Customer Reviews

Ivy and Bean Book 1 (Ivy & Bean)

5 star:		(56)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I am the mother of a very kind-hearted 7 year old, and adorable, but pain in the butt to her older sister 4 year-old. I bought this book for my 7 year old because it had some sort of illustration on each page (she was very reluctant to move into chapter books, so I thought one with pictures all through would be a good compromise). I totally agree that the message is not the best if you focus on that aspect of the story, but if you have instilled proper values in your children, reading these stories only introduce them into a fantasy land. My daughter, and I'm not kidding about her being kindhearted, she's very sensitive to other people's feelings, but she really enjoyed this book, and has read it twice in 1 week. I say so long as you instill the right manner of behavior in your children, allowing a little mischief won't kill them. Reading is all about imagination anyway. If they ask why she got away with all the bad stuff, you can tell them the truth - it is a fantasy world, it doesn't work that way in hour house. I still think it's a fun transitional book for kids reluctant to move out of picture books.

It is hard to find books for younger readers that combine silliness, mischief, friendship, authenticity, and common sense. It's even harder to find ones that don't have an undercurrent of hip irony, or, even worse, some odd note of sourness. The Ivy + Bean books manage to hit this sweet spot remarkably well.
Bean is the designated cut-up, but she is usually saved by a good sense of what is fair and allowable. Ivy is supposedely the long suffering "good girl", but she can get carried away by a mischievous streak, that can surprise Bean and the reader. So, we get a much more balanced team of friends than is usually the case, and a lot more opportunity for each character to be more than just a predictable "type".
Additionally, secondary characters, (parents, siblings, teachers, schoolmates), are not just stock figures, but develop actual personalities and contribute to the momentum of the various stories. This adds a lot more depth and variety to the books than one would normally expect.
This book worked as an attention-holding "read to" with our five year old, and drfited into a "read with" and then "read alone". That made it a wonderful transition book to independent reading.
And, remember the bonus - these are nice kids, who can be silly, or grumpy, or careless, but can also be loyal and thoughtful and responsible. Good company, I thought, for my little readers.

This is a really cute book that is a very quick read. My third grade students would really enjoy this book. The details included in this book are what make it so good. The reader can really picture Ivy and Bean and their funny experiences in the story. The use of onomatopoeia is a great tool used by the author to enable the reader to visualize what is happening. I loved the name of the street where Bean lived, called Pancake Court. At first Bean and Ivy thought they were complete opposites and Bean even called Ivy "boring". By the end of the story they were great friends, while getting in a bit of mischief along the way. Phrases used in the story like "easy-peasy" make this a great read for young girls. This is also a great book for students that have older siblings. Bean and Ivy become friends because they are trying to cast a spell on Bean's older sister Nancy. I plan on adding this book to my classroom library and sharing this new series with my students.

Ivy and Bean is a book by Annie Barrow. It's a story about two girls who weren't even supposed to be friends. Bean is an active girl who loves to be barefoot and bounce a ball. Ivy, on the other hand, always has her nose in a book and wants to become a witch. When they meet, Ivy takes Bean to her secret hiding place. They both try to invent something so amazing they can't believe it. This book is set in
a little town in California.

My favorite part is when they first meet. It's sort of funny. I think a good age to read this book is 9 to 11.

by Isobel

In this first book, we meet Ivy and Bean, two first-grade age girls who live on the same block and discover that, despite outward appearances, they are actually quite simpatico. Bean is a terror, a rough-and-tumble tomboy who likes to get into trouble and do things just because they are exciting. Turns out that the more quiet, bookish Ivy is a troublemaker, too -- she's just more low-key about it. But when the girls finally start talking to one another, they discover their shared affinity for mischief.

This is not a series for parents still in the throes of overprotectivoid shielding of all negative imagery and ideas -- these girls are not angels, but then again they also aren't demons. Bean is a modern soul-sister of Beverly Cleary's Ramona Quimby... or maybe even that other fabled wild-child, Dennis The Menace. She does stuff that will make parents cringe, but also laugh and smile indulgently, because we recognize the honesty of her feelings and impulsive actions. Kids recognize it, too -- hence the popularity of this series. It's definitely worth vetting to see what you think... these are pretty fun books. (Joe Sixpack, ReadThatAgain children's book reviews)

To begin with, Bean is rotten to her older sister. Then, when she steals her sister's money, lies about her ankle, runs away, and is rude some more, she ends up being the glorified character because she gets away with it. She wants to be rotten to her sister some more, she and Ivy come up with a plan, they trespass on other people's yards, and they end up getting worms all over Bean's sister. Oh yeah, no dessert, no videos for a week, but her mom thinks it's funny. Ivy is celebrated because she doesn't turn out to be the nice girl Bean thought she would be. The only grown-up character with any common sense is made out to be a meanie just because she is the only one who tells Bean to do what's right.
This is a terrible children's book. Extremely disappointing.
So in summary, Bean is perpetually rude, to her mother and sister, lies, steals, runs away, trespasses, and is applauded for it. Ivy helps her and is another glorified character. Oh, they are cute, and the way they do everything is cute, and that makes it all okay, right?

This is an excellent book that takes off where Junie B. Jones left off.
My 5th graders even have enjoyed it! Although the main characters are two girls, but my boys have enjoyed reading it also. It is a very funny book.
The 2nd book is just as good as the first one!!

My six-year-old daughter loves to read and has recently started reading chapter books. Once she got over her obsession with the Junie B. Jones series, I managed to get her interested in the Cam Jansen series of books and then I discovered the Ivy and Bean series. My daughter loves the central characters, Bean and her best friend Ivy. The girls are precocious, intelligent, and always up to some adventure (or misadventure, depending on how one looks at it!). These traits appeal to my daughter as she is quite the adventurer herself, and the chapters are relatively short, which makes it easy for her to read independently. The books average about 100-120 pages, and she manages to read up to 40 pages per sitting (around 45 minutes).

What I found to be fascinating was that the plot for each story is so well-written and developed that my daughter could not stop once she started reading! I usually sit with her and supervise her reading, helping out with some difficult words, and she gets so involved with the story that she just keeps on reading. This to me is the mark of a good book, one that entices a young reader to keep reading. The language is not dumbed down, on the contrary, there are some challenging words which I help my daughter with (pronunciation and definition, if necessary).

The black and white illustrations that appear in each chapter add to the appeal of these books. In this first book, Ivy and Bean live on the same street, yet they are not friends. Bean refuses to go over and play with Ivy, thinking Ivy is a strange girl. But when Bean decides to play a trick on her older sister and gets into trouble, Ivy comes to her rescue, and a beautiful friendship forms. The story flows well, and engages a young child's interest. Highly recommended for readers ages 6-8.

I read this aloud to my 7 year old but won't be reading any more of this series. Based on the cover (a cute picture of two sweet looking girls), I was expecting an innocent story of two little girls. Instead, I was really disappointed in both girls' behavior, their language, and their attitudes.

We'll be sticking with the classic "Betsy, Tacy and Tib" series, as well as the "B is for Betsy" series. Those are the type of books I love to share with my girls and was more what I was looking for in this series.

I am a teacher and love reading children's literature. This book was ok, but not something I'd buy for children or put in my classroom library. It was about two girls who don't want to be friends, but circumstance causes an instant attachment between them. That part was cute, but the majority of the book was spent with the girls causing trouble and trying to terrorize one girl's big sister....and while I do think those kind of stories are fun, I always look for the characters to learn something from their mischief or grow in some way, and this book did not do that. It ended with the girls feeling triumphant over what they did, even though one of them got punished for it. There was no regret or realizations, just a promise for more mischief in the next book.