The Ramble Shamble Children by Christina Soontornvat

DOWN THE MOUNTAIN, PAST THE LAST CURVE IN THE ROAD,

FIVE CHILDREN LIVED TOGETHER IN A RAMBLE SHAMBLE HOUSE.

The big sister, Meera, tended the vegetable garden, the twins Locky and Rooze kept the crows out of the carrot and pea patch, Finn fed the hens and collected the eggs from the chicken coop, and little Jory the baby played in the mud puddle. There was always work to do, but the children shared the jobs, and at night they all piled into Meera's bed to listen to the stories she knew about dragons, giants, and all sorts. But then, in a ramble in the attic, they found an old book with a picture of a well-kept house and garden.

"OH, SO THAT'S WHAT A PROPER HOUSE AND GARDEN LOOKS LIKE!" SAID MEERA.

The next morning the children set to work. They placed a wreath on the freshly painted red door. Finn propered up the chicken coop with a porch and some pink paint. They tidied up the garden, replacing carrots with roses. They spiffed up the mud puddle, much to Jory's displeasure. And the place did look more... well, proper.

BUT THINGS WERE NOT QUITE RIGHT.

The hens were unhappy and laid their eggs in the children's shoes. There were no peas and carrots for a proper supper, and the roses were too thorny to pick. And little Jory, without a messy daily dip in the puddle, was missing.

A proper search party found Jory deep in the woods, happily dabbling in a nice new puddle.

So the children un-propered the house, un-spiffied the hen house, and un-tidied the garden, and re-muddied the puddle. All was well again.

And by bedtime the ramble-shamble house was a happy home once more, in Newbery-winner Christina Soontgornvat's latest picture book fantasy, The Ramble Shamble Children (Nancy Paulsen Books, 2021), illustrated in fanciful folkloric style by noted artist Lauren Castillo. This story joins the like of Gertrude Chandler Warner's series, The Boxcar Children Bookshelf (The Boxcar Children Mysteries, Books 1-12) and Astrid Lindgren's redoubtable Pippi Longstocking, who seem to function properly, thank you, in a parentless family. In a starred review, School Library Journal says, “No need to ‘proper up’ anything about this winning title. Soontornvat and Castillo have produced a charming tale of ‘ramble shamble’ delightfulness."