Ivy + Bean by Annie Barrows

Title: Ivy & Bean by: Annie Barrows; illustrated by Sophie Blackall

Publisher: Chronicle Books, p2006, c2006

ISBN-13: 978-0-8118-4903-6

Interest/Reading Level: K-3/3.2

Series: Ivy + Bean ; bk. 1

Book Summary:

Friendship can grow between the most different of people.  Two girls, each thinking the other seems boring, really have no interest in getting to know each other no matter how hard their mothers try to convince them to be friends. The girls appear to be very different.   Ivy, with her red curly hair, seems very quiet sitting and reading in her pretty dress rather than running about; while Bean is most rambunctious sporting tomboy clothes and her short scraggly hair. It seems like these two could never be friends until Bean finds herself in a tight spot and Ivy must help her out of it.

My thoughts:

The writing style is very easy to follow with large words  with wrapped text illustrations. Readers will not struggle with the language, but I also liked the random interesting vocabulary such as: folding screen, tightwad, cul-de-sac, passageway¸ mummy, easy-peasy, squiggled, streamers, studio, and waggling. The layout of the story as a chapter book series makes give it an ongoing appeal as does the author’s foreshadowing of what the girls will be trying “tomorrow” when they play.

      I think that some parents might not like the seven-year-old year old characters dabbling in witchcraft. Ivy actually is studying the occult to become a witch rather than just pretending to be one. However, that is for individual families to decide and it is truly not a major point in the story. Young girls will like the dressing up and best-friend in the making aspect of the series.

Library Toolbox of Tips and Tricks:

Vocabulary Development:

  Bean LOVES using new words and she learns a lot of them in the Ivy & Bean series. Try creating a word wall for the library to make classroom to library connections! Have the students grab a "Bean" word and use it to describe a story they are choosing that day... "This book will be easy-peasy!"  Have the students write a sentence using a bean word for each book in the series. Then put those into a vocabulary "Bean Dictionary book" to place on the shelf next to the series!

References:

Image: Ivy & Bean [cover image]. Retrieved from: http://www.titlewave.com/search?SID=997435e1adf14b2d3c234790b0352597