Ivy and Bean Book 1 by Annie Barrows

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Description:

Meet Ivy & Bean. Bean has lots of friends, loves stomping in puddles, and hates being bored. Ivy has just moved in next door. Ivy seems nice, wears dresses and sparkly headbands—which makes Bean think she's too boring to be friends with. But after Ivy comes to Bean's rescue, they become the best of friends and begin a series of silly, sneaky, imaginative, sometimes naughty, and always hilarious adventures.

Age Recommendation: 6-9, 1st-3rd Grade

General Content:

Language: 2/10- Some unkind language and name-calling.

Alcohol & Drugs: 0/10- No alcohol or drug content.

Violence & Gore: 4/10- Not traditional violence and gore, but constant bullying between sisters and mischief.

Sexual Content: 0/10- No sexual content.

Parent Guide:

Tropes: Unlikely friends, creative adventures, mischief.

Ch. 1

-Bean's mother tries to get her to play with Ivy, the girl across the street, but Bean refuses, saying Ivy looks “so boring”.

Ch. 2

-Bean and her sister Nancy bicker constantly, sticking out tongues, and calling each other “pests, “" pain, “booger-head,” and “tightwad”.

-Nancy, Bean, and their mother go shopping. Nancy (11) tries on skirts; “she put on a purple skirt. She looked at her front in the mirror. Then she turned to the side. Then she turned around and tried to look at her behind”.

-“Bean thought about kicking her [Nancy] in the shin. But then she got the idea….and best of all, her idea would make Nancy freak out. ‘You’ll be sorry,’ Bean mouthed to Nancy”.

Ch. 3

-Bean sees Ivy playing in her yard alone. She was wearing a black bathrobe and carrying a gold stick. Bean thinks to herself, “What a goony costume…What a dork”.

-Everyone wanted to play with Bean, “even crummy Matt”.

-Bean yells at Ivy through the bush. Not being able to see Bean, Ivy gets scared and asks, “Who’s there? Are you a ghost?” Bean replies, “yyyeeessss…I am the ghost of Mr. Killop. I lived in your house before. And died there, too…Tonight when you’re sleeping, I’ll wrap my icy fingers around your neck” (Mr. Killop actually moved to Ohio, but Bean thought it was better to say he’d died for her story).

Ch. 4

-Bean continues pretending to be a ghost when she sees her sister. She tries to scare her, “‘I’m going to wrap my fingers around your neck too,’ she howled in her spooky voice. ‘And I’m going to spit in your ear’”.

-Nancy sees through Bean's plan, pulling her out of the bush and dragging her to their house. Bean decides to fake a hurt ankle to get out of her sister’s grip. She then runs, sticks her tongue out, and shakes her behind at her sister to taunt her.

-Afraid of her punishment, Bean decides to hide, thinking, “If her mom couldn’t find her, she couldn’t send her to her room. If she stayed out until dark, her parents would stop being mad and start being worried”.

Ch. 5

-Ivy tells Bean that she’s “going to be a witch” by learning spells, magic, and potions.

Ch. 6

-Ivy and Bean decide to sneak into Ivy's house so that her mom doesn’t see Bean. Bean talks about how grown-ups always tell each other everything, so it’s best not to be seen.

-Bean goes into Ivy’s room, which is sectioned into 5 areas with chalk on the floor. One of the sections had a bunch of dolls, all sitting on the floor facing a doll-sized carpet. On the carpet is a Barbie wrapped in paper. “‘Neat,’ says Bean. ‘A mummy.’ ‘Yeah,’ said Ivy. ‘I’m going to build a pyramid to bury her in. As soon as I figure out how.’”

-Ivy and Bean decide to use face paint to make Ivy look more “witchy.” Ivy requests white, with black around her eyes, and blobs of red on her cheeks, “for blood”. “‘That’s good!’ Bean agreed. ‘Blood is good!’”

Ch. 7

-Ivy pulls out a book that’s “really a secret”, a spell book given to her by her aunt.

-Ivy and Bean have to secretly get back to Bean's yard, so they sneak through a few back yards to get to hers. One of the yards belongs to “Jake the Teenager”, whose house had “loud music with lots of bad words in it coming from the garage”.

Ch. 8

-Nancy calls her sister “stupid Bean” while talking to her mom.

Ch. 9

-Bean gets mad at Nancy and throws two handfuls of worms at her.

Ch. 10

-Ivy and Bean decide that tomorrow, instead of spells, they will make potions.

My Opinion: I did not enjoy this novel, and I probably wouldn't let my child read it. The characters are sneaky, unkind, and mischievous, all characteristics I do not value or want to teach my child. I understand that the author is trying to make it funny, but it's deceptive in its title and overall not the wholesome beginner's novel that it's marketed to be.