The Peterkin Papers
Lucretia P. Hale
Hardcover
(Houghton Mifflin Company, Aug. 16, 1924)
Lucretia P Hale's, The Peterkin Papers is as wonderful today as I'm sure it was in 1880, when it was originally published. Meet the Peterkins, a nineteenth century family, totally lacking in common sense, and enjoy their troubles and adventures as they muddle through life's challenges. For example, what do the Peterkins do when their daughter, Eliza Elizabeth's piano is delivered and set in front of the living room window backwards. They solve this problem by simply opening the window and she sits outside, on the porch playing and practicing. This is all fine during the summer, but when fall and winter arrive, it becomes too cold for her to sit out, even in her winter coat. Enter the lady from Philadelphia...she's so wise that she always has a quick solution to these tough Peterkin problems. "But why don't you turn the piano around?" And the Peterkins are always amazed that they didn't think of that. As Mrs Peterkin says, "What shall we do when the lady from Philadelphia goes home again?" This is a delightful book of short chapters, each detailing a glitch in the Peterkin's lives, that will charm and amuse your family, as it has families for many generations. The Peterkin Papers is an American classic and the perfect read-aloud book the whole family can share together.