The Penderwicks on Gardam Street |
Jeanne Birdsall
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| Edition |
Hardcover |
| List Price
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$15.99
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$10.87
(Save 32%)
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| Published by | Knopf Books for Young Readers |
| Release date | 2008-04-08 |
| ISBN | 0375840907 |
| Availability | Usually ships in 24 hours |
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THE PENDERWICK SISTERS are home on Gardam Street and ready for an adventure! But the adventure they get isn?t quite what they had in mind. Mr. Penderwick?s sister has decided it?s time for him to start dating?and the girls know that can only mean one thing: disaster. Enter the Save-Daddy Plan?a plot so brilliant, so bold, so funny, that only the Penderwick girls could have come up with it. It?s high jinks, big laughs, and loads of family warmth as the Penderwicks triumphantly return.
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Customer Reviews - courtesy of Amazon.com ( Marked4Sale.com is not responsible for review content )
Another heartwarming Penderwick tale!
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 death that he agrees to it).
The only downsides were that I didn't feel that this book had quite the same endearing charm and fanciful feeling as the first, and a few of the plot points were pretty predictable. However, I did find my self intrigued by the story and the storytelling. And just as the first book, it is so wonderful to have a story where siblings not only get along, but love each other and help each other, and where parents and children talk to each other like equals and honestly respect and care about each other.
I hope Birdsall will delight us with even more stories - Penderwick and otherwise.
As with summer holidays, the book ends too quickly but will continue to be just as memorable as the years go by.
When the Penderwick family's summer holiday plans are changed, the widowed Mr. Penderwick decides to take his four young daughters --- ages 4 through 12 --- to a cottage in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts. Instead, though, they find themselves on a beautiful grand estate called Arundel. For the close sisters, Arundel gives them a realm of possibility and each their own treasure-trove of memories and discoveries.
There's practical Rosalind, who, while gladly looking after her three younger sisters, develops a crush on an older teen gardener named Cagney, much to her surprise.
Next there's spirited, loudmouthed Skye, who refuses to back down against far bigger challenges than completing algebra problems.
Then there's the imaginative Jane, whose artistic skills are put to the test as she writes her most important Sabrina Starr adventure yet.
And last but not least, there's shy little Batty, who always wears her butterfly wings as she and her loyal Hound explore the magical gardens and surrounding lands together.
Meanwhile, the Penderwick sisters also find a great companion in Jeffrey Tifton, the owner's son. Jeffrey --- along with the kind housekeeper Churchie, Harry the Tomato Man, and Cagney --- helps the holiday to be a wonderful one that includes tame rabbits and the best gingerbread they ever had. Unfortunately, the terrible, snobbish Mrs. Tifton and her smirky boyfriend Dexter Dupree look down on the children and their adventures. When the Penderwick sisters discover the miserable future that lies in store for their new friend, they realize they must help him --- or else this could be his last happy summer forever!
This is a lighthearted children's book that is also somewhat realistic. Readers won't like how Mrs. Tifton treats the girls, but they will enjoy the sisters' special bond, such as when they have their secret MOOPS. As with summer holidays, the book ends too quickly but will continue to be just as memorable as the years go by.
THE PENDERWICKS is Jeanne Birdsall's first novel and the winner of the 2005 National Book Award.
--- Reviewed by Sarah Sawtelle
Delightful!
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
Very engaging novel
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!
A Kid's Review
The Penderwicks on Gardam Street is a great book by Jeanne Birdsall. Although it wasn't as trilling as The Penderwicks, I enjoyed it very much. This book made me laugh while reading and I love reading it over again. I recommend this book to readers age levels 9-12.
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