Wicked Pigeon Ladies in the Garden

Rating:
Summary: The Wicked, Wicked Ladies in the Haunted House
Review: I enjoyed this book when I was a kid. I'd love to find it again. In answer to the question asked earlier, I believe the other title for the book was "The Wicked, Wicked Ladies in the Old Haunted House". Hope that helps.

Rating:
Summary: Haunting and addicting
Review: I found this book at the public library a few years ago and felt silly checking it out (I was about 33 years old at the time), but boy did I love revisiting the garden with Maureen and those nasty sisters! I remember reading it as a 4th grader. I couldn't understand why it wasn't more popular. We must find a way to bring this back into publishing so that a new generation of little girls and boys can enjoy a really good book.

Rating:
Summary: Disturbing yet mesmerizing
Review: I have a copy of this book, a yellowed paperback I stole out of my elementary classroom about 20 years ago. I couldn't stop reading it....why? Its kinda neat to see others writing reviews about the same book that fascinated me so much as a child. I even made paper dolls of each of the sisters; my Cleo came out excellent, with the perfect two orange ringlets on each side of her face in crayon.
Scary, huh?
The whole story is about the little bratty girls encounters with the supernatural and time travel....I guess. But theres so much detail to it, even though the story at times is not the best, is what makes it. How else can we all remember all those little details? The little guy in the shed with the nails in his mouth? What did she call him? And the murky water fountain? I truly am part of a reminiscing generation....
But! I will pass this on to my daughter; we will test and we will see....what the HECK she makes of it!

Rating:
Summary: Was it reprinted under a different name?
Review: I have been looking for this book for years, but couldn't remember the title. I absolutely loved this book as a child and wanted to share it with my children as well as read it again. It seems to me that I read it under a different title, but it mentioned on the book that it was formerly printed under this title... Anyone know anything about this? I would love to have a copy of this book!

Rating:
Summary: This book is one of my absolute favorites from my childhood
Review: I read this book from my fifth grade teacher's reading center, and loved it so much that at the end of the schoolyear, I couldn't bear to part with it, and begged him to let me keep it. No small feat for a relatively shy 10 year old with her first male teacher. Anyway, he let me keep it and I read it till it fell apart. How can this book be out of print? I see some of the garbage my neices are reading, and then you tell me a classic like this is not in print. I would love to have another copy if I can find one, so that my children will be able to enjoy it as I did, and would love to be able to read it again
myself. I can remember the names of all seven sisters..Cleo, Constance, Maude, Sylvia, Lucrece, Mavis & Ingrid. If you are lucky enough to find a copy of this book, buy it and treasure it. It deserves 10 stars..not just five.

Rating:
Summary: a great weekend read !
Review: I too, have fond memories of reading this book waaay back in the 4th grade...It was the first book which really made me feel like I was THERE...in a different time and place. Now that I have a 4th grade daughter who also loves to read as much as I do, I'm happy to see that this title will be back in print. I can't wait to read it again !

Rating:
Summary: A tale of evil.... pigeons
Review: In 1988, when I was attending the fourth grade, our teacher (name long since forgotten) began reading us a story that has stuck in my mind ever since. Over the years I remembered odd snippets of the story. The old abandoned house. The portraits of beautiful women that moved. The shoe repairing leprechaun in the garden. It was only recently that I decided to track down this story and reread it for myself. You see, my fourth grade teacher never finished "The Wicked Pigeon Ladies In the Garden" (since renamed "The Wicked Wicked Ladies In the Haunted House") and, when last heard from, the heroine of the story was in dire straights.

In this tale, a bratty young girl gets the ultimate comeuppance. Having broken into an abandoned old mansion, she quickly finds herself at odds with the horrible inhabitants. When Maureen (the aforementioned girl) steals a bracelet belonging to one of the long lost daughters of the house, she sets off a chain of events that takes her back in time. Along the way, she makes the acquaintance of a leprechaun, who offers her the only way possible back home to her family.

So I reread the story in its entirety. Originally published in 1968, I was disappointed to find the writing mediocre. For some reason, author Mary Chase was excellent at making memorable characters and plot points while not being particularly good at writing itself. In this story, seven vain sisters from the Victorian era break their parents' hearts by turning themselves into pigeons and flying away. The leprechaun muses that perhaps a greater good will come of it. Unfortunately, that greater good is apparently the same moral Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz" learned. Namely, teaching our heroine that there's no place like home. So ruining the lives of two people is worth one young bratty girl learning a lesson. Mmm hmm. There are other problems as well. I remember being very confused as a child as to the fact that the girl, Maureen, is never helped by the one pigeon lady who she was nice to. And then there's just the writing itself. It's not awful. But any kid who's suddenly thrown into the past is going to catch on pretty quickly that they aren't in the present day. For Maureen, it takes roughly 36 hours.

This isn't a terrible story, mind you, but there are better ones out there. Still, there's no arguing with the fact that this book made a huge impression on me when I was young. For the kid interested in mysterious goings on and ladies in beautiful evening gowns, this book is a great read. So sayeth my former 10 year-old self.

Rating:
Summary: A tale of evil.... pigeons
Review: In 1988, when I was attending the fourth grade, our teacher (name long since forgotten) began reading us a story that has stuck in my mind ever since. Over the years I remembered odd snippets of the story. The old abandoned house. The portraits of beautiful women that moved. The shoe repairing leprechaun in the garden. It was only recently that I decided to track down this story and reread it for myself. You see, my fourth grade teacher never finished "The Wicked Pigeon Ladies In the Garden" (since renamed "The Wicked Wicked Ladies In the Haunted House") and, when last heard from, the heroine of the story was in dire straights.

In this tale, a bratty young girl gets the ultimate comeuppance. Having broken into an abandoned old mansion, she quickly finds herself at odds with the horrible inhabitants. When Maureen (the aforementioned girl) steals a bracelet belonging to one of the long lost daughters of the house, she sets off a chain of events that takes her back in time. Along the way, she makes the acquaintance of a leprechaun, who offers her the only way possible back home to her family.

So I reread the story in its entirety. Originally published in 1968, I was disappointed to find the writing mediocre. For some reason, author Mary Chase was excellent at making memorable characters and plot points while not being particularly good at writing itself. In this story, seven vain sisters from the Victorian era break their parents' hearts by turning themselves into pigeons and flying away. The leprechaun muses that perhaps a greater good will come of it. Unfortunately, that greater good is apparently the same moral Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz" learned. Namely, teaching our heroine that there's no place like home. So ruining the lives of two people is worth one young bratty girl learning a lesson. Mmm hmm. There are other problems as well. I remember being very confused as a child as to the fact that the girl, Maureen, is never helped by the one pigeon lady who she was nice to. And then there's just the writing itself. It's not awful. But any kid who's suddenly thrown into the past is going to catch on pretty quickly that they aren't in the present day. For Maureen, it takes roughly 36 hours.

This isn't a terrible story, mind you, but there are better ones out there. Still, there's no arguing with the fact that this book made a huge impression on me when I was young. For the kid interested in mysterious goings on and ladies in beautiful evening gowns, this book is a great read. So sayeth my former 10 year-old self.

Rating:
Summary: New title...same great story!
Review: Like everyone else, I came to this book in the mid-70s when I was in about 4th grade. I got it from Scholastic Books back then.

Unlike most everyone else, I just found the book in my parents' attic, and screened it before considering reading it to my five-year-old. The tale is suspenseful without being violent, and that is quite an accomplishment. Also, the protagonist is a 9-year-old, which helps kids relate even better. My five-year-old looks forward to our nightly readings, and there are just enough drawings to stimulate his imagination further. (He's made it through "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" and "The Magician's Nephew" already, so he's able to handle the fantasy storyline.)

I would recommend the book for children that are able to handle scary situations without falling apart. The language is also easy but not "dumbed down" for kids, so any child who reads the book should feel good about finishing such a grown-up type book. It will stimulate the imagination, and the "time travel" section does a good job of suggesting a late 19th century reality, which is even FURTHER removed for today's kids than it was for me and many of the reviewers that preceded me.

So, for all you who remember Ingrid saying over and over "Give me my bracelet," good luck finding the book and passing it on. I'm lucky enough to be doing so already!

Rating:
Summary: New title...same great story!
Review: Like millions of others, I read this book for the first time when I was in the Fourth grade and I absolutely fell in love with it. I felt like I had been transported in time and I wished that I could take a journey like Maureen did. (This could account for my love of victorian houses) I checked this book out of the library so many times that the Librarian had to convince me to read any other books. As an adult I went in search of it again only to find it was out of print. I checked amazon.com over and over again, hoping it would be reprinted and to my surprise I found it!!! Only it is no longer called "Wicked Pigeon Ladies in the Garden" it can now be found under the title "The Wicked, Wicked Ladies in the Haunted House". It is the same great story, only it has a new name. Personally, I prefer the original title, but I am happy to have it in my hands once again. Go forth and find it and may your children (or inner child) enjoy it as much as I do.