Review by Booklist Review
Ivy and Bean return in their fifth story in which both girls take their goodness to a new level. Ivy, having heard about St. Francis, thinks it might be nice to be so pure of heart that animals follow her around. She tries to get Bean to be good, and then to be bad, so that she can reform her and the neighborhood bully, Matt, in the process. Though not quite as crisp as the first books in the series, this is still plenty of fun, especially for the duo's many fans. As always, Blackall's delightful illustrations add smiles and substance.--Cooper, Ilene Copyright 2009 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Horn Book Review
(Primary, Intermediate) Best friends Ivy and Bean decide to be really, really good -- like the guy Ivy once saw in a picture "with birds flying all around him and a wolf licking his foot," the guy who "was so good that wild beasts talked to him and birds swarmed after him." They start by thinking good and loving thoughts, arms stretched out for birds to land on; both, however, would prefer a wolf. Barrows's very funny story tells how the girls go from trying to win over animalkind by changing neighborhood bully Crummy Matt into a nice guy (doesn't work), to having Bean do bad things so that Ivy can reform her (resulting in all the kids on the street trying to outdo Bean), to singing, "Join us in the paths of goodness, and the birds and beasts will love you," while Crummy Matt ties the girls to a tree. Blackall's illustrations keep up with the text; it's hard to say which is funnier -- reading about or looking at the picture of, for instance, Ivy giggling but trying to look horrified when Bean whispers a bad word in her ear. In this fifth book in the series, Ivy and Bean are bound to satisfy fans and garner new ones. From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
How hard can it be to be bad? When a morning of "bad choices" finds Bean sent outside, she sees pal Ivy standing with outstretched arms. Why? Inspired by an image of St. Francis, she is trying to be "pure of heart" in the hopes of luring birds and maybe even a wolf. When standing still and thinking nice thoughts doesn't do the trick, though, the two hatch a scheme bound to succeed: Bean will be as bad as she can be, and Ivy will reform her. Readers familiar with the redoubtable pair (Ivy + Bean Take Care of the Babysitter, 2008, etc.) will not be surprised to find that the plan gets off to a bumpy start (when Bean screams "BRA!" killjoy Dino just declares it "boring," not bad) but then moves thrillingly into unimagined, escalating realms of badness. Barrows and Blackall deliver another laugh-out-loud Pancake Court romp that derives its humor from the very believable characters and chemistry of the neighborhood children. Any child who's had to suffer a time-out will relate to this one. (Fiction. 6-10) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
