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A Season of Gifts
Unavailable
A Season of Gifts
Unavailable
A Season of Gifts
Audiobook3 hours

A Season of Gifts

Written by Richard Peck

Narrated by Ron McLarty

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

One of the most adored children's book characters of all time is the eccentric, forceful, bighearted Grandma Dowdel, 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 family in desperate need of her help (whether they realize it or not). There's twelve-year-old Bob, shy on courage in a town full of bullies; his Elvis-obsessed older sister, Phyllis, who just might be on the verge of spinning out of control; Bob's little sister, Ruth Ann, ready and waiting for a larger-than-life role model; and even Bob's two parents, the young minister and his wife, who are amazed to discover that the last house in town might also be the most vital. As Christmas rolls around, the whole family will realize that they've found a true home, and a neighbor with remarkable gifts to share.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateSep 22, 2009
ISBN9780739385470
Unavailable
A Season of Gifts
Author

Richard Peck

"I spent the first eighteen years of my life in Decatur, Illinois, a middle-American town in a time when teenagers were considered guilty until proven innocent, which is fair enough. My mother read to me before I could read to myself, and so I dreamed from the start of being a writer in New York. But Decatur returned to haunt me, becoming the "Bluff City" of my four novels starring Alexander Armsworth and Blossom Culp. When I was young, we were never more than five minutes from the nearest adult, and that solved most of the problems I write about for a later generation living nearer the edge. The freedoms and choices prematurely imposed upon young people today have created an entire literature for them. But then novels are never about people living easy lives through tranquil times; novels are the biographies of survivors. "I went to college in Indiana and then England, and I was a soldier in Germany -- a chaplain's assistant in Stuttgart -- ghost-writing sermons and hearing more confessions than the clergy. In Decatur we'd been brought up to make a living and not to take chances, and so I became an English teacher, thinking this was as close to the written word as I'd be allowed to come. And it was teaching that made a writer out of me. I found my future readers right there in the roll book. After all, a novel is about the individual within the group, and that's how I saw young people every day, as their parents never do. In all my novels, you have to declare your independence from your peers before you can take that first real step toward yourself. As a teacher, I'd noticed that nobody ever grows up in a group. "I wrote my first line of fiction on May 24th, 1971 -- after seventh period. I'd quit my teaching job that day, liberated at last from my tenure and hospitalization. At first, I wrote with my own students in mind. Shortly, I noticed that while I was growing older every minute at the typewriter, my readers remained mysteriously the same age. For inspiration, I now travel about sixty thousand miles a year, on the trail of the young. Now, I never start a novel until some young reader, somewhere, gives me the necessary nudge.. "In an age when hardly more than half my readers live in the same homes as their fathers, I was moved to write Father Figure. In it a teenaged boy who has played the father-figure role to his little brother is threatened when they are both reunited with the father they hardly know. It's a novel like so many of our novels that moves from anger to hope in situations to convince young readers that novels can be about them... "I wrote Are You in the House Alone? when I learned that the typical victim of our fastest growing, least-reported crime, rape, is a teenager -- one of my own readers, perhaps. It's not a novel to tell young readers what rape is. They already know that. It's meant to portray a character who must become something more than a victim in our judicial system that defers to the criminal... "Two of my latest attempts to keep pace with the young are a comedy called Lost in Cyberspace and its sequel, The Great Interactive Dream Machine. Like a lot of adults, I noticed that twelve year olds are already far more computer-literate than I will ever be. As a writer, I could create a funny story on the subject, but I expect young readers will be more attracted to it because it is also a story about two friends having adventures together. There's a touch of time travel in it, too, cybernetically speaking, for those readers who liked sharing Blossom Culp's exploits. And the setting is New York, that magic place I dreamed of when I was young in Decatur, Illinois..." More About Richard Peck Richard Peck has written over twenty novels, and in the process has become one of America's most highly respected writers for young adults. A versatile writer, he is beloved by middle graders as well as young adults for his mysteries and coming-of-age novels. He now lives in New York City. In addition to writing, he spends a great deal of time traveling around the country attending speaking engagements at conferences, schools and libraries... Mr. Peck has won a number of major awards for the body of his work, including the Margaret A. Edwards Award from School Library Journal, the National Council of Teachers of English/ALAN Award, and the 1991 Medallion from the University of Southern Mississippi. Virtually every publication and association in the field of children s literature has recommended his books, including Mystery Writers of America which twice gave him their Edgar Allan Poe Award. Dial Books for Young Readers is honored to welcome Richard Peck to its list with Lost in Cyberspace and its sequel The Great Interactive Dream Machine... Twenty Minutes a Day by Richard Peck Read to your children Twenty minutes a day; You have the time, And so do they. Read while the laundry is in the machine; Read while the dinner cooks; Tuck a child in the crook of your arm And reach for the library books. Hide the remote, Let the computer games cool, For one day your children will be off to school; Remedial? Gifted? You have the choice; Let them hear their first tales In the sound of your voice. Read in the morning; Read over noon; Read by the light of Goodnight Moon. Turn the pages together, Sitting close as you'll fit, Till a small voice beside you says, "Hey, don't quit." copyright © 2000 by Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers. All rights reserved.

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Reviews for A Season of Gifts

Rating: 4.01242246583851 out of 5 stars
4/5

161 ratings26 reviews

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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This book is part of a series, though it deviates some from the other books. Intended for kids, it can be enjoyed by adults. There are some darker parts to it, but there is a lot of humor, too. A new family moves in next to Mrs. Dowdel, a minister and his family. The teenage daughter is headed down the wrong path, her younger brother is always getting into scrapes that are not his fault, and the younger girl needs a friend. Can Mrs Dowdel fix all their problems? She does all that and more. An enjoyable Christmas tale.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I was very disappointed with this latest book in the Grandma Dowdel series.

    At first I wondered why it hadn't been nominated for the Newbery Award...but truth be told the stories were mediocre and sadly the humor and spark just wasn't there.

    The stories revolve around Mrs. Dowdel and her new next door neighbors the Barnharts. The father is the new Minister at the dilapidated Methodist Church, the mother is a mild mannered woman and there are 3 children: Phyllis the oldest 14 yrs old and in love with Elvis and the baddest boy in town, Bob the middle child & narrator, and Ruth Ann the baby who has taken up the company & mannerisms of Mrs. Dowdel.

    There are 17 stories total and an epilogue. The stories are divided into 3 chapters: The Last House in Town, The Fall of the Year, and E'r the Winter Storms Begin....and they just do not stand up to the two previous books.

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Very nice to catch up with Grandma Dowdel again. I loved the previous books and this one is equally as good.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Narrated by Ron McLarty. The audio version is funny and entertaining, with plenty of opportunity for McLarty to play up the quirky elder women characters such as, and especially, Mrs. Dowdel. I listened to it twice in a row!

    Bob's father begins a Methodist church in a small Illinois town and the family moves next door to old Mrs. Dowdel. Young Bob narrates an eventful autumn of Halloween, homecoming, Thanksgiving and Christmas, with the no-nonsense, straight-shooting Mrs. Dowdel at the center of much of the activity.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Set in 1958, a minister and his family moved to a new town presumably in search of a church with a big enough congregation to provide a living. School life is especially tough for "preacher kids". The next door neighbour, an eccentric old woman who is scary at first, turns out to be protector and friend. 'Tweens would enjoy this heartwarming story starting in late summer and winding up at Christmas. My favourite character was little sister Ruth Ann, an old lady in the making.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Yeah, no better. Mrs. Dowdel is...very weird and very obnoxious. Though in this one she seems to be doing entirely good deeds (aside from the Christmas tree, and that was accidental), while trying to maintain her mean reputation.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A summer, fall, and winter in a young boys life. The son of a Methodist preacher, bullied at school, learns to appreciate the grumpy and strange old woman who lives next door.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A preacher and his family move into a house next door to an eccentric elderly lady, who soon becomes an important part of their lives. Another delightful entry in the Grandma Dowdel books.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Why do I do this to myself? It's like a scab you can't help picking at. I know Peck is going to annoy the hell out of me, yet I read the damn books anyway. To be fair, there is a lot less soapboxing than in most of his other recent books. My main problem with this one is that no person born this side of 1970 is going to get any of the references. And the narrator is feature-less. He has no personality or defining characteristics. And that Kickapoo princess is Problematic.

    Ugh. Really. No. More. Peck. I'm done.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    My reaction to this, hard on the heels of the two excellent predecessors is a loud and incredulous, "What the HELL?"

    It's well-written, technically. But it's soulless and awful and parts of it made my skin crawl. The Grandma Dowdel in this book is not even shirt-tail cousins with the Grandma Dowdel in the first two. And the stereotypes! Goodness me, the stereotypes.

    Bah, humbug.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    While rereading the _Year Down Yonder_ and _Long Way from Chicago_, I discovered that Peck wrote a third book about Grandma Dowdel and her eccentric ways and means. I was really excited that there was NEW Dowdel material, and it didn't disappoint.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Title: A Season Of Gifts
    Author: Richard Peck
    Genre: Holiday (Christmas), Young Adult


    Rating: 4/5
    No. of Pages: 208 (Audio) – Library Book
    Published: 2009

    Back Cover: One of the most adored children’s book characters of all time is the sccentric, forceful, bighearted Grandma Dowdel, 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 family in desperate need of her help (weather they realize it or not). There’s twelve-year-old Bob, shy on courage in a town full of bullies; his Elvis-obsessed older sister, Phyllis; Bob’s little sister, Ruth Ann, ready and waiting for a larger-than-life role model; and even Bob’s two parents, the young minister and his wife, who are amazed to discover that the last house in town might also be the most vital. As Christmas rolls, around, the whole family will realize that they’ve found a true home, and a neighbor with remarkable gifts to share

    Mine: I have to admit I hadn’t heard of the other books, but will definitely be trying to check them out at the library.
    What a delightful story of the time. The new minister and his family move next door the very eccentric Mrs. Dowdel. The stranger soon become the families protector in so many ways. Phyllis get in trouble with the town’s bad boy who is much older. Bob gets dunked and tied up by the town pack of bullies and Ruth Ann is just find her place.

    The comic relief helps the story move along and make for cute antedotes throughout. Stealing from the pumpkin patch, cutting the trees down from someone’s backyard and the best comes from the “Pickle” the green family car.

    The gifts that come from Mrs. Dowdel are not obvious, but are the ones that are needed the most – the courage to fight back, the idea that a person can make a difference and that of a person that is a good neighbor.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The third book from Richard Peck describing life in a small town with Grandma Dowdel (the first being "A Long Way From Chicago", the second, "A Year Down Yonder", both award winners) is told from the point of view of Bob, a young boy who, along with his family, including minister dad, mom, older sister Phyllis, and younger sister Ruth Ann, has moved in next door to Mrs. Dowdel.While not quite up to par, in my opinion, to the first two books, I still greatly enjoyed this one. This one is set in 1958, approximately 15 years after we last visited. We get a few brief mentions of Grandma's family that we met in the first two books, which was nice. Familiar characters, or at least their kin, make appearances in this book. We get to see how the town has grown and changed over the years (and in some cases, not changed at all). And, we get more of Grandma's hijinks and peculiar brand of good-heartedness.The only thing that keeps me from giving this book five stars like the first two is that it doesn't quite give the sense of innocence and realism the first two did. The first two felt like true stories that may actually have happened to the author/narrator as a young person and have simply garnered some embellishments over time. This book feels more like a story someone made up. A good story, but still, it doesn't quite get that ring of truth the first two did. In addition, in the first two stories we get to know Grandma Dowdel, to understand who she is, what she's like, and what her motivations are. We understand that underlying her actions is a sense of justice and integrity and generosity, and an appreciation for hard work. These things are revealed subtly and naturally through her actions and interactions in the first two books. In this latest book, these things felt a little more forced. Granted, these are really minor quibbles and come about only through comparison with the other two books, and otherwise, it is still a lovely book.A couple of notes about this book: 1) I don't recommend reading it as a stand alone. While it could, technically, be read on its own, you get to know Grandma Dowdel and her actions and motivations much better through the first two books, which allow you to come into this book understanding what she's like. Without that background, she may just come across as a loony old eccentric for most of this story. 2) Although it's called "A Season of Gifts", and the cover seems very Christmas-y, the book is not strictly a Christmas story, and could easly be read at any time of year. It starts in August, and continues on throughout the fall and into Christmas towards the end. So, while it certainly does make a lovely story to read around the holidays, it is really suitable for any time of year.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Ron McLarty lends the perfect voice to this short novel about new kids in a small town, in the form of a brief memoir about adolescence in the 'fifties. I didn't realize this was the third one the author has written about this family and their "interesting" neighbor, Mrs. Dowdel. This is a good one to read in the weeks leading up to Christmas, as it spans the season from the beginning of the school year through Christmas.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Being the new kid in town is hard enough, but sixth-grader Bob Barnhardt also has the challenges of being a PK (preacher's kid) and living next door to Mrs. Dowdel, a straight-talking widow who is armed with a rifle and not afraid to stand up to anyone in her small town. If you loved Mrs. Dowdel in A Long Way from Chicago and A Year Down Yonder, you won't want to miss this book. Although Mrs. Dowdel tells the Barnhardt's straight out that she "doesn't neighbor," she still finds ways to come to the rescue of Bob, his two sisters, and even his dad. This feel-good story, which ends with the celebration of Christmas, is a great choice for this time of year.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I really like the idea of an older woman being the centerpiece in this story. Mrs. Dowdel gives 'gifts' that can't be measured by size or price to the young family who moves into her neighborhood. The family's children, young Ruth Ann, Bob and teenager Phyllis, all learn something from the older woman. It was such a cozy piece of fiction--almost seemed like the people really existed.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I listened to the audio book version, and the episodic format was perfect for nightly sessions. A preacher's family move to a small town and try and make their way. This was a little slow and quiet, like the town, but Eventually I was caught up in the tribulations of this family. And there were some beautiful turns of phrase, like little Ruth-Anne outside 'waiting for a friend to happen'. And when the 14-year old narrator drives the car to get a Christmas tree, I was laughing out loud.I'd give this to fans of family stories, and it would make a very good read aloud to share with tweens.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    What a delightful book! Winner of both a Newbery Medal for A Year Down Yonder '2001 and a Newbery Honor for A Long Way From Chicago, Peck is a masterful craftsmen.Grandma Dowdel was a hilarious, gritty, salt of the earth, independent character in both of Peck's Newbery winners and she returns again in A Season of Gifts.The setting is rural Illinois and the year is 1958. Young Bob Barhart and his family are new neighbors of Grandma Dowdel. Bob's father is the new Methodist minister.There is nothing earth shattering about the book. The story line can be perceived as mundane. But, the beautiful, heartwarming way in which Peck writes each sentence is simply a joy to behold.Sitting on the deck, feeling the gentle summer breeze while reading this soft, cozy, wonderful book was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Relates the surprising gifts bestowed on twelve-year-old Bob Barnhart and his family, who have recently moved to a small Illinois town in 1958, by their larger-than-life neighbor, Mrs. Dowdel.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Grandma Dowdel, who helped Richard Peck win both a Newbery Honor and Mewbery Medal is back and this time she works her magic on her new neighbors. The Barnhart's have moved to this "podunk" town so dad can take over as the minister of the Methodist Church. Classic Peck-style down home humor.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The sequel to the sequel of "A Long Way From Chicago" is itself a gift to fans of the earlier Richard Peck books about Mrs. Dowdel, the tough as black walnuts grandmother who metes out an original kind of justice to the citizens of a downstate Illinois town.This third book is not as gut-busting hilarious as the original and is more overtly sentimental, but the separate chapters make fine read-aloud stories and the entire book is a warm blanket on a winter's night.Readers who wonder what happened to Joey, the grandson who narrated the first book, will be somewhat disappointed. And those hoping for more books about Mrs. Dowdel may be saddened to find that many years have already passed since "A Year Down Yonder." It is now 1958, and how much longer can even this larger-than-life woman keep on going?
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Peck's distinctive storytelling style rings on every page of A Season of Gifts, the story of a young man who moves into a small midwest town so his dad can try to revive-- practically start-- a Methodist church. A preacher's kid, which of course almost begs for bullies to pick on him. As with his previous books, there are hilarious situations that anyone who's been a kid can relate to-- even if modern kids can't imagine what life was like 50+ years ago (1958). The cover and title suggest the book is about Christmastime. It is not, or at least the first two thirds isn't. But that's alright-- the season of gifts arrives soon enough and the story is a delight to read. Much like Jean Shepard's In God We Trust, which contained the elements of a story that became the holiday favorite A Christmas Story, Peck's A Season of Gifts is a funny, wonderful look at growing up in a time gone by.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Richard Peck has done it again. Mrs. Dowdel is a formidable character that you just have to love. When the new preacher and his family move next door to her, she reaches out and helps them, even when they don’t think they need her help. Bobby’s first encounter with her is when a group of bullies kidnap him, strip him of his clothes, tie him up with fishing line and throw him in the lake. They then parade him back in then nude and string him up in Grandma Dowdel’s outhouse. She helps him out and acts as if it is nothing new to see a stark naked boy strung up there. She is rough on the outside yet loving and caring on the inside. She is not a church woman, yet she can quote her Bible. It is a story of neighbor helping neighbor, even when pride gets in the way. I will add this to my shelves because I think kids need to learn about this time period. If they can learn and have a great chuckle, then all the better.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I love Grandma Dowdel! If she's in the book I know I'm going to love it.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Bob Barnhart is a preacher's kid; he and his family have moved to a new town where his father is going to be a Methodist minister. No one in the town seems ready to lay out the welcome mat. In fact, they seem downright eccentric, especially their next door neighbor Mrs. Dowdel.Readers who have already discovered A Long Way from Chicago and A Year Down Yonder will enjoy revisiting beloved characters from a new point of view, and readers who have read neither will not lose out a whit. Richard Peck delivers yet another hilarious tale, memorable characters, and a young boy who learns quite a lot about the gifts humans can give to each other.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Grandma Dowdel is back to her old shenanigans in Richard Peck’s A Season of Gifts. This sequel to A Long Way from Chicago and A Year Down Yonder takes place in 1958. Twelve year old Bob Barnhart and his family have moved to town from Terre Haute, right next door to Grandma Dowdel. In 1958 Elvis Presley is drafted and Bob’s father, a Methodist preacher is assigned to a new church in a tiny “podunk” Illinois town.Bob’s initiation into town society is a dunking in the local ‘crick’ and being hog tied in Grandma Dowdel’s privy. Of course, Grandma Dowdel finds Bob, naked as a jaybird, hanging in her privy, almost as if in a spider web.Ruth-Ann, Bob’s ten-year-old sister is entranced by Grandma Dowdel and together they become “partners in crime”. She begins taking on Grandma’s traits, such as pushing her non-existent glasses up to the bridge of her nose. It’s Bob’s mother, however, who takes the cake, sitting in Grandma’s yard with a cocked shotgun on her lap.Richard Peck has the ability to take you back to the good old days, even if they weren’t necessarily that good and you weren’t even born. His characters are unique in every way. The description of Grandma’s wide girth, her old wrinkled friends and her hijinx will have you smiling, if not laughing. It does seem, however, that Grandma has mellowed a bit from A Long Way from Chicago. But that’s as it should be. She’s umpteen hundred years old. ..or so she seems.Having read all three books in the series, I’d start at the beginning and work through this latest book. They’re fast reads and you’ll walk away in a much better mood than you were in prior to reading the books. Just don’t trespass on Grandma Dowdel’s property. She’s still a good aim with that shotgun.