The Racketty-Packetty House
Week of June 30, 2008
Block 6:
Since the Tidy Castle residents will be enjoying a ten-course meal, the Racketty-Packetty family decides to have one also, but it will be a ten-course meal of turnips as that is all they have. Meg, Peg and Kilmanskeg make up menus on pieces of pink tissue paper, and each course is called off by Peter Piper who plays the role of footman. They all declared they had never had such a splendid dinner in their lives and would much prefer to live in Racketty-Packetty House and watch the Tidy Castle people than be the Tidy Castle people themselves. Then, of course, they jumped up and danced around as they always did
They lived at their windows, watching the goings on at Tidy Castle. They watched the Lords and Ladies get up and be dressed by their maids and valets, drive out in carriages, have parties and go to balls. They nearly all had brain fever with delight when they saw Lady Gwendolyn, Lady Muriel and Lady Doris dressed in their Court trains and feathers to be presented at the first Drawing-Room.
Ridiklis read aloud to the little family about Drawing-Rooms from a scrap of the Lady’s Pictorial. They decided to have a Court Drawing-Room of their own and make tissue paper trains and glass bead crowns for diamond tiaras. They all took turns pretending to be the Royal family, and the others were presented to them. Peter Piper thought it would be nice to make them all into Lords and Ladies. He made them all kneel down and touched each of them on the shoulder with the drawing-room poker. They were all now Lords and Ladies. Peter Piper became a Duke and was called the Duke of Tags. He knelt down and each family member gave him a thump on the shoulder with the poker because it took more thumps to make a Duke than a common or garden Lord.
DISCUSSION:
Reading this book is life taking a break from real life. Everything is so simple and fun. The Racketty-Packetty family had a glorious ten course meal of turnips, complete with a fancy menu, starting with Hors d’oeuvres and ending with Ices and Peter Piper had great fun as a footman dancing around announcing the courses. They enjoyed the meal thoroughly even though it was just turnips. There is no complaining or whining with this group. They just enjoy everything!!
Their favorite pastime is watching the residents of the Castle, and
they are not even remotely envious of the Castle residents’ upper class
way of life. They learn about Drawing-Rooms from Ridiklis and decide they shall
become Lords and Ladies and dress accordingly, although they shall use tissue
paper for trains on their dresses, and glass bead crowns for tiaras.
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This is the lovely thing about the characters in this book. They are
perfectly content with their life and although they have fun watching the residents
of the castle, they have absolutely no jealousy of them.
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This book is sheer joy to read. Can you imagine if these little RP's
were "living" in our time? They'd watch the Tidy Castle folk, catch
"keep up with the Joneses" syndrome, get a credit card, outdo the
Tidyshires, and be in debt up to their little eyebrows...
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I just know they would have a blast doing it!!! No worries on how to pay that card off each month. They would just toss the bills in the air and join hands and have a dance around the room!!!