Utterly Me, Clarice Bean [Hardcover]

Lauren Child (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up | Series: Clarice Bean

The quirky Clarice Bean tries on the unlikely role of super sleuth in her first utterly suspenseful, utterly hilarious full-length adventure.

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 Redfort, 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. The book’s contemporary design comes complete with an eye-catching ribbon bookmark.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-5-Fans of this irrepressible picture-book character will appreciate this expanded episode for chapter-book readers. Clarice and her best friend are collaborating on a project for school, showing what they have learned from a series of books about their favorite girl detective. When Betty fails to return to school, their teacher pairs Clarice with the worst boy in the class. As they work together on the assignment, she realizes that Karl has really good ideas and isn't such a bad guy. When Betty comes back (from having been whisked off to Russia with her parents), she feels left out. But then Karl is accused of stealing a trophy cup, Clarice turns detective, and the girls patch up their friendship. These amusing characters speak in a delightful, childlike language. Many passages are done in type that playfully swoops over the pages, as when the protagonist is describing a swimming and diving experience. Stylized, mixed-media illustrations appear throughout. For those who can't get enough of Junie B. Jones, Clarice Bean is an utterly entertaining alternative.
JoAnn Jonas, Chula Vista Public Library, San Diego, CA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 2-5. The intrepid heroine of three previous picture books makes her debut in full-length fiction. This time Clarice is having trouble with her obstreperous family, an irritating teacher, and a best friend who suddenly disappears. She draws solace from reading about girl-detective Ruby Redfort, who leads what Clarice considers a perfect life and inspires Clarice to use her own investigative skills to make some sense of her family, help out a classmate wrongly accused of stealing, and repair a misunderstanding with best friend Betty Moody. A funny, appealing individual who owns up to her shortcomings and tries her best, even if she doesn't always succeed, Clarice is an exceptionally strong character, and her story, delivered in deadpan, forthright prose, perfectly captures a child's voice in a way that will elicit laughter even from the grumpy. The frequent black line illustrations (some worked into the text) and the experimentation with word size and placement on the page are great carryovers from the picture books. A perfect choice for reading aloud or for newly independent chapter-book readers, this will utterly captivate a wide audience. Kay Weisman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Candlewick (August 11, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0763621862
• ISBN-13: 978-0763621865
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,122,387 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lauren Child is the multi-talented prize-winning creator of the characters Charlie and Lola, Clarice Bean and Hubert Horatio Bobton-Trent. She has won the Smarties Gold Award, Smarties Bronze Award, Kate Greenaway Medal and been shortlisted for the Children's Book of the Year at the British Book Awards. Lauren lives in London.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars UTTERLY Awesome, Clarice Bean!, February 5, 2006

By 

Rachel E. A. "Voracious Reader" (Boise, ID United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Utterly Me, Clarice Bean (Hardcover)

As a creative writing teacher and mother of three utterly adventurous and book loving children, ages 6 through 10, I thoroughly, UTTERLY loved reading this book aloud to my children. I was concerned that my son, age 6 and complete Star Wars/Superhero addict, would not enjoy a story about a plain, ordinary girl, but he surprised me and became completely engrossed in the story. We enjoyed every moment of the book from beginning to end, and decided we must get all the books in the series. Most enjoyable for me was the fact that the narrative, cleverly and appropriately written from the perspective of Clarice, was so accurate and delightful - totally funny, outrageous and completely reminiscent of young girlhood angst. My children were so delighted and fell completely in love with Clarice. I HIGHLY recommend Clarice Bean to any book lover. It's a much wittier version of Ramona Quimby. I give it a very enthusiastic THUMBS UP!!! Hurrah, Ms. Lauren Child. My family and I have become your devoted fans.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Clarice will charm the children, July 24, 2005

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Utterly Me, Clarice Bean (Hardcover)

Clarice is the girl many of us were at her age. We believed we were ordinary; we didn't appreciate our families or our lives in general. And we had a fantasy life that would make great theatre. What I really appreciated about Utterly Me, Clarice Bean is that Clarice always gives life her best.

Clarice and her best friend Betty Moody love the mystery series with heroine Ruby Redfort, so it seems natural that they would use the Redfort books for a school project.

Now that seems simple enough, but then Betty goes missing - and Clarice and the school's problem child are paired together for the book project. Clarice doesn't initially like the pairing, but as she and Karl work together, she realizes that he's got great ideas and is really pretty nice.

The problems begin when Betty returns and becomes jealous of the relationship that has developed between Clarice and Karl. When the project trophy disappears, Karl is accused of stealing it. Clarice is determined to solve the mystery and clear Karl's name. Is she successful in solving the mystery? And what about the friendship between Clarice and Betty?

I enjoyed the characters, the life-like feelings of a child about her life. The illustrations are entertaining. On some pages the writing streams and swirls around the page. This is a grand book for children between the ages of 7-10. Armchair Interviews suggests parents, grandparents read this together with the important children in their lives. It will be a wonderful time spent together.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Utterly Me Clarice Bean from a kids ponit of veiw., December 14, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Utterly Me, Clarice Bean (Paperback)

Utterly Me Clarice Bean
Utterly me Clarice Bean is by Lauren Child. Clarice and her best friend Betty are assigned a book report about a book they read that was educational. They could not figure out what book they would use for there book report. They are obsessed with Ruby Redford, a book about an 11 year old under cover spy. I Think Lauren Child is trying to say that sometimes you have to look hard for something that's right in front of you. The main characters in the book are Clarice, Betty and her teacher {I don't remember her name}.

My favorite part in the book is when they write a letter to Patricia F Maplin Stacey the auther of Ruby Redford. The beginning is just introducing her friends and family. The book is very funny. I think if you're the kind of person who likes to laugh and likes something different and your like 8+ in age you will love this book.
-Alexandra,10