Ivy and Bean are just 2 regular girls in the 2nd grade. Bean is pretty curious and thinks a lot about how the world works. She and her classmates are supposed to come up with ideas to fight global warming for the school’s Science Fair. She and Ivy team up and come up with a few ideas, try them out but realize those things won’t work. Then they hit on a really good idea, which is nothing like what you might expect, but really is probably the most important thing that had to happen in order to sto...

A group of fifth-graders present a talk on global warming to the students in Ms. Aruba-Tate's second-grade class in this seventh installment of author Annie Barrows and illustrator Sophie Blackall's series of beginning chapter-books devoted to the (mis)adventures of best friends Ivy and Bean, and the entire group is thrown into despair. What will the animals of the world - especially the polar bears - do, as their habitats shrink? And how can it be that it is humans who are responsible for such

If you like the Ivy & Bean series, you will enjoy this one as well. This was 2011 Eleanor Cameron Award (Golden Duck for middle grades) finalist. Ivy and Bean work together to come up with an idea for their school science fair. The theme for their second grade classroom is global warming. The book takes us through some of their ideas that don't work, and leads us to the fair where we finally learn what their project is and whether or not it is successful. What I like about this book is that it a...

Second-graders Ivy and Bean have to do a project on global warming for the Science Fair. All the other kids have cool ideas, and they can't think of anything. I really liked the other kids' approaches. The bossy girl with the large number of younger siblings is going to make them hold their breath for fifteen minutes a day. (Less carbon dioxide, right?) The nerdy guy has made a battery out of a lime and proposes to run clean cars on lime-power. The violent kid is going to contruct a killer robot...

Fun, whimsical books that make for a great read with your little rascal, especially if the rascal happens to be a girl. I love Ivy and Bean books. Why? Because they are written in a way a child can relate to, they feature everyday scenarios, good old-fashion problems (no real peril, explosions, drama, and all that other nonsense kids should not worry about), and the entire story usually takes place over the course of a few days or even hours. Recommended for anyone who has a little mischievous g...

I can see why so many children and educators love Ivy and Bean! They are generally nice kids with a spirit of adventure. Barrows writes in a way that children will find authentic and realistic. Bean's older sister is mean in a way that is natural, annoying, and appropriate. In What's the Big Idea, Ivy and Bean learn about global warming at school. The class decides that they want to fight global warming and presents a variety of ideas at the science fair. Most of their ideas are unrealistic or i...

This was a fun read that tackles the question of what a little kid can do about a big problem like Global Warming in a really honest way. The Q&A section about Global Warming at the end was a super addition to this latest installment in a delightful series.

I'm not sure why I like these enough to keep reading, when I actually don't like so much about them. I don't like Nancy, or all the destructiveness, and unkindness.... I guess I respect them for being both sweet and spicy?I guess because sometimes they're really really good. I think the science fair project that these two second graders come up with is an absolutely fabulous idea. And I am charmed by the reasoning that got them to that point, about how grown-ups like to be in charge, don't like

In the latest installment of this first-rate series, Ivy & Bean are learning about being "green". My favorite part of this series is the way the girls view how the adults see the world around them. The girls are always wondering: why can't the adults have any fun? Why do they like everything to be quiet? Why are they so tired all the time? There is a hilarious interchange between the girls and Ivy's mother, when the girls ask her to tie their hands together. She does so without blinking an eye o...

Ivy and Bean's class is worried. A fifth-grade presentation on global warming has all the kids concerned about the future of the earth. So with the science fair coming, they decide to each create projects proposing solutions to help the earth. But Ivy and Bean are in a quandary. What can they possibly do as kids to fix such a big problem? When idea after idea tanks, the pair begins to think they'll never have an answer... or even a project. But nothing can keep the irrepressible duo down for lon...

Book 7 begins thusly: illustration of Bean standing, stapler in hand, before a large window. She peers upward, pleased by the crumpled mass of drapes hanging above her. "What are those little black lines all over the fabric?" you may wonder, as I did. The first paragraph succinctly answers that question: "There had been a problem in Bean's house. The problem was staples."Ha. Annie Barrows has yet to write an Ivy + Bean book that doesn't make me laugh on PAGE ONE. What's the Big Idea has all of t...

3.5 Stars I really like Ivy and Bean. What I like about them is creativity and problem solving (whether it is silly or not they are using their heads)I am all for coming up with ways to stop polluting our planet like recycle, clean vehicle and factories etc, but I am not sold that "Global Warming" is a man made thing--I mean Cows need to poop and we aren't creating all the methane gas. My theory (though not important) is that the Earth Goes through changes, currently it is in a warmer phase...s

My daughter and I love this series (she’s 8). They are so cute, well written, and practical. The characters represent normal children in a normal school setting. Sometimes they misbehave and sometimes they do amazing things; but they always accurately demonstrate emotions and fears about their lives that my daughter can relate to (a far cry from how Disney interprets childhood with a song and dance routine). I am impressed by how insightful the author is. I also love how she occasionally uses ch...

Another delight in this series about two friends and the mischief they get up to - though this one held less mischief than usual. Still, the grandchildren loved it and it has a great theme of caring for the environment. The author has taken the time to add a little at the end to say why some of the wonderful wacky ideas the kids come up with for reducing global warming won't work, but also some good pointers for doing whatever we can.

It's hard to find an interesting book on this reading level, which is why Annie Barrows is so much to be congratulated on this series. In this one, the two friends are desperately trying to figure out what to do for the science fair, which is about combating global warming. And lots of information does get imparted but not, amazingly, in a boring way at all! I especially love Bean.