While more hackneyed and contrived than some of its author's earlier books, [The More the Merrier] will be welcomed by Beany's many fans. Left with her brother Johnny while their parents are in Mexico, Beany decides to turn the big Malone home into a boardinghouse, thereby earning enough to make a rumpus room in the basement. Although her boarders … bring the kindhearted Beany more problems than profits, the summer ends happily for everyone concerned. (p. 160)