num_pages: 174
description: Abandoned by their ill-humored parents to the care of an odious nanny Tim the twins Barnaby A and Barnaby B and their sister Jane attempt to fulfill their roles as good oldfashioned children. Following the models set in lauded tales from A Christmas Carol to Mary Poppins the four Willoughbys hope to attain their proscribed happy ending too or at least a satisfyingly maudlin one. However it is an unquestionably ruthless act that sets in motion the transformations that lead to their salvation and to happy endings for not only the four children but their nanny an abandoned baby a candy magnate and his long-lost son too. Replete with a tongue-in-cheek glossary and bibliography this hilarious and decidedly old-fashioned parody pays playful homage to classic works of childrens literature.
language: English
title: The Willoughbys
publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company