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 Clementine. My biggest problem was probably with the illustrations. While I love the cover, there were quite a few times when I thought the illustrations - especially the eyes - were a little....disturbing? Anyway, they didn't really take away that much from the story, and sometimes they were really fantastic. I especially liked how on illustrations traces the girls' path as they make their way from Ivy's back yard through all the other neighborhood yards over to Bean's backyard. I could imagine kids really grabbing onto that illustration.