Book Love: The Vanderbeekers

This year I started reading chapter books to my (at the time) almost 6 year old and I've really enjoyed getting into longer books with him, while also keeping up a steady stream of picture books.  We've been rereading some I remember enjoying as a kid as well as newer chapter books.  This series is one I would definitely read him in a few years, when a 300 page book doesn't feel overwhelming to read aloud.  For now, I've really enjoyed this series myself.

The Vanderbeekers are, currently, a 3 book series aimed at 10-12 year olds, I would say.  The Vanderbeekers are a mixed race family living in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, in the lower two floors of a brownstone.  The story mostly follows the 5 kids although their parents show up often and are obviously supportive and caring.  As of the first book, there are 11 year old twin girls, an 8 year old boy, then 6 and 4 year old girls.

I am frequently drawn to stories of people living in New York City and especially like reading about bigger families, since I come from one (I have 5 sisters).  I want to know what living in New York is really like, since I'll never get the chance and I love seeing bigger families celebrated.

In the first book of the series, The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street, the kids are concerned that they will be evicted from their beloved brownstone by their landlord, Mr. Beiderman who lives on the top floor and has very little to do with them.  He mostly seems grouchy and annoyed with the kids.  The kids launch a plan to befriend Mr. Beiderman and have him let them stay in their home.  This leads to all kinds of planning by the kids, some of which work and some don't.  They also all have their own interests - one is into science, one music, one craft, one likes animals...and I forget the last one.  So they all use their different interests as part of their planning.

There are only 3 apartments in the brownstone and in between the Vanderbeekers and Mr. Beiderman is an older married couple who the kids also spend a lot of time with.  The kids get into well-intentioned by sometimes misguided trouble but also show a lot of heart, loving their family and also the neighbors.  They are obviously raised with a lot of love at home.

The second book, The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden takes place roughly a year later as the kids are trying to fix up an abandoned lot near their home and turn it into a garden before it is turned into luxury apartments.  If I only I could get these (fictional) kids to come work their magic on my garden...  They are very resourceful, finding ways to improve their garden without letting their parents know and with very limited resources.  Of course, there is a lot that a group of kids can't understand about ownership and development and all that but they don't let that stop them.

The third book, and the one I just read earlier this month, is The Vanderbeekers to the Rescue.  Their Mama is a baking wizard and finally has a huge opportunity to be in a national home magazine to show off her wares.  But the kids manage to screw that up a lot (with no thanks to the weather and mysterious pets that keep showing up in their backyard) and decide they need to fix up their house (kids should definitely wake up in the middle of the night to repaint a whole room, without turning on the lights to wake up their parents...) and also find home for pets that just keep appearing.

I don't know much about animal res
cue and I certainly wouldn't be letting strange (or any) animals in my house, but their parents just seem to roll with most of it (not the overnight painting that turned out to be a horrible color) and see the kids' good intentions behind it all.  Their uncle also manages to build them a outside tree house is about one afternoon which I found a little farfetched after Matt spent the good part of his free time over 2 summers working on Luke's...but otherwise, mostly believable plans.

I love reading about all the sibling dynamics and how they take care of each other and really want the best for their family and siblings.  I love how the parents trust them to figure out some things but also step in when the kids get over their heads.  I love how the kids show respect for other adults in their lives and go out of their way to spend time with them.  They are protective of each other but still welcoming others to their little group.  I don't know if I can be as hands off as their parents (these kids are traipsing all over New York by themselves, but maybe that's normal?) but I love all the love in their family.  The kids aren'y perfect and their plans often go awry but they are mostly trying to do what they think is right.

If you are looking for books for your school aged kids to read themselves, this might be it.  Or, if you are a full grown adult with kids of your own but also like reading some middle-grade (or lower) fiction where the stakes seem much lower than "adult" books...this also might be it!  I have really enjoyed the time I've spent with the Vanderbeekers.

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