Ivy + Bean what's the big idea?

For the science fair, second-graders Ivy and Bean need to come up with an idea to fight global warming. A few false starts involve hurling ice cubes into the sky while jumping on a trampoline (a low-tech attempt to cool down the air); tying their wrists together (to make humans weaker and let the animals take over); and smashing grains of rice with a hammer (could rice be a new source of clean energy?). Though wildly unsuccessful and not even all that fun, these experiments eventually lead the girls to ask some good questions: Why don't grownups like (and therefore care about) nature as much as kids do, and how can they be taught to like it? The answer they come up with, like many scientific ideas, is simple but brilliant: give grownups their favorite thing -- a calm, quiet rest -- in a natural setting. How Ivy and Bean accomplish this deserves a prize, and Barrows and Blackall deserve kudos for keeping this seventh book in the series original and funny. jennifer m. brabander (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.