The Saturdays

Randy visits an art gallery and meets an extraordinary elderly woman with stories from her childhood in Paris. Rush goes to the opera. Mona makes a daring decision about her hair. Six-year-old Oliver, who is not supposed to go anywhere, sneaks off to the circus and has an adventure of his own. Each chapter shows the city through a different child's eyes.

Enright, a Newbery Medal winner, writes with real wit and a painter's eye for detail. The siblings bicker and tease but are deeply loyal to each other, and Cuffy and their father give the household a feeling of safety. Later chapters take the family into summer, with fishing, swimming and a dramatic night that tests their courage.

Because it was written in the early forties, there are references to the war in Europe and to old-fashioned customs. These give it a gentle historical flavour rather than getting in the way. A wonderful read-aloud. Enright's own illustrations appear throughout, and the book leads naturally into the three Melendy sequels, which follow the family to a new home in the country. About 177 pages in the Square Fish paperback.