From School Library Journal
Grade 2-5 Byars' portrayal of the Bean family is fresh, crisp, and perfectly done. Here she turns her poetic style to the subject of poetrypoetry written on the apartment roof by various members of the engaging Bean family. When Anna retreats to the roof to write a poem for school, she is joined first by her brother, George; then by her sister, Jenny; followed by their mother; and finally their father. Poetic fever engulfs the family, and all write a roof poemall except forlorn George, to whom creative inspiration will not come, thus making him the only Bean without a poem. Two threads tie the story togetherthe family's conviction that Anna will be ``the first Bean to be in a book,'' and George's frustration with his writer's block. In the end, George does write a poemand Anna is devastated when her poem is not selected for the school's book. The Bean parents' unabashed pride in their children and the family's love for each other combine with Byars' fine ear for dialogue among siblings and deft characterizations to make a book that should be a first choice among children just beginning chapter books, as well as reluctant readers. Trev Jones, ``School Library Journal''
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From the Publisher
George Bean always wants to play on the roof of his apartmentbuilding. But only his older sister Anna can sit there, because she's writing a roof poem. Anna may be the first Bean to be in a book if the poem wins a contest at school.
George decides to write a roof poem too. Soon all the Beans are on the roof writing the roof poems. All except George. He needs some inspiration. How will he get it?
