Oh Beans! Starring Jelly Bean

by Ellen Weiss, Susan Hall (Illustrator)

Jelly Bean's friends, tired of being the victims of his constant practical jokes, get back at him by pretending they have forgotten his birthday

32 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Ellen Weiss has written lots of books for kids, from board books through middle grade. She often works with her husband, Mel Friedman.

Reviews

[Christoph Meyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

So Jellybean plays practical jokes on all the other beans. (Spoilers ahead) They don't like "bean" messed with so they all play a joke on Jellybean and pretend to forget his birthday. Jellybean learns his lesson which is that it sucks "bean" on the receiving end of a joke. So if he actually does take this lesson to heart, his entire identity and reason for living is crushed.

On a side note, Vanilla Bean bakes him a b-day cake. I was a little disturbed thinking she either used part of her body to flavor it or got "vanilla extract" from a relative she murdered, but when they show the cake cut, it's obviously chocolate. But that makes me realize that I've never read about a Cocoa Bean in any of the books...