Maybe it's raining. Maybe everybody else is asleep and you're wide awake staring at the ceiling. Maybe it's a three hour drive to Grandma's and you're stuck in traffic. Maybe you had a very-bad-horrible-no-good day and you don't want to think about it anymore. You need a good, long, comforting read. Here it is. A few hours with the Penderwicks will make you feel good about the world. Is it full of nail-biting suspense and salacious gossip? Nah. It's warm. It's cozy. It's--dare we say it--wholesome! The kids are good kids who take good care of each other and their dad. They make some mistakes, but they learn from them and they do what they can to undo them. Their dialog sounds quite real and age appropriate without being trendy or coarse. The omniscient narrator leads us through the terrain of their lives with generous sentences, bestowing on us details that provide insight and clarity without tedium, not stinting in the use of the occasional five syllable word, sprinkling in some Latin just for the fun of it, showing us the how the world looks from the roof, from the secret rock, from under the forsythia bush. This beautifully paced meander feels like Swallows and Amazons (Godine Storyteller)or Five Little Peppers and How They Grew (Aladdin Classics)or Mary Poppins: Three Enchanting Classics: Mary Poppins, Mary Poppins Comes Back, and Mary Poppins Opens the Door, but it's not old and moldy. It's delightful!
Janet Gingold
author of Danger, Long Division

A nicely-paced sequel to the first Penderwicks novel. Entertaining with a lot of charm, in an old-fashioned sense. It cleverly tells a family story without having to be graphic or sarcastic. I highly recommend this!

I really enjoyed the first Penderwicks book so when I saw this at the local bookstore, I snapped it up. Now, I haven't read the first one since it came out, and I had only vague memories of the girls and their exploits. This one is good in that "low-key adventures" type of way; it could almost have been one of the kids' books written in the '60s, when I grew up, because there are no references at all to technology except at the end when someone is holding a computer.

Because of Mr. Penderwick's tendency to fling out Latin blurbs, which tendency I don't remember from the first book, early in this sequel we are treated to definitions of "Bellatrix" and "cruciatus." This made me worry that the author would spend the entire book translating some of J.K. Rowling's terms for those Harry Potter readers who don't have an etymological background. However, after those two (which occured pretty early on), there were no more instances of that.

So, all in all I'd say it was a pretty good book.

The Penderwicks on Gardam Street is a really good book. My eight year
old daughter read it and loved it. As soon as she started reading it she
could not stop. I read it and loved it too. We are really hoping there will be another Penderwicks book.

This is a pitch-perfect (instant) children's classic in the style of E. Nesbit, Ransome, or Eager. The 4 children are brilliantly realized and the story is captivating. Buy this (and the first one, about the Penderwick's summer vacation) for all the favorite children in your life.

Rosalind has been a fine mother to her sisters Jane, Skye, and Batty for four years, ever since their mother died. So when her Aunt Claire visits with a blue letter for her father, written by her mother, Rosalind can't chase away the sense of foreboding.

When she finds out that her mother's letter suggests her dad start dating again, Rosalind quickly calls the sisters together for an emergency MOPS - a Meeting of Penderwick Sisters. Together they hatch the Save Daddy Plan, designed to ensure that they will never have to endure a stepmother.

As their father begins to suffer through the torture of dating, the sisters become involved in complications of their own. Skye and Jane get tangled up with homework while playing soccer in perfect sync. Rosalind struggles with her own boy problems involving the Geiger brothers. And Batty spies on Bug Man with her dog, Hound, and the new neighbor's little boy, Ben.

Before long, not only are the sisters beginning to unravel, but they also realize that the Save Daddy Plan is making their father miserable. After a night of revelations and confessions, the sisters revise the plan with the help of Ben's mother, Iantha.

THE PENDERWICKS ON GARDAM STREET is a delightful book featuring laughter, pranks, bedtime stories, and the sweet emotions of family love. Jeanne Birdsall and the Penderwicks will capture your heart.

Reviewed by: Cana Rensberger

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?

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.

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 language and 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.

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.

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.

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.

Wow,
I loved the first Penderwicks book, but this one is even better. What I most liked was the way that the characters all changed so much over the course of the book. Each is growing in their own way, making it a pleasure to read. Also, the ploy holds together more tightly than the first book. By the last page, I didn't want it to end, but thankfully, it says on Birdsall's website that she is already working on the next one. Can't wait!
As a middle school teacher myself, I also think this book is far more useable in a classroom than the first. I know my students loved the first one, but this second one, especially since each character experiences their own mini-conflicts and resolutions, would be perfect for an English Language Arts class.