Gumble's Yard

Gumble's Yard #1

by John Rowe Townsend

Abandoned by their uncle and aunt, Kevin and Sandra run away to Gumble's Yard, a deserted row of cottages on the canal bank. But the cottages are not as empty as they thought. Strange people come and go, mysterious boxes keep arriving, and the children soon find themselves caught up in a dangerous chain of events.

* This book was unique when it was first published and over the years has come to be recognized as one of the ground-breaking books of the millenium.
* John Rowe Townsend is a significant author, without whom writers such as Robert Cormier and Judy Blume might not have been recognized.
* This gripping story has stood the test of time in the way the children are left alone to become completely self-reliant.
* John Rowe Townsend lives in Cambridge.

Genres: Fiction, Childrens

Paperback

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

John Rowe Townsend (born 1922) is a British children's author and academic. His best-known children's novel is The Intruder, which won a 1971 Edgar Award, and his best-known academic work is Written for Children: An Outline of English Language Children's Literature (1965), the definitive work of its time on the subject.

He was born in Leeds, and studied at Leeds Grammar School and Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Among his popular works are Gumble's Yard (his debut novel, published in 1961), Widdershins Crescent (1965), and The Intruder (1969), which won a 1971 Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Juvenile Mystery. In Britain, The Intruder was made into a children's TV series starring Milton Johns as the stranger. Noah's Castle was filmed by Southern television and transmitted in seven 25-minute episodes in 1980.

Reviews

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book which the Guardian has called "a seminal influence on the development of the modern children's book" - and which for me was a crucial influence on my lifelong of reading - as the first novel I can remember reading and loving.

Hence my choice of Gumble's Yard as my Goodreads identity.

[Woff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I’d found this as a child - it is absolutely the sort of thing I would have loved! Poor, neglected children who get abandoned and make a secret home in a derelict cottage attic. Not to mention crooks and suspense and an exciting criminal plot!

[Linda Fallows · Rating 5 out of 5]

As good now as when I read it at the age of twelve. Well written and believable.

[Mathew · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the first post-war authors to see the need to bring a sense of realism to children's literature, John Rowe Townsend's Gumble's Yard is set within the urban landscape where crime festers on the fringes of society and children's lives are gritty and hard. His first book for children, the story came from Townsend's work as a journalist and his encounters with children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Suddenly we had a literature in which more children would find their own lives recognised.

[Pollymoore3 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who says only posh kids can have adventures? This is a period piece from the early 1960s, when to be working class was fashionable, and to be Northern working class even better. These were the days of kitchen sink drama, Room at the Top, Saturday Night & Sunday Morning, Kes, A Kind of Loving, A Taste of Honey, the popularity of D H Lawrence, and of course the Beatles, John Peel even adopting a Scouse accent instead of his public-school one.
Set apparently in Manchester, where the kids are temporarily abandoned by the rather inadequate adults supposedly looking after them. They make a much better job of looking after themselves, being bright, resourceful and loyal, even defeating a gang of crooks into the bargain.
The typical blockish, scratchy illustrations of the time are in this case a letdown though, being quite ugly and making the characters look unnecessarily glumpish.

[Francesca Astraea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Came to this book because I needed a break from heavier stuff. Stayed for the canals, plucky pre-teens and general 'god times have changed since this was written'-ness.

[Tamsin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy children’s books. This one from 1960s was just up my street. Really decent children fending for themselves when the adults let them down. Also a super strong female role.

[Mrs penelope Eagle]

My father wrote this book. I would like to know whose using it as their signature and why.