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Emily Winfield Martin: IMG Kids' Q&A: Emily Winfield Martin

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Describe your new book. Oddfellow's Orphanage is a series of stories/vignettes that tell the tale of the newest arrival to a curious orphanage, a... Continue »
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A Season of Gifts

by Richard Peck

A Season of Gifts Cover

ISBN13: 9780803730823
ISBN10: 0803730829
Condition: Standard
Dustjacket: Standard
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

The return of one of children's literature's most memorable characters is a gift indeed.

The eccentric, forceful, big-hearted Grandma Dowdel is the star of the Newbery Medal?winning A Year Down Yonder and Newbery Honor?winning A Long Way from Chicago. And it turns out that her story isn?t over?not even close.

It is now 1958, and a new family has moved in next door to Mrs. Dowdel: a Methodist minister and his wife and kids. Soon Mrs. Dowdel will work her particular brand of charm?or medicine, depending on who you?re asking?on all of them: ten-yearold Bob, who is shy on courage in a town full of bullies; his two fascinating sisters; and even Bob?s two parents, who are amazed to discover that the last house in town might also be the most vital.

As Christmas rolls around, the Barnhart family realizes that they?ve found a true home?and a neighbor who gives gifts that will last a lifetime.

Review:

"The type of down-home humor and vibrant characterizations Peck fans have come to adore re-emerge in full as Peck resurrects Mrs. Dowdel, the irrepressible, self-sufficient grandmother featured in A Year Down Yonder and A Long Way from Chicago. Set in 1958, his new novel is told from the point of view of 12-year-old Bob Barnhart, Mrs. Dowdel's new neighbor, who is distraught about having to move from Terre Haute to a 'podunk' town, where his Methodist minister father has been called to shepherd a meager sprinkling of parishioners. Mrs. Dowdel is a source of entertainment, and some fear, for Bob and his sisters ('she could be amazingly light on her big pins. We'd already seen her take a broom and swat a Fuller Brush man off her porch'). But more important, she proves useful in outsmarting bullies and attracting new members to Mr. Barnhart's fold. Not all of Grandma Dowdel's gifts to the Barnharts (and in some cases the entire community) are as tangible as the windows she donates to the church, but her actions exude as much warmth and wisdom as they do hilarity. Ages 10 — up. (Sept.)" Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Synopsis:

The eccentric, forceful, big-hearted Grandma Dowdel--the star of Peck's Newbery Medal-winning "A Year Down Yonder"--is back in this new story set during Christmas of 1958. A new family has moved in next door to Mrs. Dowdel, and soon she will work her particular brand of charm on all of them. Illustrations.
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About the Author

Richard Peck is the first children's author ever to receive a National Humanities Medal. He lives in New York City.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
Courtesy of Mother Daughter Book Club com, December 29, 2009 (view all comments by Courtesy of Mother Daughter Book Club com)
Grandma Dowdel’s back, only this time she’s known as Mrs. Dowdel to the Methodist preacher’s family that just moved in next door. The family, which includes three children, has been relocated from Terre Haute, Indiana to take over what is to be a new Methodist church but what is now a run-down building with no windows, a deteriorating roof and no congregation in a small Illinois town.

As family members work to adjust to a new life, gruff old Mrs. Dowdel next door seems to know exactly what each needs. Bob, who tells the story, is the middle child on the verge of puberty. He’s the easy target of bullies and in need of confidence as well as friends. Phyllis, fourteen going on twenty, is appalled at having to start high school in a place where she knows no one. Her obsession with everything Elvis leads her to take up with an unsavory character and start lying to her parents about where she’s going and what she’s doing. Six-year-old Ruth Ann is starting first grade, and she’s searching for someone to look up to. The dad, of course, needs a congregation, and the mom needs help keeping them all functioning well.

Fans of A Long Way from Chicago and A Year Down Yonder will be happy to read more about Grandmas Dowdel’s schemes to influence her small town and the family next door for the better. She’s just a gruff as ever, but older now. The gifts she bestows are not the kind you can wrap and put under a Christmas tree, but they are the kind no receiver would seek to return. Peck is a master of subtle storytelling, letting the reader reach conclusions about the characters along the way. He’s also superb at bringing bygone times to life, and in A Season of Gifts he deftly captures life in a small town during the late 1950s.

I read this book aloud to the whole family, which includes my husband and two teen daughters. We all loved it, something rare for the four of us with our different tastes in books. I highly recommend it for family reading as well as for children aged nine and up.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780803730823
Author:
Peck, Richard
Publisher:
Dial
Subject:
Humorous Stories
Subject:
Moving, Household
Subject:
Historical - United States - 20th Century
Subject:
Holidays & Celebrations - Christmas & Advent
Subject:
Social Issues - Community & Neighborhood
Subject:
Children s Holiday-Christmas
Copyright:
2009
Edition Description:
B-Hardcover
Publication Date:
20090917
Binding:
Hardback
Grade Level:
from 5 up to AND UP
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
176
Dimensions:
8.30x5.50x.80 in. .60 lbs.
Age Level:
10-14
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Related Aisles

A Season of Gifts Used Hardcover
0 stars - 0 reviews
$11.95 In Stock
Product details 176 pages Dial Books - English 9780803730823 Reviews:
"Publishers Weekly Review" by , "The type of down-home humor and vibrant characterizations Peck fans have come to adore re-emerge in full as Peck resurrects Mrs. Dowdel, the irrepressible, self-sufficient grandmother featured in A Year Down Yonder and A Long Way from Chicago. Set in 1958, his new novel is told from the point of view of 12-year-old Bob Barnhart, Mrs. Dowdel's new neighbor, who is distraught about having to move from Terre Haute to a 'podunk' town, where his Methodist minister father has been called to shepherd a meager sprinkling of parishioners. Mrs. Dowdel is a source of entertainment, and some fear, for Bob and his sisters ('she could be amazingly light on her big pins. We'd already seen her take a broom and swat a Fuller Brush man off her porch'). But more important, she proves useful in outsmarting bullies and attracting new members to Mr. Barnhart's fold. Not all of Grandma Dowdel's gifts to the Barnharts (and in some cases the entire community) are as tangible as the windows she donates to the church, but her actions exude as much warmth and wisdom as they do hilarity. Ages 10 — up. (Sept.)" Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
"Synopsis" by , The eccentric, forceful, big-hearted Grandma Dowdel--the star of Peck's Newbery Medal-winning "A Year Down Yonder"--is back in this new story set during Christmas of 1958. A new family has moved in next door to Mrs. Dowdel, and soon she will work her particular brand of charm on all of them. Illustrations.
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