Book Summary:
Ivy and Bean is about two misbehaving girls who go on an adventure together. Bean is a rebellious, straggly girl who doesn't want to befriend her new neighbor, Ivy, even though her mom strongly suggests she become friends with her. Bean thinks that Ivy seems too boring and "put together."
Then, one day when Bean is trying to play a trick on her older sister, Nancy, she realizes that she could be friends with Ivy after all. Ivy helps Bean to escape getting in trouble by hiding from Nancy and her mom. They hide by going through all the neighbors' backyards.
Ivy says that she is a practicing witch, which really intrigues Bean. They decide to cast a spell on Nancy, which will make her dance for the rest of her life. But they can't cast the spell until they have some worms. So they go and get some worms from Bean's backyard. They end up throwing some worms in Nancy's face, and she steps in the worm muck and starts to wave her arms around (so it looks like she's dancing).
Ivy and Bean form a friendship through this adventure, and they plan to have many adventures (involving mischief) in the future.
APA Reference of Book:
Barrows, A. (2006). Ivy and Bean. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle
Books LLC.
Impressions:
Ivy and Bean was an easy read. However, I only thought the book was okay; it's not something I'd buy for children. Although I enjoyed that two unlikely friends ended up becoming friends, there's no lesson to be learned in this book. Most of the book is about the two girls constantly causing trouble and trying to terrorize Bean's sister. The ideas are fun and may attract children to the book (because children enjoy funny, mischievous actions), but I think the focus of the book shouldn't have been on trouble making. I like for characters to grow from their actions or learn some sort of lesson, but this book did not include that. In fact, it ended with the girls being proud of all their mischief without any regrets.
I can definitely see why children would like this book. It would be an easy read for those just starting to read chapter books because the chapters are short and they include illustrations (I did enjoy the illustrations). The characters have big imaginations. For example, Ivy practices being a witch and Bean acts like a ghost. Although many kids would enjoy those aspects of the book, others may actually be scared.
As a librarian, it would be hard to "go deeper" with children since the book is really surface level. But the book could be read just to work on reading skills and to read for fun.
Professional Review:
"Bean, short for Bernice, has no interest in playing with the new girl across the street, Ivy, whose obvious neatness and demureness mean that 'Bean got bored just looking at her.' When Ivy cunningly intervenes to save Bean during an altercation between Bean and her older sister, Bean reconsiders, especially when she becomes acquainted with Ivy's determined practice of magic, cool bedroom, and indefatigable spirit. While it's not unusual for a new friendship to be the subject of an early chapter book, Barrows has a humorously matter-of-fact style (sociable Bean sometimes 'wished she were an orphan so she could live in an orphanage with a hundred other kids') and a deft hand with intriguing and vivid specifics (Ivy has an enticing doll display that includes a Barbie wrapped as a mummy, awaiting burial in a pyramid) that lift the Bean-and-Ivy partnership well above the run of the mill. Also well evoked is the insularity of the seven-year-old world, where empathy with an older sister is short-lived and a neighborhood exists to be traversed at will, with dog poop more of an obstacle than the neighbor's desire that her yard be left invaded. Blackall's illustrations make the girls' features somewhat doll-like, but the art compensates by offering imagination and some real touches of style (Ivy in her black witchy turban, kohl-rimmed eyes, and red make-up tears is quite a glamorous vision). This will be a comfortable reading friendship for many, who will look forward to further volumes about the pair, and it may open up the mind of skeptical readers who, like Bean, have been directed to befriend somebody who 'seems like such a nice girl.'"
Stevenson, D. (2006). [Ivy + Bean]. Bulletin of the Center for
Children's Books, 59(10), 440. Retrieved from https://
libproxy.library.unt.edu:9443/login?url=http://search.
ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=brd&AN=
510588854&scope=site
Library Uses:
After reading the book, students could document the character traits of Ivy and Bean (their looks, actions, feelings, etc). They could talk about how their friendship shows that people don't have to be the same or like the same things in order to get along. As long as they like each other, they can be friends. Then, each child could document his/her own character traits as well as his/her best friend's character traits.
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