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's not. It's a good book.Now, my younger daughter asked me to read this one to her. She loves it. She begs me for "just one more chapter" and wants to read all of them. And, I have to admit, after years of reading books to my kids, I've found Ivy and Bean to be among the best of the early chapter books, and I can see the appeal for both boys and girls.Ivy and Bean don't think that they will ever be friends because they are so different, but when they get together for a common cause, they find that friendship is about more than being the same as someone else and you never know what will happen when you give people a chance.The book is also filled with humour and imagination. Ivy and Bean quickly create their own world, something which kids naturally do. The kids are also silly, get in trouble, get dirty... They do all of the things kids do. The illustrations really add to the book. There are pictures every few pages, simple drawings, but they also add to the tone of the story and make the book accessible as an early chapter book for kids.Even though this book is about two girls, I can see the appeal for boys too. It is simply a good book, as my wise son said.
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 Bean. My siblings and I weren't angels by any means but we were nicer to each other and other children, politer, and better behaved in public than this spoiled little rotter. Crawling under strangers dressing rooms at the store? Climbing fences into other people's property? Stealing money? Digging mud holes in the lawn and tricking people into falling into them? Throwing a frigging bucket of live worms over someone in the house? Any one of these would have gotten us more punishment than Bean gets for all of them together -- which I would guess is the appeal for children, the idea of doing all these mean things and basically getting rewarded in the end (since she makes a friend and gets a laughable token punishment of not watching videos for the week). And I don't find any of the exploits funny except maybe Ivy pretending to be a witch, and that's been done better in earlier books. At least they only killed some worms and not the frog they wanted to catch!I wouldn't let my kids read this book, much less play with someone like Bean.
What do You think about Ivy And Bean (2007)?
An endearing little story about Bean, her sister Nancy, and an across-the cul-de-sac neighbor, Ivy. At first, Bean thinks Ivy is boring, always wearing dresses and reading books. But when Bean finds out that Ivy is just as daring and devious as she is, they cook up some hair-brained schemes, potions, and spells. After all, it is all Bean's mother ever wanted...for Bean to be friends with 'the nice little girl' across the street. Ivy and Bean is a humorous, delightful story about the trouble two mischievous girls can get into when they put their minds together. The illustrations in the book add to the humor and dialogue with delightful black and white drawings.
—Jackie
OK, this is what I thought the Junie B Jones books would be like - imaginative, quirky girl has little adventures and sometimes goes too far and makes trouble. In this case, there are two imaginative girls, plus a bossy older sister. Seven-year-old Bean is feuding with her sister Nancy, and enlists her new friend Ivy to help her play a trick on Nancy. Things go somewhat wrong, however, but when Bean throws a bucket full of worms in Nancy's face, guess what? Bean actually gets in trouble! Her parents just don't roll their eyes at Bean's antics and walk away. I would actually like to read another of these stories, and find out more about these characters. I'm definitely going to recommend them as a JBJ alternative.
—Paula
"Just ihana!" Samalla kadulla asustavat Isa ja Bea eivät ole halunneet tutustua toisiinsa äitiensä tuputuksesta huolimatta/johtuen. Kun tytöt sitten olosuhteiden pakosta joutuvat yhteen,niin yllätyksekseen he huomaavat löytäneensä todellisen sielunkumppanin. Rasavillillä Bealla on yhtä ja toista hampaankolossa rasittavaa varhaisteini-isosiskoa vastaan ja koska Isa aikoo isona noidaksi, on itsestään selvää, että inha isosisko päätyy monimutkaisten harjoitusloitsujen kohteeksi. Loitsuihin tarvitaan mm. kahmaloittain kastematoja ja muuta ällöä. Mielikuvitusta ja rohkeutta kummallakin tytöllä riittää siinä määrin, että seikkailuja on takuulla luvassa myös jatkossa. Plussana vielä kivat kannet, ilmeikäs kuvitus ja mukavan harva ja selkeälukuinen fontti. kohta 9v. testilukijani lukaisi ykkösen illalla ja kakkosen seuraavana aamuna, ja arvioi kysyttäessä kirjat "hauskoiksi". "Ihan outoja ne kirjan tytöt, mutta oli kivaa, kun niille sai nauraa." Ilmeikäs kuvitus sai myös lypsämättä kehuja ja hauskimpia kuvia ja ilmeitä käytiin vielä jälkeenpäin erikseen esittelemässä. Kakkosen vinkkauskassiin!!!
—Anu
