Ivy & Bean Doomed to Dance

The best birthday present Georgia received this year was the latest installment of the Ivy & Bean series, Doomed to Dance. I am on a constant quest to find books that are both the right level and interesting enough to hold Georgia’s attention. The pickings are slim, my friends. However, there are a couple of good ones, like the Franny K. Stein series, the Max and Maddy Series, and the Akimbo books. But, by far, for Georgia, the winner is Ivy & Bean. We have been waiting for this new release for six months, and were thrilled it arrived before Georgia’s birthday.

In Doomed to Dance, Ivy and Bean read a book about the ballet, Giselle, and decide they simply must take ballet class. Taking a page from my own playbook, the moms allow them to join, but also insist that they have to stick with it through the entire session. The grim difference between Giselle and a beginning ballet class for 7 year olds quickly becomes obvious and the rest of the book is the story about how they try to get out of their promise. I don’t want to give it away, but let’s just say that it involves running away and very scary giant squids. You’ve gotta love any book for a second grader that manages to include both Giselle and giant squids with grace.

Aside from Georgia’s devotion to them, what I love most about Ivy & Bean is that the characters are believable and charming. While sometimes naughty, there is always a logic and justification for their behavior. In addition, the parents react with appropriate and realistic discipline. By contrast, books like Junie B. Jones and Eloise imply that arbitrary bratty behavior and, even worse, bad grammar, is somehow endearing. It’s a relief to find a book both with fun young girl characters and positive relationships.

Georgia believes that the best book in a series is always the third one. She says that way the characters are really well developed, but the author is still not out of ideas. Ivy and Bean is the exception, we both agree they just keep getting better and better.

– Jessica Wheeler

Ivy & Bean Review

Ivy & Bean by Annie Barrow & Sophie Blackall

Ivy & Bean

A baby’s first step is a turning point into walking.  The reading equivalent is not as easy to spot, but for my daughter, Georgia, it happened while reading Ivy & Bean.  She went from being a struggling new reader, to a confident reader.  I know it took years of work, but, just like a first step turns instantly into walking, it really appears as though my daughter got over the ‘reading hump’ with this book.  As a result Ivy & Bean will always have a special place in my heart.  I also owe a special thanks to Georgia’s good friend Elsa.  Elsa’s love of the series was just the incentive Georgia needed to focus and become the reader she has wanted to be for a long time. A little peer pressure can be a good thing in young children.

There are several books about mischievous young girls that drive me crazy.  At best they glamorize bratty behavior, and at worst they are riddled with bad grammar in the guise of ‘child talk.’  Ivy & Bean is neither of these.  It is a sweet book about creative and independent girls who discover a great friendship.  There is certainly plenty of naughty behavior, but it is funny and, along the lines of the older brother in the Wonder Years, it does really seem like the older sister deserves it.  The writing is excellent, with the perfect balance of a quick paced flow and enough details to make children relate.  It is rated at a 2nd grade reading level, and is tolerable as a book to read along with your child.  I highly recommend this book for 1st grade girls, particularly ones that have strong friendships.  You can learn more about the series at this url:  http://www.anniebarrows.com/ivyandbean/ivyandbean/about/

Friendship is what brought Georgia this great book about two girls who become unexpected friends.  Georgia saw Elsa enjoying this book, and, for her part, Elsa would read Georgia the funniest parts.  That was just the enticement Georgia needed.  Like Bean with Ivy, I’m sure over the years Elsa will entice Georgia into many things I am not so happy about, but for now I am grateful.

-Jessica Wheeler

Franny K. Stein

Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist Scientist, Lunch Walks Among Us

Lunch Walks Among Us

Concoction, scientist, dungeon, nuclear-powered brain amplifier, flying piranha.  These are many difficult, yet quite useful words and phrases Georgia has come to know by reading the Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist books.  Franny is the intelligent, inventive and caring girl I hope my daughter will someday be.  However, I am hoping she waits until college to try and build a monster by sewing balogna sandwiches together.

I recommend this book for anyone with a child reluctantly moving into chapter books.  Jim Benton has managed to create a sympathetic character who faces the same challenges as many children.  In FKS #1, Lunch Walks Among Us, Franny tries to change herself in order to make friends in a new school.  At the same time, Benton brings in fantastic twists in the story, such as a lunch room garbage can accidentally fermenting a ‘Giant Monstrous Fiend’ from crab ravioli in pumpkin sauce, gum, old gym shoes, and unstable industrial waste.  Franny, of course, saves the day by being her true self, and all of her friends come to love her for who she is.  Yay.

I recommend this book for emerging readers.  There are illustrations on almost every page, and the story moves smoothly.  There are monsters and danger, but it is all quite lighthearted and silly.  I suppose if you have a really sensitive child that takes things literally, you should not give them this book.  Otherwise, enjoy.  This is great fun to read for both you and your child.

-Jessica Wheeler

Bad Kitty Gets a Bath

by Nick Bruel

Bad Kitty Gets a Bath

Bad Kitty Gets a Bath

My younger daughter is right at what I find is the most difficult phase in learning to read.  The easy books that are perfectly at her level are way too boring, and the more interesting books, i.e. the ones her older sister is reading, are way too hard.  But, we recently discovered an absolute gem in Bad Kitty Gets a Bath by Nick Bruel.

We first met Bad Kitty a few years ago with the original alphabet book about a kitty forced to eat healthy vegetables.  It starts, “She wasn’t always a bad kitty.  She used to be a good kitty, until one day….”  You get the idea.  Its good – one of those picture books I’m still happy to pick up because it is perfectly silly with humor that both kids and adults find funny.  As opposed to say, Amelia Bedelia.

Now Bad Kitty is back in a chapter book and she needs a bath.  The drawings are plentiful and expressive, and the pacing of the book is perfect for a 1st grader bored with Nate the Great but not quite ready for Geronimo Stilton.  Some pages are a little more difficult with a lot of text, but then some pages have only a couple of lines or even just one word, such as “LICK”.  There are a few difficult words in the book, but it is so engaging that Georgia was encouraged to struggle through them and ask what they mean.  There is a glossary at the back of more difficult terms.  Of course the glossary is just as silly as the rest of the book and includes a definition of glossary (as it should).

This phase of learning to read is challenging for me as a parent because I get impatient and find so many of the books at this level are mind-numbingly simple.  At the same time, I know there is a part of Georgia that is reluctant to leap head first into reading by herself because it means I won’t read to her as much.  If I could find a hundred books like Bad Kitty Gets a Bath, I would be happy to stay in this phase for a long time.

– Jessica Wheeler