Penny Dreadful Cooks up Calamity

Penny Dreadful #4

by Joanna Nadin

My name is not actually Penny Dreadful. It is Penelope Jones. The 'Dreadful' bit is my dad's JOKE. But I do not mean to be dreadful... sawing Bridget Grimes in half for the school show was supposed to be a GOOD THING. And I didn't mean to get up to any SHENANIGANS on the school trip. Plus I worked extra-especially hard on the CAKE OF DREAMS for Mum's birthday... but somehow it still turned into a HUGE calamity.

Genres: Childrens

144 pages, Unknown Binding

First published June 1, 2012

About the author

Joanna Nadin is an English author of juvenile fiction best known for the Rachel Riley series of teenage novels Based on Nadin's own childhood, the series follows the comedic narration of a 13-year-old girl.

Nadin has also written several books of juvenile fiction. These include two books for the Oxford University Press "Project X" series designed to encourage boys to read.

Nadin previously worked as a policy writer for the Labour Party (UK).In 2001, she became a special adviser to Tony Blair.

As a child I buried myself in books both at home in Essex and at my grandparents’ houses in Cornwall, where I spent a large part of my time, and where many of my stories are now set. Books and later films were an escape not just from where I was but who I was, which, as I saw it, was pretty much a geek. They gave me the freedom to become someone else, from George in the Famous Five to Velvet Brown winning the Grand National to Baby dancing the Chachacha with Johnny Castle.

Reviews

[Cassy Watson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this with my six-year-old daughter and although she liked the mischievous nature of the title character I couldn’t get past the poor sentence structure and the fact that there never seems to be any real consequences for her poor decisions, just a lot of annoyed adults. No one seems to like Penny except for her one friend, Cosmo who is also not very liked. While Penny remains undisciplined, the adult characters are really very unkind and even her older sister calls her a “moron” several times.

[Megan Reyann · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think there are a lot of better books out there for children. While the antics are fun, the sentence structure is atrocious considering it is a 5-6th grade reading level. As a teacher I am frustrated with the amount of belittling done from the family and teachers, as well as, the repeated phrase “you are a moron”.

[Kaylyn Crump · Rating 4 out of 5]

Penny dreadful is a magnet to mischief. She gets into trouble a lot. I liked that Penny has a really good sense of humor. It made me laugh when she was forgetting that she had a walrus tusk from the museum. One part of the book that I didn’t like was that Penny’s mother got her haircut on her birthday. I will read this book again when I am bored, because Penny is funny.

Kaylyn (9 years old)

[Gary Sadosky · Rating 1 out of 5]

I like the story of the book, but it's written terribly. I understand it is written for younger children, but the constant run-on sentences and starting sentences with "And" is just too much. I got a quarter of the way in and had to call it quits.

[Jennie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my cup of tea. Stream of consciousness from a 10-year-old makes my tired brain hurt. Plus Penny’s older sister repeatedly calls her a moron. E was too young for this. Maybe for age 7-8?

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a hoot! Junie B. Jones, but less crabby and more British.

[Antonio N · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5 spoko ksiazka, raczej dla młodszych

[Sheen🧣 · Rating 4 out of 5]

پنی قشقرق۴-فاجعه‌پز زبردست
مترجم:مونا توحیدی
نشر هوپا

[Fatima · Rating 5 out of 5]

این کتاب رو وقتی کوچیک بودم خواهرم بهم کادو داد و یادمه بار ها خوندمش و باهاش میخندیدم. این کتاب تو قلبم جا داره، ممنونم که منو به دنیای کتاب ها آوردی.