Ivy & Bean Blog Tour: Day 2

How could ants fussing about in the grass help Ivy and Bean come up with their best idea ever? 

Read this delightful book and you too might see how instructional a colony of uptight bugs can be.

Thanks for stopping by Day 2 of the Ivy & Bean Blog Tour! I hope you enjoy my review and share a comment below.

Everyone who comments now through Dec. 3 automatically will be entered in a drawing to win Book 7 in the series, What's the Big Idea?

Be sure to leave a way to contact you, either in the comment itself or by emailing me with your email address.

Then scroll down to the end of the review for live links to more blogs on the tour!

Ivy & Bean: What's the Big Idea? (Book 7)

By Annie Barrows

Illustrated by Sophie Blackall

Chronicle, 2010

$14.99, ages 6-10, 128 pages

Best buddies Ivy and Bean may not know much about global warming, but they sure know about grownups -- and teaching them to relax might be just the trick to stopping a planetary melt-down.

In this 7th book in the beloved Ivy & Bean chapter-book series, the gals with big ideas and a knack for mischief take on cars, cow poop and other stuff mucking up the planet one group of parents at a time.

When Ivy and Bean's 2nd grade teacher, Ms. Aruba-Tate, asks the class to come up with ways to cool down Earth for the Emerson School science fair, the light bulbs start going on over Ivy and Bean's heads. Well, sort of.

Ivy and Bean are determined to come up with the best science project ever and become the most famous best friends in the world. Now, if they only had a couple of white lab coats and shimmering pink potions.

Hmmm. They might really have to think about this one. You know, sit there stock-still, with Ivy sucking cream cheese out of her hair and Bean squeezing her head between her hands until her eyeballs almost pop out.

After all, this is the world's biggest problem they're trying to fix -- and there are a lot of "squishy things" out there needing their help, like newts and frogs, not to mention fluffy white polar bears.

Bean's dad thinks the "kidalunks" should make posters to remind everyone to turn out lights, though Ivy and Bean aren't impressed. "You know grown-ups," Ivy leans into Bean. "They don't have very good imaginations."

But Ivy and Bean do.

If they can just be as clever as they were when they balanced spoons on their faces or stuffed straws in their mouths in Book 3, they're sure to win the grand prize, the principal's certificate of Scientific Achievement.

Let's see...

Maybe they could throw ice cubes into the sky while boinging on Bean's tramp? (Of course, to really cool things down, they'd need a plane to drop the ice, but everyone gets the gist. Right?)

Or perhaps they could tie up the hands of all the people in the world, you know to make humans less powerful? Then animals could take over the world and save it from all of our pollution.

Or, better yet, they could smash up some rice from Bean's cupboard and develop a cleaner source of energy, you know like splitting atoms in nuclear fission?

Too bad Bean's big sister Nancy and her mean friend Mischa sneer at every idea Ivy and Bean attempt, and all of their classmates are already well underway on projects.

Emma and Zuzu are planting trees to eat car exhaust, Eric is building a robot to attack people who litter, and snooty Vanessa is making her siblings hold their breath to reduce the carbon dioxide in the air.

How can Ivy and Bean use what they know best to solve global warming and win the "certificate thing" from the fair?

Hmmm.

They have noticed that grown-ups are a lot like ants -- they freak out when they're not in charge… Maybe there's a way to teach adults to chill out and cool the planet in the process.

Yet another charmer in one of the sweetest series since Beverly Cleary's Ramona books, this 7th book will have readers shouting hurray for two precocious gals who stay fearsomely true to who they are.

Don't miss Barrows's author's note at the end of the story, "Why Can't We Just Throw Ice Cubes in the Air and Other Ideas about Global Warming." Then stop by her website here to learn how to suck an egg into a jar!

(You can also check out my pick for Bean's best quote in "Quotes From Books and the Kids Who Love Them" down the right side of my blog.)

Nov. 22  The Children's and Teens' Book Connection

Nov. 23  Where the Best Books Are!

Nov. 24  Review From Here

Nov. 25  Muse Reviews

Nov. 26  Bookmarkable

Nov. 27  Booking Mama

Nov. 28  Everyday I Write The Book

Nov. 29  There's A Book

Nov. 30  Out With The Kids

Dec. 1    Mother Daughter Book Club

Dec. 2    The Children's Book Review

Dec. 3    Stiletto Storytime