When Leo's mother announces there will be a surprise at dinner, Leo and his brother are desperate to find out what it is, and their imaginations run wild.

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.

Publisher Annotation: It?s homework time for the little red chicken, who has just learned about something every good story should have: an elephant of surprise. Or could it be an element of surprise (as her amused papa explains)? As they dive in to story after story, looking for the part that makes a reader say "Whoa! I didn?t know that was going to happen," Papa is sure he can convince Chicken he?s right. After all, there are definitely no elephants...

As final preparations are being made for a long-planned surprise party, Bear gets so excited he nearly ruins everything.