Family Sabbatical

Too problematic for today's children... there are newer family stories that are a better use of library's budgets. The racism in the Thanksgiving pageant in particular is awful. Also history is not all about castles and dungeons, and mice don't particularly like cheese, and milk doesn't agree with most adult cats.

Read it for nostalgia's sake if you must, but if you share it with your children, at least tell them it was *never* ok to think of "Indians" as exotic primitives with generic names.

I admit I do understand why Pearl thought it worth bringing back. Lots of bits & aspects are great. And I'm glad she didn't bowdlerize or modernize. But still. Most of you can skip this.

The Ridgeways, that endearingly quirky mid-western family consisting of history-loving Professor Ridgeway, mystery-writing Mrs. Ridgeway, sensible eldest daughter Susan, animal-loving middle child (and only son) George, and precocious Dumpling, with her grave pronouncements, whose story began in Family Grandstand, return in this second novel devoted to their adventures, finding themselves in France while Prof. Ridgeway is on sabbatical. Opening in Cannes, where the family are ensconced at The Grand Hotel Majestic et de l'Universe - christened "The Grand Hotel and So Forth and So Forth" by Mrs. Ridgeway - Family Sabbatical follows the irrepressible Ridgeway siblings as they corrupt their French governess Miss Beauregard's beautiful show more dictionary-derived English, befriend the elderly Princess Adelaide Louisa von Mettnock-Hohenwürtzel, and, once in Paris, attend a French school.

Many of the same qualities that made these characters appealing in the first book - Susan's sensible mothering, George's passion for collecting (rocks, in this case), and Dumpling's devotion to her doll Irene - were also to be seen here, as was the general family love that makes the Ridegway family's adventures such a pleasure to read. Apparently these two books were based on Carol Ryrie Brink's own family life - her husband was a professor at a midwestern university, and the entire family spent some time in France on sabbatical - and that authenticity really came through, I thought These are fictional characters, but one feels that they could be real. I liked the Ridgeways' democratic, American sensibilities - the fact that they were comfortable socializing with all kinds of people - and I appreciated their openness to new cultural experiences. I could have happily lived without the Thanksgiving scene with the "Indian" dancing, but leaving that aside, this was a very enjoyable read. Recommended to young readers (or older ones) who enjoy heart-warming family stories! show less

Hm - v. nice, with some funny bits, some touching bits, but mainly just, eh, pleasant. In my opinion. I will say it reads like a fictionalized memoir -- and when I looked at the back I found out that it is that, indeed. I probably would have loved this as a child, as it's such a happy family story, with the touch of the exotic as a bonus. But most kids need more drama, at least these days.

I'm not surprised it's not been kept in print. I am surprised that it's so expensive to buy used -- so I owe a big thank you to my GR friend who let me read her copy!

This book was as Susan would say, "Suburp!". I liked it even better than Family Grandstand. I wish there were more of this family's adventures. I really liked the characters and how they got along together. I recognized the "godmother" turned princess early on, but that didn't spoil the story at all and I don't think children would notice as I did. This would be a great one for our Vintage Book Circle if we could get enough copies. Thanks, Ginny for the recommendation.

Very sweet book about a family that lives in France while the father is on sabbatical.