I remembered this book from childhood, and when I was casting about for a gift for my young niece, I flashed on this. While it's true that this book might be better received by boys, what child can't help but be entranced by Andrew's Rube Goldberg-style houses and inventions? It wasn't until I reread it after buying it that I saw the logical fallacies in the story (for example, what did they eat in the meadow? and, since the whole story takes place in four days...well, let's just say that Andrew Henry is quite the engineer and contractor to build all those houses in such a short time).
But that's nitpicking, isn't it?
This is a fun story of 'misunderstood' youth and the families that love them. Great fun and highly reccommended.
PS> It occurs to me that there's no real synopsis of the book listed here, so I'll describe it in a nutshell. Andrew Henry is a young 'inventor' whose inventions drive his family to distraction. Feeling unloved, he sets out for a place where he can do as he pleases. After he finds the meadow of the title, he builds a house for himself, and is soon joined by several other children. Everyone gets their own house, and there's a happy ending.