At the heart of the series from award winning author, Annie Barrows, is the friendship between two young girls. The two characters are Ivy and Bean as the title suggests, from the cover of the first book in the series, they appear to be best buddies, but they haven’t always been friends. Bean’s mother suggests that she play with her neighbor Ivy calling her a ‘nice’ little girl- she is, after all, the same age and lives just across the street. ‘Nice’ is just another word for ‘boring’ thinks Bean. The two girls couldn’t be more different- Ivy is quiet, plays by herself, and carries a big book with her everywhere and Bean is loud, full of ideas and schemes, and plays with all the kids in the neighborhood, old and young. One day something changes- while Bean is acting on a plot to annoy her older sister Nancy things go very wrong- Ivy comes to her rescue. That big book she carries around with her isn’t a book of fairytales, it’s a book of spells and directions on being a proper witch. She proves that she is just as crafty and mischievous as Bean. And thus, their friendship is born. Young tween readers between 8-9 will be enamored with the detailed illustrations, snappy dialog, and overall fun, adventurous nature of the stories. Fans of Babymouse and Ellie McDoodle: New Kid in School will surely enjoy this series.
Barrows, A. (2006) Ivy + Bean. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. 120 pages. ISBN: 978-0-81184-909-8.
Ages 6-10
No comments:
Post a Comment