Quotes from The Penderwicks on Gardam Street

“...even a tiny bit of deceit is dishonorable when it's used for selfish or cowardly reasons.

- Mr. Penderwick”
― Jeanne Birdsall, quote from The Penderwicks on Gardam Street

“Jane,' she said, climbing down from the chair. 'Remember last year when I built that model wind tower for you and you wrote those poems for me?'

And you said you'd never switch homework assignments with me again.'

For good reason. My teacher had a hard time believing I wrote Tra-la the joy of tulips blooming, Ha-ha the thrill of bumblebees zooming. I'm alive and I dance, I'm alive though death is always looming. When I finally convinced her that I had, she asked me if I needed to talk to the school counselor.”
― Jeanne Birdsall, quote from The Penderwicks on Gardam Street

“The referee told me this league has never had a brawl of that magnitude," said Mr. Penderwick after a long, painful silence. "Of course, at the time I was pretending to be a casual passerby and not a father at all.”
― Jeanne Birdsall, quote from The Penderwicks on Gardam Street

“I've been going insane reading my students' papers. Apparently several of them think the Hubble Space Telescope is used to search the universe for hubbles."
~ Ithana Aaronson”
― Jeanne Birdsall, quote from The Penderwicks on Gardam Street

“[The kitchen] was also messy--delightfully so, thought Jane--and it didn't look as though lots of cooking went on there. There was a laptop computer on the counter with duck stickers on it, the spice cabinet was full of Ben's toy trucks, and Jane couldn't spot a cookbook anywhere. This is the kitchen of a Thinker, she decided, and promised herself that she'd never bother with cooking, either.”
― Jeanne Birdsall, quote from The Penderwicks on Gardam Street

“The sky was a rich cloudless blue, the air still and dry, the maple trees glowing with glorious reds and oranges and yellows, and everywhere on Gardam Street squirrels bustled about with self-importance, burying their nuts in the most unlikely places.”
― Jeanne Birdsall, quote from The Penderwicks on Gardam Street

“Mere children, ha!" said Jane. "I say we tie up the knave and then discuss his fate."
Since everyone thought this a good idea, Batty and Hound donated Jeffrey's neckties, and soon Bug Man, aka Sock or Spock, aka Norman Birnbaum, was bound hand and foot. Jane, Batty, and Hound then took a few minutes to be Aztec priests calling for blood, until Rosalind quieted them down. Norman was slime, but that was no reason to terrify him.
Then came a long discussion about what they should do next... Jane's suggestion of throwing Norman into their basement so that he could dwell on his sins was rejected outright.”
― Jeanne Birdsall, quote from The Penderwicks on Gardam Street

“This is truly a sad comedown for a man and a Geiger. Please say you’ll talk some sense into him.”
― Jeanne Birdsall, quote from The Penderwicks on Gardam Street

“measure, she brushed off Batty, too, and then Hound, and then herself, and only then did she ring the doorbell. When Iantha opened the door, she was holding a red pen and had several more stuck behind her ears and in the pocket of her shirt. “Are we interrupting?” asked Rosalind. She’d taken the little ones away to give Iantha a break, and to make up for all the afternoons Batty spent at her house, causing who knew how much chaos. “Did we come back too soon?” “No, your timing is just right. I keep getting”
― Jeanne Birdsall, quote from The Penderwicks on Gardam Street

“Penderwick took off his glasses and cleaned them on his sleeve.”
― Jeanne Birdsall, quote from The Penderwicks on Gardam Street

“Even the rest of the cast would feel sorry for her.”
― Jeanne Birdsall, quote from The Penderwicks on Gardam Street

“Aunt Claire, I apologize to you too, since you probably had to pretend you weren't my aunt."
"Apology accepted." Aunt Claire smiled, which did much to lighten Skye's heart. "I must say your mad charge at Melissa was impressive. Perhaps you should switch to ice hockey or professional wrestling."
"Claire, please be serious," said Mr. Penderwick.
"I am being serious.”
― Jeanne Birdsall, quote from The Penderwicks on Gardam Street

“This set off a series of additional questions from Batty, which Iantha gracefully took on, giving Rosalind the chance to slip away unnoticed. She crossed the street to the Geigers’ house, headed round to the back, and knocked on the kitchen door, just as she’d done a thousand times before.”
― Jeanne Birdsall, quote from The Penderwicks on Gardam Street

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BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.