As spring arrives on Gardam Street, there are surprises in store for each Penderwick, from neighbor Nick Geiger's expected return from the war to Batty's new dog-walking business, but her plans to use her profits to surprise her family on her eleventh birthday go astray.

Pete the cat loves the buttons on his shirt so much that he makes up a song about them, and even as the buttons pop off, one by one, he still finds a reason to sing.

"Haunted by her sister's mysterious disappearance, Lucy Wilson arrives in Rowan County, Kentucky, in the spring of 1911 to work for Cora Wilson Stewart, superintendent of education. When Cora sends Lucy into the hills to act as scribe for the mountain people, she is repelled by the primitive conditions and intellectual poverty she encounters. Few adults can read and write.Born in those hills, Cora knows the plague of illiteracy. So does Brother Wyatt,...

Harry the dog goes to fantastic lengths to make his neighbor stop singing.

Hazel Nut wants to sing and dance, but Mama, Papa, and Wally Nut are too busy, so Hazel calls in a special family member to get everyone moving.

Pete the Cat wears his new white shoes while walking down the street, and as he steps into piles of strawberries, blueberries, and other messes--and the color of his footwear changes--he keeps on moving and singing to himself without being bothered.