The Penderwicks on Gardam Street
by Jeanne BirdsallSign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of this book.
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Read in August, 2008
I can't exactly remember what it was that kept me from reading The Penderwicks of Gardam Street the minute it came out on bookstore and library shelves. As a children's librarian I certainly enjoyed Ms. Birdsall's previous title, The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy, which garnered itself a bright and ...more
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Read in May, 2008
I liked The Penderwicks so much that I was worried that the sequel couldn't be as good. But it was good! These books are like Little Women but younger and more modern. There's still an old-fashioned feel about them, though, which I think is partly because things like phones and TVs and computers remain in the background.
If I just read a summary of the books, I wouldn't think the...more
If I just read a summary of the books, I wouldn't think the...more
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Read in October, 2008
Birdsall, Jeanne. 2008. The Penderwicks on Gardam Street.
Sometimes it's best to read a book without having any preconceived ideas. All I've heard over and over again since this book has been released is how it is even better, even greater than the original. How people loved it just that much more. (I was expecting it to be a WoW book; one that just was so incredibly amazingly good that I wouldn't know what to do with myself.) So I think my expectations were just a tiny bit too high. That bei...more
Sometimes it's best to read a book without having any preconceived ideas. All I've heard over and over again since this book has been released is how it is even better, even greater than the original. How people loved it just that much more. (I was expecting it to be a WoW book; one that just was so incredibly amazingly good that I wouldn't know what to do with myself.) So I think my expectations were just a tiny bit too high. That bei...more
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Read in August, 2008
The sequel to "The Penderwicks" earns four stars (where the first earned five) because I do feel that some of the "magic" of the first book (with Arundel and Jeffrey, Cagney and the bunnies, and summertime—that enchanted, timeless setting) was lost by having the girls return to school and "normal life." However, I still enjoyed the book and very much appreciate the fact that Birdsall was able to keep the charm and sweetness of the family alive even by putting the...more
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9 comments
Following-up with a National Book Award-winning debut novel is usually an uphill battle. But Birdsall’s sequel to "The Penderwicks" is one of those rare few that manage to finish with flying colors. Set a year after their summer romp in the country – recounted with strokes both humorous and emotionally moving in the first book – this second outing focuses on budding young romance contrasted with the romantic void in a single father’s life.
Birdsall, thankfully, doesn’t co...more
Birdsall, thankfully, doesn’t co...more
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Reviewed by Cana Rensberger for TeensReadToo.com
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. Togethe...more
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. Togethe...more
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Read in August, 2008
recommended to Ann by:
Katierecommends it for: Anyone who likes good, heartwarming character stories
Birdsall manages, yet again, to write a charming, timeless tale about family, honesty, friendship, and love.
The four Penderwick sisters each have their own plots and arcs throughout the book, but must always come together to deal with the main plot of this sequel - that their father has started to date (which, I think it's only fair to point out that the dating is not the father's idea. He is, in fact, quite reluctant, and it is only because of a letter that his wife wrote for him before her ...more
The four Penderwick sisters each have their own plots and arcs throughout the book, but must always come together to deal with the main plot of this sequel - that their father has started to date (which, I think it's only fair to point out that the dating is not the father's idea. He is, in fact, quite reluctant, and it is only because of a letter that his wife wrote for him before her ...more
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Read in May, 2008
recommends it for:
everyone needing a little innocence
After discovering and swiftly devouring 'The Penderwicks' I was greatly enthralled to discover that a sequel was coming out in less than a month. Joy unspeakable! And that is exactly what the sequel, 'The Penderwicks on Gardam Street' delivered.
After the memorable summer in Arundel, the Penderwicks return home for the school year. However, the girls are met with something more horrible than Mrs. Tifton...they find our their dad is going to start dating again! They immediately set up a 'S...more
After the memorable summer in Arundel, the Penderwicks return home for the school year. However, the girls are met with something more horrible than Mrs. Tifton...they find our their dad is going to start dating again! They immediately set up a 'S...more
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Read in May, 2008
Like the family Hilary McKay's books, the Penderwicks cover a variety of ages in characters (preschool through 8th grade), which I think would make them good choices for any reader within that range, or for a family read. The Penderwicks on Gardam Street is full of references to children's books, and has plenty of humor (although some of it might go over younger heads) and a variety of adventures undergone by each sister. A great book for a hot summery day. Like the first book, The Penderwick...more
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Read in May, 2008
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Read in July, 2008
I really love The Penderwicks books. They're exactly what I wish my childhood had been like, minus the deceased mom bit.
However, the sisters are often unrealistic, which bothers me a little. For example (*****Spoiler*****Spoiler*****), in the last chapter, the girls, along with a 7th grade boy, stop a thief from stealing their neighbor's computer, which contains some pretty important astrophysics research. One of the sisters, a 6th grader, plants her foot on the thief's neck and yells, &quo...more
However, the sisters are often unrealistic, which bothers me a little. For example (*****Spoiler*****Spoiler*****), in the last chapter, the girls, along with a 7th grade boy, stop a thief from stealing their neighbor's computer, which contains some pretty important astrophysics research. One of the sisters, a 6th grader, plants her foot on the thief's neck and yells, &quo...more
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Read in May, 2008
Folks say these books are aimed more at nostalgic adults than at kids, but I'm okay with that. There's enough good books for the kids, and this one makes me feel like I'm ten years old again, lying on my bed with all the windows open, "wasting" a perfectly good summer day on a book.
... On Gardam Street is the second adventure of the Penderwick sisters. This time, they are trying to rescue their widowed dad from a series of blind dates set up by his sister.
There's a ve...more
... On Gardam Street is the second adventure of the Penderwick sisters. This time, they are trying to rescue their widowed dad from a series of blind dates set up by his sister.
There's a ve...more
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Read in April, 2008
recommended to Danielle by:
My Mom...recommends it for: Everyone!
What can I say about this book, except for that one day I hope to write one exactly like it? It's exciting, mysterious, intriguing, happy, and over all wonderful! While the first Penderwick book was superb in it's own ways, this one far surpasses it.
The book again follows the life of the four Penderwick sisters, their father, and their Hound. It introduces some new characters that by the end of the book you're absolutely in love with.
The Penderwicks on Gardam Street felt much more like...more
The book again follows the life of the four Penderwick sisters, their father, and their Hound. It introduces some new characters that by the end of the book you're absolutely in love with.
The Penderwicks on Gardam Street felt much more like...more
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Read in June, 2008
This one was even better than the first one. Before Mrs Penderwick died she wrote a letter to her husband instructing him to date. He and Aunt Claire agree that he will go on four dates and if he doesn't like it, he doesn't have to go on anymore. Everyone in the family feels differently about it, but Rosiland takes it the hardest. This shakes up the other girls who are used to Rosy being the calm and rational one. After Mr. Penderwick's first date, the girls have an emergency meeting and initiat...more
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Read in August, 2008
recommends it for:
Fans of the first, fans of "books they used to write for kids"
The Penderwick sisters are back from vacation but have once again managed to find themselves in a pickle. Before their mother passed, she left a note encouraging their father to date. No one seems comfortable with with the idea of a stepmother. Also--Rosalind's not sure what to think of neighbor Tommy, Skye and Jane are challenged by homework and soccer troubles, and Batty (along with the other girls) makes friends with the lovely lady next door and her young son.
A happy story where peopl...more
A happy story where peopl...more
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Read in August, 2008
recommended to Shannon by:
Mrs. Jannaschrecommends it for: Mikkee, Anna & Other Fans of Family Fiction
This is another book that I read for the school library and I must admit that I loved it. I even stayed up an hour past my normal bedtime to finish it. I loved the four Penderwick sisters for the way they are unique individuals, the way they interact with each other and the way they communicate with high drama. Maybe I liked it so much because I felt like I was reading about my own children and what they will be like a few years down the road.
The prologue, where we read about the mother d...more
The prologue, where we read about the mother d...more
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Read in April, 2008
What happens when you take well loved characters and transport them away from the summer vacation in which you came to love them? You take them home, of course. I adored the first Penderwick book and it has become a fast favorite of most of my students each year. I was thrilled and slightly hesitant about this new offering. It was worry wasted, as Jeanne Birdsall delivers in this book. I was immediately captivated with the sisters again and was glad to know that they did not change just bec...more
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Read in August, 2008
Abby C. wrote, "If you're going to set a book in the 1930s or 40s, then set it then. If you're going to make it modern, then make it modern." This was also my feeling about The Penderwicks on Gardam Street, even more than the original Penderwicks. It requests serious suspension of disbelief on the reader's part by purporting to be set in the present day (or some time very recently; there's a reference to a Clinton Halloween costume). The girls look up their father's date, Marianne Dash...more
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Read in August, 2008
I love the Penderwicks! J. Birdsall has created truly lovable and memorable characters; a great read for young readers.
The Penderwicks are back home on Gardam Street and their current adventure involves their father beginning to date again. At first the sisters - Rosalind, Skye, Jane and Battie - are worried about the idea of their father dating again so they create the "Save Daddy Plan", designed to set him up on horrible dates so he won't want to date anymore. But as the girls ...more
The Penderwicks are back home on Gardam Street and their current adventure involves their father beginning to date again. At first the sisters - Rosalind, Skye, Jane and Battie - are worried about the idea of their father dating again so they create the "Save Daddy Plan", designed to set him up on horrible dates so he won't want to date anymore. But as the girls ...more
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Read in April, 2008
Sorry to be the crabby one again, but please enlighten me--what does this book have that a thousand wonderful old fashioned girls books (because this IS a girls book--no boy is gonna read it) lack?
This is charming and predictable except for the outcome of the "Bug Man" bit (which I won't reveal here), which belongs with the rest of the story like a fish belongs with a bicycle.
But I suppose since the first one got a National Book Award (sigh), this one will be up for the Newbery...more
This is charming and predictable except for the outcome of the "Bug Man" bit (which I won't reveal here), which belongs with the rest of the story like a fish belongs with a bicycle.
But I suppose since the first one got a National Book Award (sigh), this one will be up for the Newbery...more
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