One Big Happy Family

July 15, 2018
Irresistible 7-year-old protagonists Ivy and Bean are back for their 11th outing after a long break.The girls take up where they left off years ago, still participating in the type of childhood adventures that are both realistic and yet so whimsical that storytellers often overlook them. Ivy, the (slightly) quieter of the pair, decides that because she's an only child, she's in great danger of becoming spoiled. Extreme generosity--trying to give away lots of her clothes--backfires. Instead, she and ever ebullient Bean decide to try to bring to life a baby doll after Ivy's mom pointedly refuses to provide a needed sister. When a cellphone charger they plug into the doll's mouth doesn't succeed in galvanizing her (but hilariously mimics the Frankenstein story), they try dancing and calling to the gods in the park--also not quite a success but surely a spectacle. Blackall's numerous amusing black-and-white illustrations on nearly every page match perfectly with the spare, winsome text to make for an inviting presentation with plenty of good-humored action. Ivy and Bean present white, and their classmates are diverse. Short chapters, ample white space, and smart, interesting dialogue all combine to make this an easy choice for those newly transitioned to chapter books.Welcome back, Ivy and Bean! (Fiction. 6-9)

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January 1, 2019
Only-child Ivy takes to heart a classmate's assertion that children like her are usually spoiled. She tries many corrective measures, but ultimately best friend Bean helps Ivy see she's unselfish and thoughtful--the opposite of spoiled. The earnest, emotionally mature second graders' imaginative and somewhat rash problem-solving tactics provide energetic plot details and laugh-worthy gags. Black-and-white spot art captures and builds on the characters' personalities and this eleventh installment's humor.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

November 1, 2018
The second-grade best friends of Pancake Court, Ivy and Bean, return for an eleventh installment in which they consider what it means to be a spoiled child. Opinionated classmate Vanessa points out that Ivy is an only child and asserts that such children are usually spoiled. Though Bean defends Ivy ( Bean could have bitten Vanessa on the ankle, but she didn't. She just said, ?Ivy's not spoiled' ), Ivy takes the remark to heart. She tries many corrective measures, including giving away her clothes and asking her mom for a baby sister. At last, Bean helps Ivy see that though she is an only child, she is consistently unselfish and thoughtful?the opposite of spoiled. The imaginative and somewhat rash problem-solving tactics of these two otherwise earnest, emotionally mature friends offer readers characters to love as well as energetic plot details and gags to laugh at. Blackall's black-and-white spot art deftly captures and builds on the characters' distinct personalities and the story's humor while also creating breaks in the text for pausing and reflecting. This long-awaited (it's been five years since the last installment) addition to the series has much to recommend for both longtime Ivy and Bean fans and new initiates. julie roach

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)