The Penderwicks on Gardam Street | Jeanne Birdsall | As delightful as the first Penderwick saga....

The Penderwicks on Gardam Street | Jeanne Birdsall | Better than the first book!

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The Penderwicks on...

	The Penderwicks on Gardam Street Jeanne Birdsall Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2008 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 21 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

As delightful as the first Penderwick saga....

My kids and I absolutely loved the first book, so when I saw this at my local bookstore I paid full price to own this little gem immediately. I read it in one night, and it did not disappoint. I'm looking forward to reading it aloud to my kids, because I know they'll love it as much as the first.

The story begins with the Penderwicks' widowed father being urged to date by his sister (and deceased wife, via letter). The four Penderwick girls are aghast at the prospect of a stepmother, so they put a "Save Daddy" plan into action.

In addition to this, the Penderwicks must deal with new neighbors (a beautiful widowed professor and her toddler - yes, the book predictably goes there with the matchmaking, but it does so in such an engaging way that you won't mind, honestly), school projects, soccer matches, a visit to Jeffrey, Batty's mysterious "Bug Man", and changing friendships. Birdsall takes us through the Penderwick's adventures and mishaps with warmth, wit, and wisdom.

The colorful details really make this book shine. Like the complicated way they play Clue (not according to the rule book, that's for sure!), and they way they introduce Hound (the Penderwick's dog) to Asimov (the neighbor's cat), and Jane's conversation about chrysanthemums with Mrs. Geiger, and the cheerful kitchen chaos when the neighbor comes over for pizza. I also loved the stream of consciousness thoughts of the girls, especially Skye's.

My children, however, loved the Penderwicks in book one because their antics and thoughts made them laugh out loud. This sequel is sure to do the same.

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Better than the first book!

I thoroughly enjoyed the first of the Penderwicks books, but Jeanne Birdsall's writing is even better in this second book. The characters are stronger and the adults believable. Here's a story with a functional family, able adults, gentle angst, and girls who are creative in the way that I was creative as a girl.

a delightful and thoroughly satisfying book

I am a children's librarian and run a kids book club for children in grades 3-5. We happen to be reading the first Penderwick book this month, so I thought it would be good for me to quickly read this new book #2. At some point I stopped reading it as a librarian and was completely pulled into the story. This is a lovely book! The characters are strong, well-developed, and believable. The plot has just the right balance of tension, humor, and intrigue. This is one of those rare gems that both parents and kids will find thorougly satisfying. It would make a great read-aloud, too. I'm thrilled to know there's a book #3 in the works.

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Jeanne Birdsall Does It Again

As a follow-on to the much loved Penderwicks, Jeanne Birdsall's new adventure for the family retains the engaging, laugh-quietly-out-loud endearing qualities of the first book while keeping the Penderwicks from stagnating in time. As a parent of three, I remain amazed at how easily both my tween girl who normally reads in the fantasy/myth genre, and 2nd grade son (chronicles of ancient darkness fan...) both gravitate towards these books and love reading them and most of all having them read aloud (to which even our 4 year old listens). This book allows for the "read together a chapter-a-night" parent time with kids that have long outgrown the "need" to be read to, who whip through new percy jackson books in an afternoon, making this one a particular treasure. Of course they may race upstairs to finish it on their own, but to get to laugh over family life in a book with your kids...what more can you ask?

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Gardam Street

A lot of the magic of the original book was the setting. The Berkshires in the summertime, the cozy vacation home, the grand estate. All these elements gave the original novel a feel of magic, and it was fun to see it in a contemporary book for young readers.

The setting of "Gardam Street" is, as the title states, the street where the family lives. The characters are back, but this time the story didn't work as well for me. Putting the girls and their father back into the everyday contrasts with the the author's writing style. What worked for the airy, summertime in Arundel seems overly flowery when dealing with contemporary girls in contemporary situations. Even the last name -Penderwick - seems a bit too "twee." I don't think I am too off the mark when I assume that the author wants to make her girls as memorable as the Marches or the family in "Swallows and Amazons" but those authors were using colloquial language of their era. This book would have been just as good of a read if the girls (and author) had dispensed with speaking like characters from an Alcott novel. Besides the soccer, are these girls all that real? (And it's probably not a good idea to turn a four year old over on her head if she's feeling faint.) Are Beverly Cleary's characters any less endearing because they were contemporary?

I didn't "believe" the story as much in "Gardam," from the slightly overwrought prologue to the widow next door, who may as well have had a neon sign pointing at her house that says, "Plot device."

Good things about the book is that Birdsall manages to carry plotlines over multiple chapters, which saves the book from being episodic. She is able to build tension and mystery, which will keep all the kids reading to see what happens in the end.

I hope that in another book, they'll all return to Arundel, because that's where I feel the heart of the family - and mine as well - reside.

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, page 4, 5

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