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The Family from One End Street #1
The Family From One End Street
The story of everyday life in the big, happy Ruggles family who live in the small town of Otwell. Father is a dustman and Mother a washerwoman. Then there's all the children - practical Lily Rose, clever Kate, mischievous twins James and John, followed by Jo, who loves films, little Peg and finally baby William. A truly classic book awarded the Carnegie Medal as the best children's book of 1937.
328 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1937
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 152 reviews
September 1, 2022
Eve Garnett's 1937 novel The Family from One End Street might well read a bit too obviously episodically for those readers who always do desire and crave a specific and mostly straightforward plot line in a novel, and is also and indeed (as well as naturally) an object, a book of its time, of late 1930s England (and as such a time when there was still a very real and palpable societal and cultural attitude of not striving too much to rise above one's supposed station, one's place in a stratified society). And therefore, even though more and more recent literary critics (as well as political activists) have increasingly faulted and even at times actively and vociferously condemned the author for supposedly sporting and promoting a patronising and paternalistic attitude towards the Ruggles (towards the main protagonists of The Family From One End Street), which according to them, to these theorists and activists, is meant to keep the family firmly in place as members of the labouring classes, as members of the so-called working poor, the portraits of the Ruggles family, as presented in The Family From One End Street are all and sundry realistically drawn for and according to the novel's time and its place, from the dialogues, the words uttered by the family to their relationships and antics, their various adventures and numerous varied escapades.
Now for our modern sensibilities, The Family From One End Street might very well sometimes feel a bit politically and socially awkward and uncomfortable, but for its time, for 1937, it was indeed and truly an absolute break-through in British children's literature, being one of the very first novels conceptualised for children that did not specifically focus on upper middle and/or aristocratic characters, but on the labouring classes, on a working class family with seven children where the father is a dustman and the mother a washerwoman. And from a historical point of view, Eve Garnett (who wanted with her The Family From One End Street to raise public awareness about what family life, what life in general was like for a large working class family living, existing just above the poverty line) actually did very much succeed with and in her endeavour, even if today's readers might consider especially her tone of narrative voice a bit patronising at times and feel that the presented text is more like that of a distant outsider-narrator and observer looking in, as Garnett herself was of course not of the labouring classes (was upper middle class) and had therefore never experienced poverty or life just above, just skirting the poverty line. However, in my opinion, with Garnett's novel, with The Family From One End Street, the barriers of the working classes not being considered as adequate and as acceptable main protagonists in British children's literature, were definitely even if not right away completely broken, at least rendered more open and as such more probable.
And while we as modern and contemporary readers would (and yes even should) of course not be at all surprised at or in any way shocked by presented social and cultural themes such as hand-me-down clothing or issues with worn-out footwear and how to cheaply obtain reasonable replacements if one does not have much disposable cash appearing in children's literature (and while in North America and even in much of continental Europe, children's literature featuring the working classes had in fact been depicted much earlier than the 1930s, at least sporadically), Eve Garnett was definitely and should be much feted as a true United Kingdom pioneer, as one of the very first British children's literature authors to actively and deliberately present the lives and times of the working classes (both realistically and also with a much appreciated sense and dose of humour and adventure, of fun).
Now personally, I have found the diverse characters, the episodic adventures of especially the Ruggles' children both authentic feeling and thought/discussion conducing. I have always very much enjoyed reading what I call and label slice-of-life descriptions and depictions, and The Family From One End Street absolutely and glowingly has fit the proverbial bill for me so to speak, presenting a realistic portrait of 1930's England from the point of view of not the upper but the lower echelons of society (a much rewarding and also appreciatively entertaining reading experience, as long as one also strives to remember that the various episodic antics and adventures, the general themes are shown through the filter of the author, of Eve Garnett, who due to the fact that she definitely was of a considerably higher social status than the Ruggles family, than her featured characters, of course lacks the immediacy of personal experience and also does at least sometimes show a perspective that while always sympathetic also has the unfortunate but realistic tendency to come across as a trifle superior, not in any way enough to actively reject The Family From One End Street as a novel, but enough to make one think, ponder and discuss).
Now for our modern sensibilities, The Family From One End Street might very well sometimes feel a bit politically and socially awkward and uncomfortable, but for its time, for 1937, it was indeed and truly an absolute break-through in British children's literature, being one of the very first novels conceptualised for children that did not specifically focus on upper middle and/or aristocratic characters, but on the labouring classes, on a working class family with seven children where the father is a dustman and the mother a washerwoman. And from a historical point of view, Eve Garnett (who wanted with her The Family From One End Street to raise public awareness about what family life, what life in general was like for a large working class family living, existing just above the poverty line) actually did very much succeed with and in her endeavour, even if today's readers might consider especially her tone of narrative voice a bit patronising at times and feel that the presented text is more like that of a distant outsider-narrator and observer looking in, as Garnett herself was of course not of the labouring classes (was upper middle class) and had therefore never experienced poverty or life just above, just skirting the poverty line. However, in my opinion, with Garnett's novel, with The Family From One End Street, the barriers of the working classes not being considered as adequate and as acceptable main protagonists in British children's literature, were definitely even if not right away completely broken, at least rendered more open and as such more probable.
And while we as modern and contemporary readers would (and yes even should) of course not be at all surprised at or in any way shocked by presented social and cultural themes such as hand-me-down clothing or issues with worn-out footwear and how to cheaply obtain reasonable replacements if one does not have much disposable cash appearing in children's literature (and while in North America and even in much of continental Europe, children's literature featuring the working classes had in fact been depicted much earlier than the 1930s, at least sporadically), Eve Garnett was definitely and should be much feted as a true United Kingdom pioneer, as one of the very first British children's literature authors to actively and deliberately present the lives and times of the working classes (both realistically and also with a much appreciated sense and dose of humour and adventure, of fun).
Now personally, I have found the diverse characters, the episodic adventures of especially the Ruggles' children both authentic feeling and thought/discussion conducing. I have always very much enjoyed reading what I call and label slice-of-life descriptions and depictions, and The Family From One End Street absolutely and glowingly has fit the proverbial bill for me so to speak, presenting a realistic portrait of 1930's England from the point of view of not the upper but the lower echelons of society (a much rewarding and also appreciatively entertaining reading experience, as long as one also strives to remember that the various episodic antics and adventures, the general themes are shown through the filter of the author, of Eve Garnett, who due to the fact that she definitely was of a considerably higher social status than the Ruggles family, than her featured characters, of course lacks the immediacy of personal experience and also does at least sometimes show a perspective that while always sympathetic also has the unfortunate but realistic tendency to come across as a trifle superior, not in any way enough to actively reject The Family From One End Street as a novel, but enough to make one think, ponder and discuss).
January 9, 2013
This, when I was growing up, was pretty near being The Best Book Ever. I read it over and over again, and it delighted me every time.
it still delights me. The scenes are so evocative, and the children so perfectly drawn. (Both in the writing and the adorable and funny illustrations!)
I loved learning, as an adult, that this beloved book was ground-breaking for being the first British children's book to depict the everyday lives of normal working-class kids, instead of the polished "desirable" lives of upper-class children.
I desired their lives pretty wildly as a kid. The twins' adventures - and determination to create adventures in their lives - really jumped out at me the most as a child. I dreamed of the birthday cake at that party one of them gets accidentally invited to for years - "chocolate and coffee, mixed" - with a lattice of frosting and little silver balls all over it! who wouldn't? I'm sure several generations of children by now have dreamed about that cake. and their stories are all so funny and engaging!
It's funny. The older British kids' books I loved were mostly the magic-filled adventures of E. Nesbit's. But despite all the magic castles and psammeads I found there, the stories of the Family From One End Street seemed to hold more magic than anybody's.
it still delights me. The scenes are so evocative, and the children so perfectly drawn. (Both in the writing and the adorable and funny illustrations!)
I loved learning, as an adult, that this beloved book was ground-breaking for being the first British children's book to depict the everyday lives of normal working-class kids, instead of the polished "desirable" lives of upper-class children.
I desired their lives pretty wildly as a kid. The twins' adventures - and determination to create adventures in their lives - really jumped out at me the most as a child. I dreamed of the birthday cake at that party one of them gets accidentally invited to for years - "chocolate and coffee, mixed" - with a lattice of frosting and little silver balls all over it! who wouldn't? I'm sure several generations of children by now have dreamed about that cake. and their stories are all so funny and engaging!
It's funny. The older British kids' books I loved were mostly the magic-filled adventures of E. Nesbit's. But despite all the magic castles and psammeads I found there, the stories of the Family From One End Street seemed to hold more magic than anybody's.
November 18, 2025
It's the classic story of life in a big, happy family! And with seven children, you know there won't be a dull moment. Each chapter introduces you to a different child and tells of their adventures. From Lily Rose's plans to assist her mother with the laundering, to the twin's joining a "gang" (great laughs here!), to baby William being entered in a baby contest, it's fun twists and laughs ahead for everyone.
Set near London around the 1930s, this is sure to please not only the kids, but the parents who can completely relate to the comical, haphazard predicaments!
Ages: 7+
Content Considerations: The words "gosh" "golly" "thank goodness" and the like are used. The men smoke a pipe in this book and there is a section where it talks about them drinking alcohol. The children don't always behave right the first time but repent/learn from it.
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Set near London around the 1930s, this is sure to please not only the kids, but the parents who can completely relate to the comical, haphazard predicaments!
Ages: 7+
Content Considerations: The words "gosh" "golly" "thank goodness" and the like are used. The men smoke a pipe in this book and there is a section where it talks about them drinking alcohol. The children don't always behave right the first time but repent/learn from it.
**Like my reviews? Then you should follow me! Because I have hundreds more just like this one. With each review, I provide Content Considerations, mentioning any objectionable content I come across so that parents and/or conscientious readers (like me) can determine beforehand whether they want to read a book or not. Content surprises are super annoying, especially when you’re 100+ pages in, so here’s my attempt to help you avoid that!
If you’re considering a book or looking for a new title to read, check out my highly categorized shelves, read my reviews and Friend or Follow me to spiff up your feed with clean, wholesome, living books.
I have an Instagram account that’s pretty bookishly unique too!
March 1, 2016
We loved reading about this large family, struggling to make ends meet in the 1930s. I read this as a child about 30 years ago and it didn't seem to be talking about an era so far from my own. Reading it today makes me realise that the way of life in the book really has gone into history. Eve Garnet 's illustrations are beautiful and capture the family perfectly. Her style of writing put me in mind of Milly, Molly, Mandy, or My Naughty little sister. We loved reading how Mrs Ruggles took in washing, to a child now this was incomprehensible that even the wealthy didn't have a washing machine ! Despite the hardships the children had fun with a freedom they don't have these days. We enjoyed working out what a £1 was worth then, as the book gives some examples of what other things cost. We couldn't quite work out why William would have won the baby contest if only he had had teeth ! But an enjoyable read, a slightly exhausting read aloud, due to long descriptive sentences with few breaks ! We look forward to reading the others.
December 30, 2025
The Family from One-End Street is a three hundred page children's chapter book originally published in 1937. It's the story of a poor family. Mom is a washerwoman and Dad is a dustman (I had to look that up...he is what we in the US refer to as a garbage collector). The family has seven very different children. Lily Rose is the oldest and finds her name to be embarrassing. Kate is bright and does extremely well in school. The twin boys, Jim and John, like adventure. Jo, short for Josiah, tries to find ways to get enough money to go to the cinema often. Peg is the youngest daughter, and William is the baby.
The family has struggles and little adventures and great joys, and it's all set in a small town in England in difficult economic times. There are beautiful little black-and-white drawings throughout the book. It's just the sort of story I would have loved when I was a child, with something for everyone.
The family has struggles and little adventures and great joys, and it's all set in a small town in England in difficult economic times. There are beautiful little black-and-white drawings throughout the book. It's just the sort of story I would have loved when I was a child, with something for everyone.
March 4, 2012
Imagine if you will,
~ bird-chirping weather.
~ the fragrance of warm, sun dried cotton clothes.
~ lying on a beach with your talkative family and wriggling your toes in the sand as you snarfed down sandwiches and slabs of fruit cake.
~ the nervous excitement of visiting your first ever unsupervised birthday party and then returning home with that pleasant tiredness.
~ your utter awe of the darkened movie theatre and the smell of popcorn tantalising your senses.
~ the small thrill of curling up in bed with an old, dog-eared book.
~ facing mum’s wrath when you came home with scabby knees, unravelling pigtails and a huge grin on your face.
Now tie all that up and what you have is a childhood that didn’t have much technology but what it did have was a tremendous capacity to create happy memories.
The Family from One End Street is one such tale.
Meet The Ruggles family that lives at No.1 One End Street in the fictional town of Otwell. Jo Ruggles is the local dustman and his wife Rosie is the local washerwoman. Jo and Rosie’s singular source of pride is their large brood of seven children. Yep, you read it right. Seven children. And each of these seven children has a distinctive personality and the promising ability to get into all kinds of mischief and mayhem. The Ruggles family is always low on funds but never on dignity. The Senior Ruggles rule their little clan with a blend of old-fashioned discipline, gentle cajolement and a gruff optimism.
The book is in episodic form with the total absence of an continuing plotline. Each chapter is devoted to the dreams, dramas and escapades of each the Ruggle children. And sometimes, even their long-suffering parents. The beauty of their mini-stories lies in the joy that they manage to eke out of their meagre means. Luckily, the author’s narration never has a patronizing accent. You don’t have weeping sagas about the travails of tight purses. What you have is an honest portrayal of playtime in ‘hand-me-down-clothes’.
We have all loved us some Famous Five. Whether it were boat-trips to family islands or bicycle trips to farmhouses run by rosy-cheeked farmwives or the endless summer trips that were remembered for the glorious picnic baskets; we loved them all.
But what about the (slightly) shabbily shod children who leaned over the fence and watched the FIVE ride along in their quaint caravans? What did those kids do to enjoy summer in all it’s sweltering glory?
Eve Garnett gives us a glimpse into the possible lives of such kids, albeit in an urban setting.
The book is a winner and was regarded as a groundbreaker back in the days when most children’s books were rooted in middle class sensibilities. If you need further urging....the book was nominated along with The Hobbit for the Carnegie Medal for Best Children’s Book and WON. Yep, it left our beloved Bilbo Baggins behind.
So do read the book. You won't be disappointed.
It is sweet, honest and redolent with the whiff of a childhood that was devoid of apps.
~ bird-chirping weather.
~ the fragrance of warm, sun dried cotton clothes.
~ lying on a beach with your talkative family and wriggling your toes in the sand as you snarfed down sandwiches and slabs of fruit cake.
~ the nervous excitement of visiting your first ever unsupervised birthday party and then returning home with that pleasant tiredness.
~ your utter awe of the darkened movie theatre and the smell of popcorn tantalising your senses.
~ the small thrill of curling up in bed with an old, dog-eared book.
~ facing mum’s wrath when you came home with scabby knees, unravelling pigtails and a huge grin on your face.
Now tie all that up and what you have is a childhood that didn’t have much technology but what it did have was a tremendous capacity to create happy memories.
The Family from One End Street is one such tale.
Meet The Ruggles family that lives at No.1 One End Street in the fictional town of Otwell. Jo Ruggles is the local dustman and his wife Rosie is the local washerwoman. Jo and Rosie’s singular source of pride is their large brood of seven children. Yep, you read it right. Seven children. And each of these seven children has a distinctive personality and the promising ability to get into all kinds of mischief and mayhem. The Ruggles family is always low on funds but never on dignity. The Senior Ruggles rule their little clan with a blend of old-fashioned discipline, gentle cajolement and a gruff optimism.
The book is in episodic form with the total absence of an continuing plotline. Each chapter is devoted to the dreams, dramas and escapades of each the Ruggle children. And sometimes, even their long-suffering parents. The beauty of their mini-stories lies in the joy that they manage to eke out of their meagre means. Luckily, the author’s narration never has a patronizing accent. You don’t have weeping sagas about the travails of tight purses. What you have is an honest portrayal of playtime in ‘hand-me-down-clothes’.
We have all loved us some Famous Five. Whether it were boat-trips to family islands or bicycle trips to farmhouses run by rosy-cheeked farmwives or the endless summer trips that were remembered for the glorious picnic baskets; we loved them all.
But what about the (slightly) shabbily shod children who leaned over the fence and watched the FIVE ride along in their quaint caravans? What did those kids do to enjoy summer in all it’s sweltering glory?
Eve Garnett gives us a glimpse into the possible lives of such kids, albeit in an urban setting.
The book is a winner and was regarded as a groundbreaker back in the days when most children’s books were rooted in middle class sensibilities. If you need further urging....the book was nominated along with The Hobbit for the Carnegie Medal for Best Children’s Book and WON. Yep, it left our beloved Bilbo Baggins behind.
So do read the book. You won't be disappointed.
It is sweet, honest and redolent with the whiff of a childhood that was devoid of apps.
September 27, 2019
I’m so pleased that I finally read this 1937 children’s classic. There’s a beauty and timelessness about it despite being a little cliched and dated. It really captures the freedom and fears of childhood so beautifully as well as conveying the strong sense of class boundaries which existed then.
It’s not flawless, by any means, but there’s a perennial wonder and joy to be discovered and relished here and some mighty fine writing too.
It’s not flawless, by any means, but there’s a perennial wonder and joy to be discovered and relished here and some mighty fine writing too.
June 11, 2018
I learned about Eve Garnett’s ‘Family from One End Street’ series from Lucy Mangan’s reading memoir titled Bookworm. As book-finder chance would have it, not long after reading about these childhood favourites of Mangan’s - featuring the working class Ruggles family, with their seven children - I discovered this book (and its follow-up) in vintage 1970s Puffin editions at the Oxfam bookshop I volunteer at. These are the books that I should have been reading as a child: how I would have adored them, with their English style, dialect and setting. (Even as I child, I was a confirmed Anglophile.)
Author Eve Garnett won the 1937 Carnegie Medal for this book, and it’s easy to understand why. As Mangan points out, this was one of the first books to realistically, humorously and lovingly portray a decidedly ‘not’ posh (or even middle-class) family. Mother takes in washing, and father is a dustman who dreams of being able to afford to buy a pig. With seven children, shoes are an important and ever-present concern. (I remember my mother saying the same of her mother, who grew up in a large family during the Depression.). Somehow Eve Garnett has the balanced ‘trick’ of being authentic about the rough-and-tumble of family life, whilst still presenting a warm and loving family. Her characterisations are just detailed enough to be lively and precise, but children whose lives are very unlike the Ruggles will still find points of identification. Her illustrations are charming, too, although their nostalgic style may be likelier to appeal to middle-aged readers (like me). I don’t think this book could ever have that indefinable magic for me that it has for Lucy Mangan; you have to fall in love with a book as a child to truly feel that; but this is definitely the sort of classic which has kid and adult appeal both.
Author Eve Garnett won the 1937 Carnegie Medal for this book, and it’s easy to understand why. As Mangan points out, this was one of the first books to realistically, humorously and lovingly portray a decidedly ‘not’ posh (or even middle-class) family. Mother takes in washing, and father is a dustman who dreams of being able to afford to buy a pig. With seven children, shoes are an important and ever-present concern. (I remember my mother saying the same of her mother, who grew up in a large family during the Depression.). Somehow Eve Garnett has the balanced ‘trick’ of being authentic about the rough-and-tumble of family life, whilst still presenting a warm and loving family. Her characterisations are just detailed enough to be lively and precise, but children whose lives are very unlike the Ruggles will still find points of identification. Her illustrations are charming, too, although their nostalgic style may be likelier to appeal to middle-aged readers (like me). I don’t think this book could ever have that indefinable magic for me that it has for Lucy Mangan; you have to fall in love with a book as a child to truly feel that; but this is definitely the sort of classic which has kid and adult appeal both.
April 5, 2017
I read only one chapter, the one where Lily Rose irons a silk petticoat with a hot iron, in a magazine, when I was a child. My only ambition then was to try out a hot iron on my mother's taffeta petticoat to see whether it shrunk to a doll sized one. Sad to say, I never got the chance. Now, some fifty years later, I found the book, and one glance at the contents and my childhood days were back. I had never quite forgotten Lily Rose.
A sense of contentment steals over you as you read through the simple pleasures that life holds for this family. They are so perfectly happy in their genteel poverty, the children create their own adventures (I love the way, each chapter is devoted to one child, and they are all so different, yet so real). The characters outside the family are also so warm and understanding of childhood calamities, like the "old" truck driver (aged all of 19 years), driving Joe all the way back home, an unknown benefactor mailing back Kate's precious new school hat, the kindhearted Lawrences taking John home to share in their son's birthday party or the musicians who collect sixpence to buy Jo a cinema ticket and leave tuppence over for other goodies. What an idyllic world!
A sense of contentment steals over you as you read through the simple pleasures that life holds for this family. They are so perfectly happy in their genteel poverty, the children create their own adventures (I love the way, each chapter is devoted to one child, and they are all so different, yet so real). The characters outside the family are also so warm and understanding of childhood calamities, like the "old" truck driver (aged all of 19 years), driving Joe all the way back home, an unknown benefactor mailing back Kate's precious new school hat, the kindhearted Lawrences taking John home to share in their son's birthday party or the musicians who collect sixpence to buy Jo a cinema ticket and leave tuppence over for other goodies. What an idyllic world!
August 26, 2016
British working class family. Really good stories. Realistic and fun. I'm delighted to have found this author.
I loved it again upon a second reading for my book group. We read it because I bought everyone copies. They couldn't say no. I hope they liked it too.
Turns out everyone liked it. Sparked lots of discussion of the way things were. Remembering our childhoods and made us think of the documentary series 7-Up.
I loved it again upon a second reading for my book group. We read it because I bought everyone copies. They couldn't say no. I hope they liked it too.
Turns out everyone liked it. Sparked lots of discussion of the way things were. Remembering our childhoods and made us think of the documentary series 7-Up.
October 29, 2019
Read this again in my revisiting of my favourite books when I was a child. Still loved this one and surprised how much I remembered. While it’s slightly dated for a modern reader today, it was pretty revolutionary at the time of publication as it focused on a working class family. Quite a few jokes in here for parents and took me right back to remember what it was like to be a child. I still would quite like to be one of the Ruggles!
March 8, 2011
Just started it. It's not unlike Elizabeth Enright's 'Melendy Books'. Set a little earlier - 1930s not 40s - but some similar humour and sympathetic, well-drawn characters.
Finished it while on holiday. Delightful, funny, warm, and would be a great book to read aloud to older children. So refreshing to read a book so unconcerned with the 'wow' factor and a slew of marketing behind it, but relies simply on characterisation to keep you reading.
If you liked 'The Penderwicks' by Jeanne Birdsall, or if you enjoy the books of Edward Eager, you'll probably like this too. A bold step back in time!
Finished it while on holiday. Delightful, funny, warm, and would be a great book to read aloud to older children. So refreshing to read a book so unconcerned with the 'wow' factor and a slew of marketing behind it, but relies simply on characterisation to keep you reading.
If you liked 'The Penderwicks' by Jeanne Birdsall, or if you enjoy the books of Edward Eager, you'll probably like this too. A bold step back in time!
September 10, 2016
I'm very much in the minority on this one. To me, it was a perfect fable designed to keep children of the lower classes contently in their Place. Desperately poor? Buck up - it's not so bad, and there's always a kind rich person to act as beneficent angel when you land in the soup (if you're kind and respectful enough). The utter lack of a villain or an adversary of any sort in this novel makes it feel less like a story and more and more like a tract. Give me a good Roald Dahl any day.
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January 17, 2024I just want to remember this title. I believe my husband read this to the kids? Or to me?? In any case, it's a portrait of a working-class family in England, done cheerfully though, rather than grittily, but IIRC not too sentimentally? But the truth is that I only remember a few moments. One where a daughter in the family wants to help her mother iron and ends up melting some garment that's made with artificial fibers [ETA: reading other reviews I find it's actually silk!]. The details about the hot irons and the fabric shriveling up were very vivid. I'd like to come back and read it again. I have an intuition that some of it was maybe, IDK, slightly condescending? But very warm. Anyway, I've had a paper note with the title on it on my desk for forever, and I want to offload it to here.
February 22, 2022
One of my favourite books ever, The Family from One End Street was published in 1937,and I love the way they are satisfied with simple things like a day out at the seaside or an ice cream sundae in a café. The hardworking dad, Jo, has been trying to save up for a pig for years, but has a horror of going into debt. It's like another world, but the love and kindness of the family shines through, although by today's standards they would be considered as living in poverty.
I have read and reread this so many times over the years, and I still love it.
I have read and reread this so many times over the years, and I still love it.
March 24, 2017
This is a depression-era children's novel about a working class family struggling to make ends meet; the father, Jo, is a dustman, and with his partner combs trash for valuables after collecting it. Rose, the mother, does laundry. Their seven children have realistic adventures that could have happened at that time. Overall the book has a glow of love and happiness despite various scrapes and problems along the way.
September 10, 2018
I first read this book over 50 years ago. Loved reading it again, and was interested to see from the fact pack at the end of this reprint version that it was published in the same year as The Hobbit, and that it beat the latter to win the Carnegie Medal. My mother would have been the same age as Lily Rose when the book came out!
August 5, 2019
The cutest account of a very British family with seven children, their daily exploits and adventures and the kids sense of independence and ability to reach their dreams. Full of humor and laughter, this story will get anyone in a good mood and a bit nostalgic for large families with resourceful family members - even those of young age! LOL.
Maria Carmo,
Lisbon 5 August 2019.
Maria Carmo,
Lisbon 5 August 2019.
July 2, 2016
Seven kids and lots of adventures.
February 5, 2017
I first heard about The Family from One End Street: and Some of Their Adventures by Eve Garnett from the BBC television special, "Picture Book: An Illustrated History of Children's Literature", which my husband and I watched together a few years ago. In a segment of the show, Jacqueline Wilson, author of The Story of Tracy Beaker, spoke of the way Garnett's portrayal of working class life resonated with her as she grew up in similar circumstances. She identified the book as the first children's novel to show what it was truly like to be from a poor family. We have hunted high and low for this book for years, and it was only a shot-in-the-dark search at OpenLibrary.org that finally led to me finding and reading it. It was an added bonus that the book won the 1938 Carnegie Medal, making it possible for this to be the first book I will review for the Old School Kidlit Reading Challenge.
The Ruggles family is at the center of this book. Mr. and Mrs. Ruggles are a dustman and a washerwoman, and they have seven children: Lily Rose, Kate, Jim, John, Jo Jr., Peg, and William. In each chapter, a member of the family has a problem or adventure which the reader experiences through that character's point of view. These include Lily Rose's accidental destruction of an article of clothing belonging to one of her mother's laundry customers, Kate performing well enough to be admitted to a school for which the cost of uniforms might be far outside the family budget, and William being entered in a baby show, which he would have a better chance of winning if only he would cut a tooth. Though the family is poor, there is very little in these episodes that would elicit pity from a child reader. Rather, the Ruggles have just as much fun - and get into just as much trouble - as any Melendy, Pye, Moffat or other literary heroine found in the children's books of the 1930s and 1940s.
Garnett has a wonderful ear for dialogue and a true understanding of the way kids' minds work. Though many of the concerns the Ruggles kids struggle with are not relevant to the worries of contemporary kids, their feelings of embarrassment when they do something wrong and their spirit of adventure when a new opportunity arises can be understood by children from any time period, and readers of any age. This book was really a treat, and well worth the long while I had to wait to get my hands on a copy. Strangely, I actually think it will be easier for me to get a hold of the sequels, Further Adventures of the Family from One End Street and Holiday at the Dew Drop Inn, which I hope to read soon.
This review also appears on my blog, Read-at-Home Mom.
The Ruggles family is at the center of this book. Mr. and Mrs. Ruggles are a dustman and a washerwoman, and they have seven children: Lily Rose, Kate, Jim, John, Jo Jr., Peg, and William. In each chapter, a member of the family has a problem or adventure which the reader experiences through that character's point of view. These include Lily Rose's accidental destruction of an article of clothing belonging to one of her mother's laundry customers, Kate performing well enough to be admitted to a school for which the cost of uniforms might be far outside the family budget, and William being entered in a baby show, which he would have a better chance of winning if only he would cut a tooth. Though the family is poor, there is very little in these episodes that would elicit pity from a child reader. Rather, the Ruggles have just as much fun - and get into just as much trouble - as any Melendy, Pye, Moffat or other literary heroine found in the children's books of the 1930s and 1940s.
Garnett has a wonderful ear for dialogue and a true understanding of the way kids' minds work. Though many of the concerns the Ruggles kids struggle with are not relevant to the worries of contemporary kids, their feelings of embarrassment when they do something wrong and their spirit of adventure when a new opportunity arises can be understood by children from any time period, and readers of any age. This book was really a treat, and well worth the long while I had to wait to get my hands on a copy. Strangely, I actually think it will be easier for me to get a hold of the sequels, Further Adventures of the Family from One End Street and Holiday at the Dew Drop Inn, which I hope to read soon.
This review also appears on my blog, Read-at-Home Mom.
February 2, 2016
An exquisite children's book, timeless and for ages.
I have mixed feelings about nostalgia. I want to avoid a mindset that irritates me in others, that there is inherent value in something that merely serves as a prompt for memories of times past. The memories are good, but the book is only a prompt. Who wants to live in the past? Especially if rose-tinted memories may seem more attractive than the mixed experience of living in the present.
I'm also a bit hesitant about (unaccompanied) adults who value children's books, or music, TV programmes or days out, above adult-experiences. It suggests some stunted development.
However, I see no harm in occasionally revisiting novels you read as a child and trying to assess it objectively.
This is a very good book. I could criticise this for avoiding complex emotions and adult psychology, but that would be churlish. Its strength are many.
The writing structure is very clear, but I never felt it was unnecessarily simplified. There are strong characterisations of most of the Ruggles family, even William, although Peg perhaps get a bit over-shadowed. It attempts to portray life of a working class family with seven children. They seem to make do and get by, which I suspect might be slightly optimistic for the mid 19930s (but see above about churlishness). I particularly enjoyed the chapters where the three boys have their adventures.
It's only as I'm writing this it dawns on me that the boys are more strongly portrayed than the girls, although I didn't realise that while reading. Not just because the boys roam further unsupervised but because the author gets deeper into the thoughts of the boys.
I like the way she writes about class differences. Her portrayal of working men and women is remarkable. It lacks the middle class trap of either patronising them or being 'noble'. When one of the boys meets a wealthier family, the wealth differences are carefully detailed but there is no suggestion of one class being better than the other, nor is there any implication that one should just accept the circumstance one is born into. Quite a delicate balance to find.
One of the added delights are the very many sketches interspersed among the tales.
Recognised as one of the greatest children's books of its time but, oddly, rarely referenced in any discourse.
I have mixed feelings about nostalgia. I want to avoid a mindset that irritates me in others, that there is inherent value in something that merely serves as a prompt for memories of times past. The memories are good, but the book is only a prompt. Who wants to live in the past? Especially if rose-tinted memories may seem more attractive than the mixed experience of living in the present.
I'm also a bit hesitant about (unaccompanied) adults who value children's books, or music, TV programmes or days out, above adult-experiences. It suggests some stunted development.
However, I see no harm in occasionally revisiting novels you read as a child and trying to assess it objectively.
This is a very good book. I could criticise this for avoiding complex emotions and adult psychology, but that would be churlish. Its strength are many.
The writing structure is very clear, but I never felt it was unnecessarily simplified. There are strong characterisations of most of the Ruggles family, even William, although Peg perhaps get a bit over-shadowed. It attempts to portray life of a working class family with seven children. They seem to make do and get by, which I suspect might be slightly optimistic for the mid 19930s (but see above about churlishness). I particularly enjoyed the chapters where the three boys have their adventures.
It's only as I'm writing this it dawns on me that the boys are more strongly portrayed than the girls, although I didn't realise that while reading. Not just because the boys roam further unsupervised but because the author gets deeper into the thoughts of the boys.
I like the way she writes about class differences. Her portrayal of working men and women is remarkable. It lacks the middle class trap of either patronising them or being 'noble'. When one of the boys meets a wealthier family, the wealth differences are carefully detailed but there is no suggestion of one class being better than the other, nor is there any implication that one should just accept the circumstance one is born into. Quite a delicate balance to find.
One of the added delights are the very many sketches interspersed among the tales.
Recognised as one of the greatest children's books of its time but, oddly, rarely referenced in any discourse.
November 7, 2013
spoiler alert - william wins the baby show (or at least the 'best baby under 1 year' category). which event sounds like the kind of thing that would be considered not in the best of taste these days, yet a hell of a lot better for all concerned than 5-year-olds in beauty pageants.
i hadn't read this as a child, and as an adult am happily surprised by how vivid, funny and convincingly written it is, although the writer is clearly middle-class (looking up her wiki entry, she was an artist who had attended a progressive girls boarding school). the children are well done, but it's Jo's inner musings on the Pig Question and Rosie's dialaogue that's truly brilliant. it's also striking, from this historical vantage-point, how much has changed since the 1930s, in attitude and technology, when in my head they're modern times - the family can't afford a 90-minute train trip to London, Kate is clever enough to get a scholarship but university is clearly out of the question (her distant dream is some sort of agricultural college), horses and carts are still commonly used. and no one seems to have a problem with the class system - although this is more the nature of the book, with its likable, kind characters, than a reflection of reality, and Garnett gets a couple of digs in with Uncle Charlie's ambition to "take it up political", not to mention the name of his horse, Bernard Shaw.
i hadn't read this as a child, and as an adult am happily surprised by how vivid, funny and convincingly written it is, although the writer is clearly middle-class (looking up her wiki entry, she was an artist who had attended a progressive girls boarding school). the children are well done, but it's Jo's inner musings on the Pig Question and Rosie's dialaogue that's truly brilliant. it's also striking, from this historical vantage-point, how much has changed since the 1930s, in attitude and technology, when in my head they're modern times - the family can't afford a 90-minute train trip to London, Kate is clever enough to get a scholarship but university is clearly out of the question (her distant dream is some sort of agricultural college), horses and carts are still commonly used. and no one seems to have a problem with the class system - although this is more the nature of the book, with its likable, kind characters, than a reflection of reality, and Garnett gets a couple of digs in with Uncle Charlie's ambition to "take it up political", not to mention the name of his horse, Bernard Shaw.
October 5, 2016
Wow! This is how we should all live our life. Talk about being like children to become holy. The mother, Rose, is a laundress, and the father, Old Jo, is a dustman (garbage man), and they love their life and their seven children (although the wife does comment that that is plenty). Rose says early on in the book that where would the world be without a laundress and a dustman?
Every family member is given one chapter, including the baby William, and then the last chapters are about the family and their bank holidays, particularly their bank holiday to London for one day. Oh, when you read a description of how the family walks to catch the train for London, with their hodgepodge bags and clothing and so proud. Rose tells Old Jo not to wave with his left arm because he has a slit under the sleeve!
Although there are plenty of adventures, extremely dangerous ones too, there are no bad guys in the entire book except for snooty people, and only three of them. Love penetrates the entire book.
What if we only read books like this? Where would the world be today? Closer to a loving, peaceful version that is for certain. I'm ordering the next one in the series from the library right now!
Every family member is given one chapter, including the baby William, and then the last chapters are about the family and their bank holidays, particularly their bank holiday to London for one day. Oh, when you read a description of how the family walks to catch the train for London, with their hodgepodge bags and clothing and so proud. Rose tells Old Jo not to wave with his left arm because he has a slit under the sleeve!
Although there are plenty of adventures, extremely dangerous ones too, there are no bad guys in the entire book except for snooty people, and only three of them. Love penetrates the entire book.
What if we only read books like this? Where would the world be today? Closer to a loving, peaceful version that is for certain. I'm ordering the next one in the series from the library right now!
December 5, 2015
An excellent evening read for children or adults who love kids' books. The adventures are funny without being silly, heartwarming without being sentimental sludge. Mr and Mrs Ruggles are working-class parents of a large family; he is a dustman (garbage collector in the US) while she is a washerwoman. I had to laugh at the adventure of the Green Silk Petticoat, as something very similar happened to me with a clothes dryer when I was first married! The author wanted to write stories that working-class English kids could relate to, and I believe she achieved that.
Published in 1937, so horse-drawn drays are still an important part of life, even in London. The cinema in the small town of Otwell still has live musicians, though it's admitted that they're passé in other places, and a "Silly Symphony" film gets a passing mention.
The illustrations add a great deal to the text. I wish I could find more of Garnett's books.
Published in 1937, so horse-drawn drays are still an important part of life, even in London. The cinema in the small town of Otwell still has live musicians, though it's admitted that they're passé in other places, and a "Silly Symphony" film gets a passing mention.
The illustrations add a great deal to the text. I wish I could find more of Garnett's books.
December 5, 2016
A lovely story about the life and adventures of a working class family in the 30s. I remember it as the first book I read as a child where the children lived life as I knew it- money being tight, the trials of obtaining a school uniform and the worry about what would happen if you spoiled/ lost any of it. Re-reading it now, I'm struck by the warmth of the relationships (between the mum and dad and the parents and children) and the strength of the Mum and Dad as well as their moral code. Although it has inevitably dated, it is still an enjoyable read and a window into life in a different age.
July 2, 2016
3.5
What a charming little book. We follow the trials and tribulations of a large working class family, the Ruggles, in an episodic-like narration, full of anecdotes, mixing humour with pathos. All this is enhanced by the lovely line illustrations made by the author.
What a charming little book. We follow the trials and tribulations of a large working class family, the Ruggles, in an episodic-like narration, full of anecdotes, mixing humour with pathos. All this is enhanced by the lovely line illustrations made by the author.
June 24, 2016
Heart Heart Heart
November 3, 2018
One of my favorite childhood reads!! This book is just packed with nostalgia💛💛
November 16, 2023
The Ruggles family include mother, father and several children. They are from a working class background, mother is a washer-women and father a dustman, and with such a large family to cater for have to 'make do and mend'. The children wearing hand-me-downs and being none the worse for it.
The stories are of family life set in a bygone era, where there are no electronic devices to distract the children, and they can play outside creating their own adventures, even though sometimes it lands them in hot water! And if the children want anything, i.e. a trip to the cinema, they come up with ideas as to how to make money to do so, not just hold out their hand and expect mum and dad to cough up, which they could not anyway as they are quite poor. Poor but happy and content with their lot and happy to save what little they earn (doing any odd job) for Bank Holiday treats such as a visit to the sea, where they would eat pork-pies and doughnuts on the promenade.
There is a wholesomeness and innocence to these stories, and a feeling of nostalgia for a time when things were more straightforward and less complicated, which make them very appealing in today's current climate of increasing materialism and toxic social media.
The Family from One End Street beat The Hobbit to win the Carnegie Medal in 1937 and has never been out of print, and I can see why. I bought the sequel straight afterward!
The stories are of family life set in a bygone era, where there are no electronic devices to distract the children, and they can play outside creating their own adventures, even though sometimes it lands them in hot water! And if the children want anything, i.e. a trip to the cinema, they come up with ideas as to how to make money to do so, not just hold out their hand and expect mum and dad to cough up, which they could not anyway as they are quite poor. Poor but happy and content with their lot and happy to save what little they earn (doing any odd job) for Bank Holiday treats such as a visit to the sea, where they would eat pork-pies and doughnuts on the promenade.
There is a wholesomeness and innocence to these stories, and a feeling of nostalgia for a time when things were more straightforward and less complicated, which make them very appealing in today's current climate of increasing materialism and toxic social media.
The Family from One End Street beat The Hobbit to win the Carnegie Medal in 1937 and has never been out of print, and I can see why. I bought the sequel straight afterward!
April 17, 2022
I learned about this book from the American Girl Nanea series, because her class reads it in school. The description made it sound right down my alley, and it was indeed. I enjoyed the humorous slice-of-life chapters and the British setting. The characters all seem very realistic and authentic, and even though I prefer family books that emphasize shared adventures between siblings, the method of focusing on a different child's unique adventure for most of the book was an interesting approach.
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