Utterly Me, Clarice Bean

Clarice Bean

by Lauren Child

It's not easy to concentrate at school when mysterious things are happening all around you. In fact, Clarice Bean is starting to feel just like her favorite heroine: Ruby Redforr, schoolgirl detective. Clarice and her utterly best friend, Betty Moody, are planning to ace their book project about Ruby and win the class prize, until Betty disappears into thin air, and horrible teacher Mrs. Wilberton teams Clarice up with the naughtiest boy in school. Will her new partner ruin everything? Will Betty ever come back? And what on earth happened to the silver trophy everyone's hoping to win? Lauren Child brings her trademark wacky wit and eccentric visual energy to a full length, fast paced Clarice Bean episode that will charm even the most capricious reader.

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Middle Grade, Humor, Realistic Fiction, Mystery, Contemporary

190 pages, Paperback

First published October 7, 2002

About the author

Lauren Child MBE is an English author and illustrator. She was the UK Children's Laureate from 2017-19.

Child grew up in Wiltshire as the middle child of three sisters and the daughter of two teachers. She has always been interested in the many aspects of childhood, from gazing into toy shop windows to watching American children's shows from the 1960s. After attending two Art Schools, she travelled for six months, still unsure about which career to embark upon.

Before writing and illustrating children's books Child started her own company 'Chandeliers for the People' making lampshades. It was only when she came to write and illustrate the book Clarice Bean, That's Me that she decided to devote her time to writing and illustrating books for children, which combines her fascination for childhood and her talent for designing and creating. Child gets her inspiration from other people's conversations or from seeing something funny happen.

Her book I Will Not Ever Never Eat A Tomato won the 2000 Kate Greenaway Medal. For the 50th anniversary of the Medal (1955–2005), a panel named it one of the top ten winning works, which comprised the shortlist for a public vote for the nation's favourite. It finished third in the public vote from that shortlist.

Child lives in North London.

Reviews

[Lija]

I reread this book for about the 30th time today (seriously I read this so many times as a kid that I can still quote it) and it's still absolutely wonderful! It's so much fun!

[Alyssia Cooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Periodically I get coerced by the smaller people into reading their current favourite book. It happened again. I've been holding this book for six months and my younger sister finally wanted it back, so I had to read it this week. I still left it the last minute. We're meeting them tomorrow.

I have to say though, I can see why the girls love this series. It's well written, funny and full of clever little asides about family and school and relationships. Personally, I found the Ruby Redfort interludes like a less realistic Alex Rider, but I'm not nine years old. The writing made me smile several times and actively giggle once so I would imagine the girls would be in fits of giggles.

A really well written children's book with fun and zany illustrations. Probably suitable for the 6+ age range, depending on reading age. I would imagine it would be more entertaining for the primary school age range, but it largely kept this thirty year olds attention which says something.

[m · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly THE best book in the entire world. had the giggles MANY times. i would like to dedicate this to one of my teachers in primary school who would not let me read this. even though it was my FIRST preference for our reading groups. instead he made me join the group reading artemis fowl. i HATE artemis fowl. that is why he didn’t win on deal or no deal, because you can’t win deal or no deal if you have hate in your heart. you just can’t.

(i have thought about “confident as a cucumber” ever since. everytime i think about cucumbers i think about clarice bean.)

[Kashmala]

I utterly loved it

[deniz ♡]

haha I vaguely remember hiding in a closet and reading this with a flashlight when i was younger

as I’m writing this im also hiding in a closet listening to ‘this is my trying’ by tswift

wonder what that says about me

[Kate McNab]

Don’t ask me why it took 5 days to read this

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

To make a completely unoriginal review I'm just going to say this book is utterly hilarious. Cause it's true.

[Tom Li · Rating 5 out of 5]

You could say that I ‘utterly’ loved this. The illustrations were so cute and the story and writing so lighthearted, just what I needed to dispel my endless existential dread; today, I felt like a ragdoll with the stuffing ripped out, chomped through the jaws of a dump truck, hurled into a landfill pit, set on fire, ashes billowing away like crispy autumn leaves after you crunch them in your fingers.
I liked the Ruby Redfort interludes- they gave me Alex Rider vibes. I think that reading this without the veil of childhood innocence and naivety made me feel like a parent reading to their child, or in my case, my inner child. I also like how children’s books like this have themes of class, power dynamics, family etc but told from the perspective of a child with a limited worldview.
Overall, loved this now, and this would also have been my absolute jam as a child because Charlie and Lola owned my whole heart.

[Anna Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this! I particularly enjoyed how flawed the teachers were as characters, as well as the acknowledgment that other children can be extremely snarky! Also it was really cool to find out the origin of the Ruby Redfort book. A fun, easy read for one sitting.

[Katelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this book in my room and I forgot that I had it 😄 I hadn't seen it in years. It was refreshing to read a childhood favorite💜 Better yet, I was ecstatic to know that it was published in 2002 the same year I was born 💜 21years ago😊

[Koni · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love it. So funny, and I think Clarice is great! It's perfect, and you should know it.

[eggtart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book that introduced and implanted the word “Utterly” into my brain and I haven’t stopped using that word since!

[_tosiaa_ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Spoko książka dla młodszych czytelników, ale nic więcej.

[Wesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had the sudden urge to reread my favourite book from when I was a kid - still love it!

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a funny book :)

[Anthony Buck · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with a lot of these longer versions of picture books, it started off quite breezy and funny but then settled into something much more conventional. It was never bad, but it didn't deliver on that initial promise.

[Georgie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clarice bean is the funniest person of all time

Fuckkkkk grace grapello

[Bhianca Ohanah 🌻 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meu livro favorito de pré-adolescência, lia umas mil vezes e nunca cansava. Que saudade <3

[old book sniffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

utterly scrumptious

[Courtney Umlauf · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some things I liked about this, and some I didn't. I love that Clarice Bean is a bookworm, addicted to the Ruby Redford series about a young girl who lives a secret double life as an international spy. I liked the creativity in the text layout, meandering about the page as Clarice's thoughts meander during class. However, I thought the plot was a little lax, I never felt any tension and the climax felt weak. The illustrations were an odd mix of child-like drawings (which made sense) and grainy black and white pictures of objects (which made no sense). At one point someone's talking about making dinner from just a potato and some smelly cheese, and there's a large black and white picture of a potato and a slice of Swiss cheese on the page. It looks like someone cut these pictures out of a newspaper and photocopied them into the text. Clarice's narrative voice was unique, and I think I could have enjoyed it had the plot felt like it was pushing in any direction in particular.

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[Limau Nipis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Utterly Me, Clarice Bean is a simple book for primary school kid. I bought it for my 9 years old daughter, but I was the one who starts to read the book. I did not realise that Lauren Child writes this series. I know that the author is famous for the Charlie and Lola series.

This book is really full of imagination. The writings are easy, and unique - accompanied by illustrations and different fonts.

This book utilises the love of Clarice Bean playing detective to search for the missing cup. Added to that, she has always wanted to be a spy - just like the heroine in her favourite detective spy novel, Ruby Redford. And there is no doubt, Clarice is a bookworm (yey!)

I love the fact that this book is like a sort of diary - with Clarice telling about the ongoings in her family and school life. And there are also lots of snippets on Ruby's adventure book, which is written by the fictional Patricia F. Raplin Stacey.

[Ada Seven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ben de üç kitabı olan Clarice Bean’e Kesinlikle Ben kitabından başladım. Elimden bırakamadım beş günde bitirdim. Yani ben annem bana “Hadi kızım beraber kitap okuyalım demeden kitabıma başlamam (bu kitap sevmememe işareti değil)
Fakat bu kitabı annem ile beraber plajdayken habersiz kitaba başlayıp okuyordum. Ayrıca eve geldiğimizde de, duş almam gerekirken ben koltuğa oturup kitap okuyordum. Annem de beni kendim kitaba başladığımı görünce çok şaşırıyor ve mutlu oluyordu Bu kadar beğenmeme üzere hemen Başı Derette kitabına geçmek için hemen bitirmeye karar verdim. Bir sonraki yorumum da işte Başı Dertte ile ilgili...
Herkese tavsiye ederim. Sevgiler: ADA SEVEN👌🏻

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my second time reading Utterly Me, Clarice Bean. I read it aloud to my girls, and I think it may have been for a slightly older audience. The first time I read it alone, I found it much more funny. But my girls completely enjoyed it! Clarice has a very funny narrative voice, and reading it now after the Ruby Redfort spin-off books (which hadn't been written yet the first time I read) was very entertaining. I highly recommend them! And the second book in the Clarice Bean trilogy—it's a lot more funny.

Definitely great for older middle grade!

[g · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was my favorite book as a child (along with the other two books from the clarice bean trilogy) and i decided to reread it today just for the heck of it! it was as fun as i remembered; it makes me feel very nostalgic <3.

ps: i always thought betty was such an icon! she travels all the time, her mom is a writer, her clothes are super cute and she has those cool glasses; girl is out there living her best life.

[Kristal · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Clarice’s way of speaking reminds me of Junior B Jones, which I loved as a kid. Clarice loves Ruby Redford mystery novels and dislikes her teacher. However, she gets to do a presentation on what she learned by reading Ruby Redford books, in spite of what her teacher thinks about the series.

I like the illustrations and how the text is played around with.

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Darling book, love how clarice talks/thinks. Like Lola!

[eshaal · Rating 4 out of 5]

re-read this out of nostalgia- it was one of my favourite books as a kid, and it utterly still lives up to the old hype.

[AmyNamey · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s such a silly book in a good way. I got back to this book because I totally forgot what was the plot , i guess it was forgetful. and when I was younger I couldn’t keep up with the characters names, as this books has loads of names as the story goes back and fort with them. The color and the character in the front cover got me back to this book. And its an easy book to read since its short. Overall I can only describe it as a silly book cause I thought Clarice would actually have clues and solve a mystery since she is inspired by a detective/ spy girl book, but eventually everything was resolved on its own.

Summary

Clarice was trying to be an undercover detective and mystery solver inspired by her book Ruby Redfort . It’s her favorite series of book that she reads over with her best friend Betty Moody . Mrs Wilberton, their teacher, asked the class to choose a book that they will learn from it and they need to exhibit it, on the day of the exhibition, the winner will get a prize and a trophy . Clarice chose her best friend Betty Moody to do the project, however Betty went away to Russia with her parents for a business trip. Since Bettys mom, Mol is an author,she had a book launch in Russia , so she had to go.

Meanwhile Clarice was suspecting her grandfather going out every night, it turns out his friend Bert has 2 dogs and is living in an old Folks home that strictly forbidden pets. So her grandfather kept the dogs and sneaks one of the dog out every night to Bert room in Folks home so he can have a company every night. However one day, one of the dog accidentally ate a bird from his neighbors (birds are somehow only allowed in the Folks home) and his neighbor filed a complain. So now her grandfather is banned from going to the old folk home and Bert and his 2 dogs moved to Clarice home. Bert will stay in Clarice house until he finds a new home that allows pets. Eventually, Bert was able to find a new home but it only accepts one pet , Betty volunteered to keep one of his dog.

During that time, Mrs Wilberton assigned Karl Wrenbury , ( a very naughty kid in class) to be Clarice partner, Clarice didn’t like him at first, but he was a creative boy who was able to recreate the Ruby Redfort story, by making a volcano erupt . Including having the character Ruby and her partner Clancy Crew hanging on a helicopter for the exhibition .
When Betty returned from her trip to Russia, she was upset that Clarice was partnered with Karl and they fought , they got back quickly after they realized they both have something in common in liking dogs (When Bert was living in Clarice home and Karl and Betty visited them ).

However, to be able to finish the project for the exhibition, Clarice need to know what she learned from her book. Days have passed and she still couldn’t find anything she learn from her book until one day the trophy went missing, and Mrs Wilberton disqualified Karl assuming he did it since he always cause mischief, but Karl said he did not steal the trophy, so Clarice went to look for the trophy with her best friend Betty. They tried to look for it at Mr Skippards,( the caretaker,janitor) , cupboard cleaning equipment , but they were caught by Mrs Wilberton, so they were punished by cleaning her cupboard. When Clarice and Betty were cleaning, it turns out, the trophy was in Mrs Wilberton cupboard all along. Mrs Wilberton was asking Mr Skiplard to clean the trophy and return the trophy to the cupboard he instead misunderstood and put it in her cupboard . At the end, Calrice didn't win the trophy but the exhibition was kind of a success, because Clarice volcano smoke causes the sprinkle to activate in the school.
—-
Clarice brother-
During the time when Clarices wonders why her grandfather is not home every night. She has an older brother named Kurt and an older sister named Marcie. Kurt is always untidy especially his room and appearance , but one day Clarice discovers that he takes more time in the bathroom and discovers her hair brush was missing. It turns out her brother is going out with Marcies best friend Chloe, and wanted to look his best.
When Chloe came to visit his house. She was afraid of dogs(During the time Bert and his dogs stayed at Clarice)Kurt was upset that Chole can't come over because of the dog in the house , but it was resolved when Bert found a new home with his dog and the other dog was adopted by Betty.

[Malak · Rating 2 out of 5]

Utterly Me, Clarice Bean is unchallenging and ironically childish, failing to yield any meaning outside of its imposed childishness. It is neither engaging nor entertaining; the diary entries are repetitive and dull. Books intended for children should aim to keep them entertained and at the same time offer them value of any sort. I kept on reading, expecting a turn down moral lesson avenue, but instead we crashed. If it's neither fun nor informative, why waste any time on it?

At first, I thought this was a vain attempt from our author to glorify and advertise her own Ruby Redfort book series, which I deemed imaginary until I decided to give it a quick google search (fell victim to the trap; you're welcome for the traction); however, after paying attention to the publication dates, it turned out to be the complete opposite. Lauren Child capitalized on the success of this book to bring life to Ruby Redfort, which is a smart move considering the Ruby Redfort series sounded a lot more interesting than the book we're discussing here.

On the other hand, I found the illustrations and the stylistic choices of the font to be worthy of praise. It is perhaps the only interesting thing about this book. It suppressed my urge to put it off.

[Lala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review in English 🇺🇲:

I used to love this book when I was a kid. I remember my mother gave it to me and that it was the first big book I'd ever read! I was really excited! This book it's cute and funny. It's rare to find a children's book as funny as this one. Also, I reread it when I was in High School because I found it in my school's library. Does any one else thinks her favourite author looks like Clarice Lispector? Maybe that's why her name is Clarice, I don't know... It's just a thought.

Review in Portuguese 🇧🇷 / Revisão em Português:

Eu amava esse livro quando era criança. Eu me lembro que minha mãe me deu e foi o maior livro que eu já tinha lido até então! Fiquei super empolgada! Esse livro é fofo e engraçado e acredito que é raro achar um livro infantil que seja tão engraçado quanto esse, foi isso que me cativou. Quando estava no ensino médio, reli o livro porque tinha na biblioteca da minha escola. E mais alguém acha que a escritora preferida dela parece a Clarice Lispector? Talvez por isso que ela se chame Clarisse... Não sei, tive essa impressão.