The Problim Children audiobook

This quirky, endearing, magical middle grade book is about 7 siblings whose house on a swamp suddenly explodes. They must come up with a plan as their parents are unreachable on an archaeological site in Angorra. Through songs, they remember a box that was buried in the yard which contains a deed to their grandfather’s mansion. Their grandfather has been missing and presumed deceased for 7 years. Before disappearing he visited them often, however, they have never been to his mansion which is only 7 miles from where they live. The Problim children arrive in Lost Cove to claim his house just as the mayor is about to put the Problim mansion up for auction with one very eager buyer, a Desdemona O’Pinion.Upon arriving in Lost Cove, Desdemona O’Pinion threatens to split up the 7 siblings and send them each to a different continent as they have no documentation to prove who they are. She has even formed the Society for the Protection of Unwanted Children who are ready to take the children away. The children are given one month to either provide legal documentation that they are the Problim children or their parents must arrive. In the meantime they are allowed to stay in the mansion. They spend this time trying to work out clues from a rhyme that was also left behind for them by their grandfather. They also try to befriend the neighbors who seem both afraid and intrigued by them.These Problim children had no idea they were magical or different until moving into Frank Problim’s mansion. The circus spiders carrying rumors, the fog surrounding their home in the shape of animals and objects, and the countless other anomalies that are part of the Problim’s daily life have never seemed extraordinary until now. The book will entrance and delight readers. There are riddles and mysteries to solve aplenty. There are characters to love and cheer for. The book is full of interesting characters whose names are clues to their personalities. The book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, leaving the reader awaiting a sequel… I’m guessing there might be 7 in this series.

Thank you, HarperCollins and Edelweiss for an ARC of this book.So many things to love about this book: seven engaging siblings, a mystery to solve about hidden treasure, nosy neighbors, Ichabod the pig and more. The book ends with a cliffhanger. Looking forward to future installments in the Problim Children saga.Little Toot does just that--lots of tooting. The author very creatively gave each toot its own footnote with a title and description including the particular aroma for each. As an adult I may be underestimating how much this might appeal to middle grade readers. It bogged down the story a bit for me.

From the New York Times bestselling author of A Snicker of Magic and The Key to Extraordinary comes a new middle grade series about seven strange siblings all born on a different day of the week and the neighbors who keep trying to tear their family apart.Wendell and Thea—twins born two minutes apart on a Wednesday and a Thursday—see the move as a chance to make new friends in time for their birthday cake smash. But the neighbors find the Problims’ return problematic—what with Sal’s foggy garden full of Wrangling Ivy, toddler Toot’s 365 stanktastic fart varieties, and Mona’s human catapult.Truth be told, rumors are flying about the Problims! Rumors of a bitter feud, a treasure, and a certain kind of magic lingering in the halls of #7 Main Street. And the neighbors will do anything to get their hands on those secrets—including sending the Problim children to seven different homes on seven different continents!With a snicker of Lemony Snicket, a dollop of the Addams Family, and a healthy dose of charm, The Problim Children is an unforgettable tale about adventure, family, and finding the courage to tackle any problem heart-first.From GoodreadsMY BOOK REVIEW!My thanks to Harper Collins for this ARC to review and leave my honest review!This is such a fun book! The characters, the Problim kids, are unique, mischievous, adventurous and so lovable.  For this book, Thea and Wendell, the twins, seem to be the focus, although you do get to know the other children as the book progresses.The villain reminds me of Cruella De Vil without the colorful hair. Instead of hating dogs, the villain in Lloyd’s book hates the Problims. You’ll have to read why.There’s something mysterious about the home the Problim children inherited from their grandfather.  In fact, the whole story behind their grandfather, the house, their parents is so intriguing you want to keep reading in order to discover what’s going on.I found myself eagerly reading to discover what the Problim children were getting into next. Their ability to land in trouble and how they work their way out of it, is amusing. The characters develop nicely as the story progresses. The plot moves along with surprising twists and turns that keep the story steadily heading toward the climax at a great pace.  I love the author’s voice.  The Problim Children  is a quick read.  I recommend this book, because it’s perfect for all middle-graders (and adults) out there! I can’t wait for the next book of the series!

I had the opportunity to read an Advanced copy of this book that was shared with me by my #BookRelays group. I loved Natalie Lloyd’s book, A Snicker of Magic, so I was excited to get a chance to read her latest middle grade novel. This book is the first in a series that follows the treasure-hunting adventures of a peculiar family of seven siblings. Each child was born on a different day of the week, and has a unique personality to match their birth day. When disaster strikes their home in the swamp, they show up in the town of Lost Cove to claim their grandfather’s abandoned mansion. There is a next door neighbor who wants the place for herself and works tirelessly to see that these children are forced to leave. There are clues throughout the house that lead to a treasure, and the race is on to see who finds it first.The family in the book reminds me of a cross between the Herdmans in Barbara Robinson’s The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and the title character in Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren. I love that middle grade kids have a quirky, fun group of kids that, for the most part, try to see people “heart first.” One of the attendees of Wendell and Thea’s birthday party describes them as “Funny and really weird but in a good way. And when you’re around them, you feel like it’s okay to be weird too.”I really enjoyed this book. Fans of Natalie Lloyd will also appreciate the cameo appearance her own dog, Biscuit, makes in the story. This book would be appropriate for kids in grades 3-7.

LOVE LOVE LOVED THIS. As per usual with Natalie's books, it was quirky and fabulous and full of heart. I read this in a day. That's how good it was. A really fun adventure with a cast of characters that you will instantly fall in love with. I am VERY excited for book #2!

This is the story of the seven Problim siblings, each born on a different day of the week: Sundae (Sunday), Mona (Monday), Toot (Tuesday), the twins Wendell (Wednesday) and Thea (Thursday), Frida (Friday), and Sal (Saturday). Their parents are brilliant archaeologists who have raised their children to be independent, open-minded, and free-range learners. This means that while mom and dad are away on an important dig, their children are unschooled, solving problems on their own with only their oldest sibling (Sundae, age 16) left in charge at home. The story begins with the destruction of their home. Uh oh! But soon after, they discover that their grandfather left his home to the seven children. So the children load up and travel to their grandfather’s town to show proof of deed ownership. Luckily, they interrupt the start of an auction for the home and they’re granted 21 days to live there before they must either (1) prove their ownership by birth certificate (which were destroyed with their house), or (2) have their parents arrive to claim them. In the meantime, they discover a mystery involving hidden treasure and clues their grandfather left behind for them. It’s an incredibly unique and mysterious story. If you’re accustomed to straight-forward reads, I suggest you try not to overthink anything in the first few chapters. Once I resolved to simply go with it, this story was quite fun! 🙂 Aaaand it looks like book #2 is scheduled to come out in February 2019.For more kidlit, MGlit, and YAlit book reviews, please visit my book review blog: The Miller Memo.

The Problim ChildrenByNatalie LloydWhat it's all about...Oh my...there are seven Problim children happily living in their swampy house in the swampy woods until it blows up. The children are alone...Sundae...the eldest...is in charge and each Problim has a special skill. Oh...Toot...the baby...has a flatulence problem. So...after the swampy explosion they are off to the next town to live in their grandfather’s house...little did they know just how unwelcome they would be there. The loudest mouth in the neighborhood...Mrs. O’Pinion...wants their house and wants them gone...all seven Problim children scattered to seven different faraway places.Why I wanted to read it...I loved the cover, loved the story and loved the humor in this awesome middle school book. What made me truly enjoy this book...Again..the humor...subtle...the storyline...clever...and the way this book just came together.Why you should read it, too...Readers who love fantasy and humor and an imaginative story...will love this book. It will help if you learn to love numbered flatulence incidents...thanks to Baby Toot! I received an advance reader’s copy of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss and Amazon. It was my choice to read it and review it.

Natalie's books are always so sweet and charming! I love the worlds she creates and her quirky characters. This one was no exception. After a little confusion at the very beginning because of how nonchalant the children were about their house being blown up, I quickly got sucked into the story. I loved the emphasis on family (though at first I had a little trouble keeping all the kids straight!). The mystery is intriguing and even though it isn't completely solved here (this is the first in a trilogy), I didn't feel frustrated about that because she gives you enough information to satisfy you for now. :)It just now hit me that Desdemona totally reminded me of the evil lady in the Casper movie. No wonder she was disturbing, ha.My favorite sibling was probably Thea. I also liked Frida a lot though! Her rhyming felt a little forced at times, but the idea of her creeping around and referring to herself as the Fox was hilarious. My only real complaint about the book was Toot's farting. I'm not a fan of potty humor and it just got a little repetitive.I enjoyed this book so much and can't wait for the next one!

This book started a bit slow for me. I had a hard time keeping the characters straight and I wasn’t as drawn to the story as I’ve been by Natalie Lloyd’s other books. But as I got further along, I couldn’t wait to read each chapter. Loved these seven Problim children with their special abilities, their quirky charms, and their love for each other. I’m betting my kids will think the classified toots are hilarious and the way the Problim children know how to have fun will make students wish they had neighbors like this. This book shouts sequel! Hope to learn more about the parents and to meet the mom in the next installment.

This was an entertaining story and I enjoyed getting to know the seven siblings. I’m not a big fan of A Series of Unfortunate Events (I need closure!), and this was much more cheery and fun in my opinion. I found baby Toot and his fart communication hilarious. Call me a fart-humor lover. Even with its quirkiness, there were deeper layers. Thea especially explored those layers. Twins with Wendell, she has to think about who she could be, all on her own, while Wendell seems to be less interested in the super-close-twins life.Mona’s devious ways were funny, with the way her siblings reacted to her too. The kids want friends, but Mona isn’t into the whole “be nice” idea. I would have given 5 stars if there had been more closure at the end of the book (first book in a planned series, so will have to wait until next year to read what happens next), and if there had been a more compelling reason for a 16 year old to be in charge of six younger siblings while their parents were off on an archeology expedition. That situation will just have to be tucked away into the “it doesn’t always have to make sense to grownups! It’s just fun!” category.

Holy cliffhanger!!!!

A delightful, quirky, clever story of family, friendship and the quirkiest cast of creatures and ne’er do wells I’ve read in awhile. Fun and can’t wait for book 2!

Delightful.

Seven siblings, working together with their different if odd talents, using creative problem solving, and solving problems...wonderful!It's a bit of an odd setup with the seven kids being left to their own devices while their parents are off on an archeological expedition. When their house deep in the swamp somehow collapses, they pull together and decide to go to their dead grandfather's house in a small town called Lost Cove. The problems of the Problim children aren't solved right away though because the evil neighbor wants the house and the children out and they have 21 days to prove that they are in fact the grandchildren of the Problim family. With their own house collapsed, they hope to find some proof in the house in Lost Cove as well as solve an intriguing mystery their grandfather left with them along with the keys to the house.Now, the Problims are unique kids with different abilities and they are already fighting against the reputation of their ancestors in Love Cove. One has created a spider circus, another is a master gardener of sorts that can create awful smelling flowers with the help of his own moisture filled fog that tends to fill the entire city, etc. Then there's the baby, Toots and my one semi-issue with the book. Toot communicates by the scents of his farts. I'm not kidding, they are numbered, a lot of them and the kids know which smell means what, like happiness, distress, etc. I don't know about you, but kids get enough reminders and laughter out of gas and burps without devoting an entire character that communicates via them. I know, I know, it's a personal niggly thing, but a big one to me. I suppose I was trained not to find it funny when I was a kid and as an adult, still don't find it attractive or acceptable. And don't get me started on women that burp or pass gas openly, finding it funny. Back to the story. The neighbors had a long feud with grandpa Problim and they are determined to get in the house and find the treasure and if that means getting the kids out and put in care, that's great too. She's the villain in this story and wears it well. The kid's oddness at first makes it hard to make friends of the neighbors, especially with the town bully neighbor trying so hard to turn them all against them. They don't give up though and even reach out to some of the cities other outcasts as well.I love a great story of siblings working together, whether they are normal kids or slightly odd. My only issue with this book is Toots. (I can suspend disbelief on the parent's not being there thing for long enough to get through.) Because of my own personal hangup, I probably wouldn't pass this one on to kids I know, yet don't have an issue if that's how you roll in your family. It was a good example of creative thinking and working together.