![]() ![]() ![]() Jones - as I think that the social pressure on girls and women, to just be nice (all the time! no matter what!) are still very strong. I like stories about little girls that aren't sweet - think Ramona, Clementine, or Junie B. All in all, although I came away with some concerns, I wasn't as disturbed as my friend. ![]() The irrepressible Bean, who has something of a penchant for trouble (especially if it involves teasing her older sister, Nancy), discovers that just because her new neighbor wears a skirt, and has her nose stuck perpetually in a book, doesn't mean that she's boring while Ivy, intent on becoming a witch - if studying can bring it about, it will happen! - learns that Bean is anything but the sweet paragon held up to her.I was curious to see what I would make of this story, after reading a friend's negative review, which compared the character of Bean unfavorably with Beverly Cleary's Ramona, so when I found myself stuck in the city the other day with nothing to read, and happened upon a book-sale, I snapped up the first few volumes of the series. Although each is encouraged to play with the other by their respective mothers - who foolishly trot out the old "she seems like such a nice girl" line - they resist, until circumstances intervene, in the form of Bean on the run from the consequences of her latest stunt, and they are thrown together. The eponymous Ivy and Bean discover that sometimes appearances can be deceiving in this amusing first entry in Annie Barrows' series of easy chapter-books for the primary school set. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |