Estimated Reading Time 1 Minutes
Publisher: Yearling; Illustrated edition (March 23, 2010)
Paperback : 176 pages
ISBN: 978-0385737760
Thoughts: This is a delightful book. I love the witty puns and off-kilter humor. It reminds me a lot of a Roald Dahl story. The wordplay is magnificent and the story is full of fun. It’s a short book but definitely one worth checking out.
First sentence: Once upon a time there was a family named Willoughby: an old-fashioned type of family, with four children.
Favorite Quote From the Book: I have learned over the course of my many years that it is a bad idea, usually, to investigate piteous weeping but always a fine thing to look into a giggle.
Summary from Amazon.com:
From the Newbery Medal-winning author of The Giver and Number the Stars, comes a “hilarious” (Booklist, starred review) and wonderfully old-fashioned story about a mother and father who are all too eager to be rid of their four children . . . and four children who are all too happy to be rid of their parents.
The Willoughby’s—Timothy; his twin brothers, Barnaby A and Barnaby B; and their little sister, Jane—are old-fashioned children who adore old-fashioned adventures. Unfortunately, the Willoughby parents are not very fond of their children, and the truth is that the siblings are not too keen on their parents either. Little do the Willoughby kids know that their neglectful mother and father are hatching an evil plan to get rid of them! Not to worry—these resourceful adventurers have a few plans of their own. But they have no idea what lies ahead in their quest to rid themselves of their ghastly parents and live happily ever after.
