and their dog Hound to rent a cottage on a grand Berkshire estate called Arundel. They arrive to find not a cozy retreat but a towering mansion surrounded by formal gardens, ruled by the sharp-tongued Mrs. Tifton. What they also find, hidden among the hedges, is Jeffrey Tifton, Mrs. Tifton's eleven-year-old son, a boy who can play Tchaikovsky beautifully and dodge a charging bull, and who will become the best friend any of the sisters has ever had across three extraordinary weeks.
Free Battle of the Books questions for The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy
SPOILERSEvery one of these has the same answer, and that is the point. In a real battle the question is read aloud with a dozen other books in play, and students have a few seconds to place it. Here is what a battle might ask about The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy. Use them as a quiz, a trivia round, or BOTB practice.
Where in the book they come from
- Early in the book
In what book does a gardener hide a girl inside a large flower-carved urn with dirty water at the bottom?
✓ Answer
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall
When the snooty estate owner approaches, Cagney quickly stuffs Skye into an empty garden urn to hide her. Skye crouches there in three inches of dirty water and overhears Mrs. Tifton scolding Cagney.
- First half
In what book does a housekeeper serve warm gingerbread topped with whipped cream and strawberries?
✓ Answer
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall
Churchie invites all the children for her famous gingerbread, served with whipped cream and strawberries in a cozy kitchen nook. Even Harry the Tomato Man shows up just in time to eat.
- First half
In what book do children paint a smirking, mustached face on cardboard and use it for target practice?
✓ Answer
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall
The children paint Dexter's smirking face with a big mustache and the initials D. D. on cardboard, then shoot rubber-tipped arrows at it. They want better marks, so they decide to dip the tips in ketchup.
- Second half
In what book does a girl pretend to be a tough English soccer star named Mick Hart?
✓ Answer
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall
Jane invents a fierce English soccer star, Mick Hart, to channel during rough games. As Mick, she feels no pain, dodges any opponent, and best of all gets to shout insults.
- Second half
In what book does a young child cry without any sound in what is called her silent storm?
✓ Answer
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall
After being thrown out of the mansion, Batty cries in what her father calls her silent storm, fast and furious tears that come with no noise at all.
- Near the end
In what book does a girl sneak out at midnight, feeling it is pleasantly wicked, to look at the gardens?
✓ Answer
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall
Heartsore over Cagney and Mrs. Tifton's insults, Rosalind slips outside at midnight to clear her head, calling it pleasantly wicked to be out without anyone knowing where she is.
