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Ivy and Bean (Ivy & Bean #1)

by Annie Barrows, Sophie Blackall (Illustrator)

3.85 of 5 stars 3.85 · rating details · 3,882 ratings · 451 reviews

The moment they saw each other, Bean and Ivy knew they wouldn't be friends. But when Bean plays a joke on her sister, Nancy, and has to hide quickly, Ivy comes to the rescue, proving that sometimes the best of friends are people never meant to like each other. Vibrant characters and lots of humor make this a charming and addictive introduction to Ivy and Bean.

Paperback, 120 pages

Published May 3rd 2007 by Chronicle Books (first published April 20th 2006)

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Lists with This Book

Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Best Chapter Books for Young Girls

22nd out of 174 books — 72 voters

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Best Children's Books for Girls

1st out of 83 books — 12 voters

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Community Reviews

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May 04, 2012 Miriam rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: younger, realism

Cute friendship story about two different little girls learning to appreciate each. I would have liked it better if Bean hadn't been such an obnoxious little brat. I liked Ivy but Bean I wanted to slap. I vastly prefer a child protagonist like Ramona who gets in trouble because of misunderstandings or poor judgment (in ways that are totally natural for a kid her age) rather than being deliberately bad. I had a lot more sympathy for Nancy the older sister and the "mean" neighbor than I did for Be...more

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Nov 14, 2011 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Amy by: Cheryl in CC NV

Shelves: childrens, childrens-chapter-books

This book was recommended to my niece, nephew, and me by Cheryl in CCNV, and it was a good recommendation! My niece loved this book! I think she identified with the main characters. She understood their friendship and their motivations, and enjoyed the growth of their relationship. She was excited by the story almost immediately, and urged me to read multiple chapters to her in one sitting, which is rare.

My nephew also listened to the story, and he seemed to enjoy it to a certain extent. He seem...more

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Mar 18, 2013 Brigida rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: chapter-books

At first, Bean did not want to befriend Ivy. Bean already had too many friends. Besides, Ivy seemed too nice and that made Bean think she was boring. Until one fateful day, they meet while Bean is trying to trick her sister Nancy. The trick backfires sending Bean into a load of trouble. Yet, a friendship was made that day between them. A friendship that would transcend into more adventures. That's right! The fun doesn't stop here. Keep on reading the series to find out. A definite read for young...more

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Feb 27, 2009 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: children

Another selection for my series book project, again suggested by one of the children's librarians at our local public library. I thought it was a cute book and very good at grabbing the attention of younger readers, as it was done on their level (i.e. little sister, Bean making the life of her older sister Nancy as annoying as possible). Although I wasn't that impressed with the story, I gave this book 4 stars because I loved the illustrations. Sophie Blacknall is a brilliant illustrator.
The st...more

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Feb 11, 2009 Jodi rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: young female readers

Recommended to Jodi by: Emily's school librarian read the first chapter to her.

Shelves: books-read-to-my-children, books-in-a-series

Cute book about two little girls with a BIG imagination. I did have to censor some of the name calling between Bean and her sister ("Duh", "Bean breath", "dweebs", etc.) - I know that these are not horrible words, given the alternative, but still I don't want to teach these words to my kindergartner because she'll learn them fast enough on her own without any help from me. Also, Ivy is pretending to be a witch in the story which might turn off some people, but I just saw it as two girls playing...more

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Mar 08, 2013 Nathan rated it 2 of 5 stars

I picked up this book because it landed on so many good children's book lists. And while it wasn't a terrible book, it wasn't very good either. The lone redeemable quality of the book was the friendship that developed between Ivy and Bean, when it initially appeared that the two had very little in common. Ivy was the prim and proper book-reader and Bean, the puddle-splashing rabble-rouser.

However, it was what the relationship formed around that was troubling. The two become friends when Ivy help...more

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Feb 04, 2013 Irene rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: I wouldn't really recommend this series...

Shelves: children

I like this book better than Book 2 (which I read first), but I'm still not crazy about this series.

When it comes right down to it, Bean and Ivy and even Nancy all strike me as more bratty than endearing. Ivy and Bean clearly know the difference between right and wrong, yet they continually make bad decisions. In this book, we have rudeness, stealing, trespassing, lying, name-calling... All sorts of behavior that I try very hard to teach Isabelle as being unacceptable. At least in this book - u...more I like this book better than Book 2 (which I read first), but I'm still not crazy about this series.

When it comes right down to it, Bean and Ivy and even Nancy all strike me as more bratty than endearing. Ivy and Bean clearly know the difference between right and wrong, yet they continually make bad decisions. In this book, we have rudeness, stealing, trespassing, lying, name-calling... All sorts of behavior that I try very hard to teach Isabelle as being unacceptable. At least in this book - unlike in Book 2 of the series - the girls do get caught, and Bean is punished. Unfortunately, neither girl actually shows any remorse, or learns from the experience, and instead, their attitude is more along the lines of, "That was kind of funny. What should we do next?!"

On the plus side, I do like the "don't judge a book by its cover" message. I liked, too, that when they first start hanging out, Bean was actually polite and kind to Ivy. The book mentions that Bean is nice to younger kids in the neighborhood, and those little tidbits do make her more appealing to me.

I also like that at one point, there is a short-lived moment during which we see that Bean and Nancy are not really mortal enemies - they can sometimes actually be quite sisterly towards each other. Alas, the moment is fleeting, and in a flash we are faced with three bratty girls again.

Incidentally, I'll mention that this book has kind of a Halloween-y feel to it. Ivy plays the part of a witch, and there is talk about spells and potions (involving a dead frog) and blood.

All in all, if I had my druthers, I would not have introduced this series to Isabelle. Book 2 was a gift, and after reading it, Isabelle was hooked. When she saw that I got Book 1 from the library, she was so excited, she sat herself down and read the whole thing in one sitting - just like she did for Book 2. I have to admit that Ivy and Bean definitely appeals to her first-grade sensibilities, and I'm happy to see her reading independently. I'll continue to borrow the rest of the series from the library, but I plan to read each book before Isabelle reads it, and, if necessary, remind her that "book life" is very different from "real life" - even though some things are funny and entertaining in book life, we do NOT do them in real life!(less)

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Dec 08, 2012 Coreena rated it 5 of 5 stars

I had heard so much about these books from kids. Last year, my son read all that he could get his hands on. My son's friends talk about them because their teacher is reading them to the class. They all say how much they love these books, how funny they are, how much they love when the teacher reads them. We were at the book store and my son wanted me to buy him one, so I did. When his older brother said: What do you want that for? It's a girls' book. My younger son turned around and said: No, it...more

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Oct 03, 2012 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: girl, pictures, realistic, friendships, beginning-chapter-book

I found this book charming, not to sound trite. Classic friendship story, but modern and funny. Illustrations enhance and add to the story. Loved the map throug the backyard.

Reviews Detail:

Booklist Reviews

/*Starred Review*/ Gr. 1-3. In the tradition of Betsy and Tacy, Ginnie and Geneva, come two new friends, Ivy and Bean. Ivy has just moved in across the street from Bean, who wants no part of her. She thinks Ivy looks dull, always with her nose in a book. Bean, on the other hand, is a spark plug...more

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Aug 16, 2012 D rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-s-lit

Love this book for 7- and 8-year olds!

The writing is fun and the story is interesting and flowing without getting stagnant, but the words and ideas are well-written for young readers. Lots of redundancy without actual repetition. Lots of explanation built into the way the characters think, without going off into boring expository paragraphs.

Ivy and Bean are very different but very well-matched. The author doesn't do the facile "polar opposites becoming best friends" schtick, although that's wha...more

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Jul 29, 2012 Cari Mcintyre rated it 4 of 5 stars

Nice. Thats how Bernice Blue’s mother described Ivy, the new girl across the street. But Bernice, “Bean” for short, knew better when her mother told her “you should be friends with the nice girl next door”. Nice, is just another word for boring. Bean could tell just by looking at Ivy with her perfect slicked hair and her perfect headband, that Ivy was the just the type of friend she did NOT need. Besides, Bean had plenty of friends. Plus her hands were full with her bossy older sister, Nancy. Na...more

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Jul 14, 2012 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: childrens

"Meet Ivy and Bean, two friends who never meant to like each other."

I picked out this book for my seven year old after seeing it on the Scholastic 100 best books for kids. It is a beginning chapter book, guided reading level M. Scholastic has it listed for ages 8-10, but it is about two 7 year old girls. Lizzy read it and loved it. Couldn't put it down. Even chose to read it above watching a tv show she likes. I found it quite fun. The illustrations add so much to the dialogue that even got me l...more

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May 03, 2012 Mary rated it 1 of 5 stars

I made the mistake of not previewing this book before reading aloud to my kids! Someone recommended it to us, so I didn't hesitate to start reading this book with the cute cover. It starts out innocently about two very different girls who don't think they would like each other and then become good friends. That's about the only good thing about this book. Bean is trouble - she lies, steals & runs away. This book uses "name calling" words that I would rather not add to my children's vocabular...more

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Oct 27, 2011 Allison rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-realistic-fiction, beginning-reader, for-the-girls

I read this book primarily because it's mentioned in The Penderwicks at Point Mouette. Batty is reading it or refers to it in the book. I'd heard about it before, of course, but I thought that if it's popular enough to get mentioned in another novel, then I better read it.

I liked Ivy and Bean OK. I actually really really liked Ivy (I could identify with her more) and her dream of becoming a witch (Harry Potter anyone?), though I didn't warm up to spirited Bean quite as much as I did to Clementin...more

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May 10, 2011 Emily Patterson-Blight rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: beginning

Ivy and Bean captures the blossoming friendship between two mischievous seven-year-olds. Although Barrows juxtaposes Ivy's and Bean's personalities in the book's beginning--as Ivy sits demurely perusing big books, and restless Bean devises pranks for her older sister, Nancy--the reader soon discovers (along with Ivy and Bean!) the link that unites them as friends: Imagination.

What follows is a realistic day in the life of two creative, rascally girls, set in the inviting neighborhood of Pancake...more

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Feb 22, 2011 L11Beverly Kennett rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: realistic-fiction, series-books

I listened to this story on CD.

Ivy and Bean live on the same block and their mother's encourage them to become friends, yet both girl's are reluctant. They see each other as opposites. Ivy wears dresses often, reads many books and seems content entertaining herself, while Bean wears shorts and t-shirts, prefers to play in large groups of children of all ages, and constantly and often purposefully antagonizes her older sister. After a chance encounter, Ivy begins to help Bean hide from her parent...more

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Q_Barb Bev, I did like this book, too. It speaks so strongly about friendship and the unlikely places it may be found and the danger of prejudging someone's...more
Feb 22, 2011 04:49pm

Q_Jill Burke At the end of last year I let each person in our 2nd grade reading group recommend a book. This was one of the books. It was a group of all girls so a...more
Feb 22, 2011 05:19pm

L11Beverly Kennett L11_Barb wrote: "Bev, I did like this book, too. It speaks so strongly about friendship and the unlikely places it may be found and the danger of prej...more
Feb 22, 2011 05:48pm

Oct 08, 2008 Stacie rated it 5 of 5 stars

I read this book to my five-year-old daughter, and we both giggled our way through the entire read. The dialogue and characters were delightful, but more than that, the book had a very good lesson--don't judge people based on appearances and pre-conceived notions. The main character, Bean, doesn't want to befriend her new neighbor, despite her mother's urgings, because she thinks the new gal is "boring" and too girly. By the end of the book, however, Bean and Ivy have become fast friends...

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Feb 16, 2012 Renee rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: paw

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Summary: When seven-year-old Bean plays a mean trick on her sister, she finds unexpected support for her antics from Ivy, the new neighbor, who is less boring than Bean first suspected.

Bean's mom keeps suggesting she go play with a girl down the street. However, Bean wants nothing to do with Ivy. Bean thought Ivy was nice but boring. All she liked to do was read. Bean liked to play with kids of all ages, stomp around in puddles, climb trees, and smash rocks to find gold. She assumes Ivy never li...more Summary: When seven-year-old Bean plays a mean trick on her sister, she finds unexpected support for her antics from Ivy, the new neighbor, who is less boring than Bean first suspected.

Bean's mom keeps suggesting she go play with a girl down the street. However, Bean wants nothing to do with Ivy. Bean thought Ivy was nice but boring. All she liked to do was read. Bean liked to play with kids of all ages, stomp around in puddles, climb trees, and smash rocks to find gold. She assumes Ivy never likes to do those things.

One day, Bean tries to play a trick on her older sister Nancy by hiding in a bush and pulling a $20 bill away from her using a string. Her plan fizzles out and ends up meeting Ivy, who is sitting nearby with a wand and a black bathrobe with little pieces on it. Ivy is practicing to be a witch. The two kids work together to try to hide Bean (who runs away until dinner time) until she has to go home and get in trouble for trying to trick Nancy (and taking her $20 bill!). The two girls go to Ivy's room where they get Ivy's facepaint. Bean tries to make Ivy look like a witch: white face paint, black around the eyes, and red drops on her checks to look like blood. Ivy and Bean plan to cast a spell on Nancy to make her dance forever. First they need to get worms. Bean has a muddy spot in her yard that is perfect for finding worms. Traveling through neighbor's yards, and almost getting in trouble with Mrs. Trantz, the girls get to their destination. As they enter Bean's yard, trying to avoid being seen by Bean's sister and parents, Bean seems Nancy at the table crying. She thinks her big sister is crying because her little sister ran away. As the girls overhear Nancy complaining about not being able to get her ears pierces, Bean gets upset and yells at her through the window, blowing her cover. Nancy runs outside after her and insults Ivy who is trying to cast a spell on her to help Bean. Bean is furious that Nancy almost has Ivy in tears and throws handfuls of worms at her sister, one going in her mouth! Nancy runs after the girls and slips in the mud, it looks like she is dancing as she tries to keep her balance - the dancing spell worked! Bean ends up getting grounded. The girls decide they will hang out again, this time making potions!

Possible Activities for Ivy and Bean program at library:

activities with pretend worms, throw the worm into Nancy's mouth, trivia, if you had Ivy's facepaint how would you create a witch (crayons and markers on paper), Make your own $20 string pull trick, make your own potion (list ingredients - we have the caldron in the closet), write your own spell, dancing activity - dance spell

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Dec 25, 2010 nicole j. wroblewski rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, chapter_books

I'm not sure why I waited so long to read these. I guess, like Bean being told to hang out with Ivy, I just wasn't interested. The books looked... cute. Not particularly interesting. And they sell themselves, as most chapter books do. But man, was I wrong. I was gafawing out loud while reading these, surprised by how "inappropriate" (by which I mean true to actual child behavior and play) it was. These aren't just great because they're funny, but because they're so accurate. And weird and random...more

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Jun 18, 2011 Countrygirl_TN rated it 2 of 5 stars

I really didn't like this one too well and my daughter didn't either. I grabbed it cause I thought it sounded like a cute story and it was in my daughter's reading level plus the cover was kinda cute. I just thought that she'd really like it- Well, I reckon that I was wrong. We read it together and it wasn't grabbing her attention. It doesn't bother me that it contained witchcraft but I don't necessarily think that it's really appropriate for a 7 yr old to be reading. I don't really know if I wi...more

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Jun 21, 2011 Sarah W rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: friendship, pranks, bookaday, contemporary, early-chapters

At first glance, Ivy and Bean are two girls you wouldn't think would get along at all. Energetic, social Bean loves nothing more than getting on her big sister's nerves. She ends up all over the neighborhood whereas new girl Ivy plays alone outside her house. Whenever Bean's mom suggests she play with Ivy, Bean resists. She's convinced Ivy is the most boring girl ever.

When Bean's latest scheme to get back at her sister goes awry, she takes off across the court where Ivy unexpectedly helps her hi...more

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Apr 18, 2013 Chelsea N. Smith added it

Shelves: transitional-book

Ivy + Bean is a great transitional book for young readers. It has a great opening that hooks the reader right off the bat. You are first introduced to Bean, who is an adventure seeking, tree climbing, fun loving little girl. Her mother encourages her to play with the new girl, Ivy, across the street. Bean takes one look at Ivy and knows for a fact they will NOT be friends. Ivy always wears dresses and loves to read! Nothing like Bean. However, something happens that pulls the two girls together....more

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Feb 17, 2012 Renee rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: kids-books

This review consists of two parts: 1. What my daughter thinks and 2. What I, her Mom, thinks.

DAUGHTER SAYS:

This book is about Ivy and Bean - the two girls who misbehave. Bean and her sister Nancy don't get along. Bean tries to play a trick on her sister and hides in a bush. Ivy comes out of her house waving a stick. Bean asks "What the heck are you doing?" and Ivy thinks she's a ghost because she couldn't see her. Nancy doesn't fall for Bean's trick and pulls Bean out of the bush to get her in...more This review consists of two parts: 1. What my daughter thinks and 2. What I, her Mom, thinks.

DAUGHTER SAYS:

This book is about Ivy and Bean - the two girls who misbehave. Bean and her sister Nancy don't get along. Bean tries to play a trick on her sister and hides in a bush. Ivy comes out of her house waving a stick. Bean asks "What the heck are you doing?" and Ivy thinks she's a ghost because she couldn't see her. Nancy doesn't fall for Bean's trick and pulls Bean out of the bush to get her in trouble. Bean gets away and Ivy tells her to come inside her yard and hide. Ivy shows Bean her room and they plan to cast a dancing spell on Nancy using worms. They cross all the neighbour's yards to get to Bean's house to dig for worms. Nancy sees them and chases them, but they hide in the playhouse. Ivy and Bean throw worms at Nancy who loses her balance in the muddy hole and starts to dance - - the spell worked.

Bean is naughty and Ivy is not too mean and not too nice. I think I'm more like Ivy than Bean and I like Ivy better. Nancy and Bean have a horrible relationship - it's nothing like me and my brother. I wouldn't steal his money and I love him. The story is funny and the girls are funny. My favourite part is when Bean was hiding in the bush pretending to be a ghost. I thought Ivy's room was really cool and it's giving me ideas for my room. I've read the other books too and in some of the other books the girls are nice. I didn't like it when Bean stole Nancy's money because that wasn't very nice and especially because they are sisters. The throwing of worms was funny because it was part of the spell but it would be mean to actually do that in real life.

I liked this book and I've also read five other Ivy and Bean books. The later books get better. I would recommend this book to my friends both boys and girls. Boys might like it because sometimes they get crazy like Ivy and Bean do.

MOM SAYS:

As far as I can tell, this story is about friendship and not going by first impressions. The story begins with Bean not wanting to befriend the new little neighbour girl across the street because she appears to be too straight-laced. But Bean is pleasantly surprised when Ivy is more than willing to conspire with her against Bean's older sister Nancy. Seems Ivy isn't so goody-two-shoes after all! Ivy rescues Bean from her sister Nancy, who is intent on dragging Bean into their house to get her in trouble with their mother. Bean escapes to Ivy's house where she enters a highly imaginative world contained within the walls of Ivy's room. The two girls decide to cast a spell on Nancy which would have her dancing for the rest of her life. The girls conspire to cross the neighbour's yard to go digging for worms in Bean's back yard - - worms being the necessary ingredient in the dancing spell. A predictable series of events ensue reminiscent of old Bugs Bunny reruns where hootin' and hollerin' Yosemite Sam (i.e., Nancy) can just never get the upper hand and falls flat on his face (literally).

I have mixed feelings about this book. Bean seems to have some redeeming qualities. For example, she does play with all the neighbourhood kids and looks after some of the younger kids on the block. She also has a moment where she actually does feel some compassion for her sister and she does stick up for her new friend when confronted by Nancy. So there's hope for her, right? Well, mostly not. She doesn't want to play with the new neighbour (Ivy) because she's a "nice girl" (i.e., boring). Since when is being nice a bad thing?! Do fun and nice not go together anymore? She even refers to Ivy as a dork at one point (pre-bonding). She's kind of a mean girl.

Ivy doesn't seem quite as hopeless (so far). She helps Bean escape the wrath of her sister. She doesn't participate in the worm throwing so maybe she has a better sense of what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. I suspect she'll be corrupted by Bean in future books. Sigh...aren't there other children living in the block?

One major problem that I did have with this story is that there is inappropriate language (e.g., "dork", "burp face", "dweebs") and behaviour (e.g., sticking tongue out and wiggling bum at someone, lying to neighbours, trespassing, oh, and throwing worms in someone's face!). This may be a bit much for kids in early elementary. They really don't need new ideas for how to misbehave, do they? Perhaps more alarming is the mothers' responses. Ivy doesn't get punished at all. Has anyone heard of accomplices? Ok, so Bean lost dessert and videos for a week, but Bean's mother was pleased that Bean finally made friends with the girl across the street.

Might I just say that if there was a Bean living on our street and my daughter took part in that kind of fiasco, I would not be letting those two play together unsupervised until they were 30 - ok, 18!

This book tries to be clever in places but it just seems to fall flat. For example, Bean states the following:

"Her Dad called [the street] a cul-de-sac. Bean called it cool."

I think there was a better line to be inserted there. In another part of the story, when Bean is trying to determine if Ivy's mom will tell on them, her internal thought process reveals the following:

"Grown-ups stuck together that way. Bean's dad said it was because they were all in a club together, but Bean felt pretty sure he was making that up."

I feel like that author is trying to bring us into the mind of a 7 year-old girl, but the internal dialogue is not that original nor clever in the same way that I enjoyed with Sara Pennypacker's 8-year old charmer, Clementine.

My bottom line: What do I say?! My daughter really enjoys these books. There are definitely some funny moments - - in between the moments where I'm horrified by the awful behaviour. These books have some entertainment value. When Ivy and Bean are getting to know one another, you actually begin to like them. I will recommend the Ivy and Bean books with words of caution: the main characters act badly. That being said, I do believe that there is an opportunity to discuss what's wrong with the girls' behaviour with your children. I hope to uncover more children's books that have strong and likable characters who can also be good role models. Look for those reviews in the future and feel free to suggest them in the comment box below!

For this and other reviews of children's books, come visit us at www.motherdaughterbookreviews.com(less)

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Jan 07, 2013 Dena (Books for Kids) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: childrens-books

This review is also on my blog: Books for Kids

Ivy and Bean was a surprise for me, and for my daughter. We both expected something fluffy and kind of cutesy. After chapter 1, I had to talk my daughter into reading more of it. After chapter 2, she asked for more. We didn't stop reading until we finished the entire book.

So why is it surprising? Because instead of finding a bubblegum novel about two little girls becoming friends, you'll discover an adventure in which two girls meet, find common grou...more

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Mar 05, 2011 Q_Barb rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: rll520-realistic-fiction

This is a sweet story about friendship and how it can be found in people you might not expect or welcome into your life, and that it can be forged by letting your imagination go! Ivy and Bean are two little girls who live across the street from each other, with mothers who keep encouraging them to become friends. Bean who likes to climb trees, have adventures and says reading books makes her "jumpy" thinks that Ivy must be boring because she sits on her front porch in a dress reading books every...more

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Oct 14, 2009 Christina rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-read-aloud

I didn't find this first Ivy and Bean book quite as charming as the fifth book (the one we read first), but it was still funny. My daughter read it on her own, but when my friend warned me of some possibly unsavory elements, I read it on my own. I'll admit, I still found the girls cute and charming in turns. I liked that they were goofy and saw that the other was goofy, but took pains to not say anything. I also didn't have a problem with the witch-y theme. What can I say? My daughter wants to b...more

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Feb 27, 2008 The Library Lady rated it 4 of 5 stars

My 8 year old is a very good reader, but she is reluctant to stretch or to try new series. But she liked this book and its sequels so much that she now OWNS copies of all of them.

A funny series for early novel readers. And for parents who insist on reading books to their kids better left TO their kids, this will be a welcome change from "Junie B".

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Aug 19, 2012 Erin Mahollitz rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: childrens-literature

Although I like the theme of new friendships and imaginative play, I am not crazy about how mean the characters are. Bean in particular is mean towards her sister, mother and in the beginning she is even unkind toward Ivy (thinking she is boring).

Ultimately Bean's older sister is an important villain character, and I can see why she must be portrayed in a bad light. I enjoyed the interaction between the text and the illustrations (particularly the map of the girls' path through the neighborhood...more

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Oct 12, 2012 Holly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: audio-book, character-development, character-traits, friendship, early-reader

I read this one because I'm working with some primary grade teachers with their gifted readers and wanted to be current with some younger kids' books. I thought a good theme would be books that feature strong, spunky girls (I was working with a 1st grade girl). Well, this book definitely fits into that theme! Ivy and Bean never thought they could be friends, but after one of Bean's pranks, Ivy, who watched the whole thing, encourages her to hide. Bean realizes Ivy isn't at boring as she thought,...more

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May 21, 2012 Elizabeth rated it 4 of 5 stars

this was also a good book because it shows kids not to judge people on how they look, act, or what other people tell you about that person. one of my favorite parts is how Bean gets in trouble most of the time,and when Bean's older sister Nancy is shoping for dresses and asks her mom,"how do i look in this dress?" and Bean says "you look stupid"or she says something like that and then makes a funny ugly face. the other part that i like was when IVY AND BEAN were crossing through their neighboors...more

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About Annie Barrows

Annie grew up in Northern California, and graduated from the University of California at Berkeley, with a degree in Medieval History. Unable to find a job in the middle ages, she decided upon a career as an editor, eventually landing at Chronicle Books in San Francisco, where she was in charge of "all the books that nobody in their right mind would publish." After earning an M.F.A. in Creative Wri...more

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Books by Annie Barrows

Ivy and Bean and the Ghost That Had to Go (Ivy and Bean, #2)

Ivy and Bean Break the Fossil Record (Ivy and Bean, #3)

Ivy and Bean Take Care of the Babysitter (Ivy and Bean, #4)

Ivy and Bean: Bound to be Bad (Ivy and Bean, #5)

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/108980.Ivy_and_Bean?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1366559663l/108980.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/108980.Ivy_and_Bean?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Ivy and Bean by Annie Barrows[/url]

Ivy and Bean (Ivy & Bean #1)

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