Click on the "comment" button below to leave your blog post. I suggest you type your response first in a word document, and then copy and paste it into the comment box. Your blog post should be at least 500 words of original prose (do not duplicate anything other bloggers have already said here) in which you engage with the text for the week critically AND pose an original discussion question. Be sure to write your full name and word count at the bottom of your post. The cut-off time for this blog post is Monday, March 31 at midnight.Discussion Leaders: Allison, Chelcie, Amanda W., Molly, Shaina, Derek
Ivy and Bean by Annie Barrows
ReplyDeleteThis early chapter book series is one that I would’ve loved to read as a young girl. Once reading this first book, I know I would’ve loved to continue the series and find out what happens in the rest of Ivy and Bean’s adventures.
This book immediately teaches the lesson of, don’t judge a book by its cover. The relationship between the two girls starts out like a lot of young girl relationships do. Ivy and Bean had no interest in being friends when they met because each thought the other was too different. Bean is such a pest and doesn’t behave well in school or to her family. Ivy on the other hand is the opposite. She is well mannered and much sweeter than Bean.
The behavior that is displayed in this book are great for teachable moments between parents and kids. This book can lead to great discussion on what types of qualities kids might like in a friend and which they do not like. There are many moments int he book where awful behavior is displayed. Bean and her sister, Nancy do not get along. The relationship between the sisters display realistic situations that sisters may have.
I really enjoy the illustrations that are on each page in the book. The writing, chapters, and illustrations make this a great book series for children in grades second-fourth. The illustrations display to the reader an idea of what scenarios are really going on. I think this series is great in that the images give the reader an idea of what to imagine and know what Ivy and Bean look like.
As a parent or teacher, I can see how it would be a debate to want the children reading it. There is dialect that use words such as dork and dweeb, and there are actions that indicate sticking tongues out and lying to friends. I know some adults may have an issue with behavior like this being displayed amongst young children. Bean could be an influence that parents may not want their kids reading about. However, these books are good for children to read and learn good and bad behavior.
I work with elementary school students at my job and I know many of the young girls are heavily into the series. They tell me how much they like Ivy and Bean as friends and how they have to read one book after another.
I personally find the book cute and humorous. Annie Barrows writing style is easy to follow and quite fun. I would not be one to discourage young children to not read this book. The two girls may put a few bad ideas into a child’s head, but it’s not like the girls get away with everything they do. I definitely see it being more interesting for females to read. This book is strictly about two female friends and their adventures together. There wasn’t much in the book I could see a young boy being interested in.
Questions: Do Ivy and Bean display a realistic relationship between two young girls? Do you think the behavior that occurs in this book should keep parents from allowing their child to read it? Can children take away good lessons from this book?
Word Count: 550
Ivy and Bean by Annie Barrow's is a pretty interesting book. It's obviously written for a younger audience than myself, but I still found it to be an amusing and fun read for myself. The narrative is full of jokes and amusing banter between the two main characters, Bean and her neighbor (now friend) Ivy, and the illustrations that accompany the chapters really enhance the reading experience.
ReplyDeleteThe narrative itself is split into multiple chapters, meaning that this could have easily been an elementary student's first chapter book. The chapters are short, usually around eight to ten pages on average (not counting pages that are nothing but illustrations), and to me that seems like a pretty good way to create designated reading for a younger audience. It's short enough to keep their attention, and long enough for them to get a good amount of practice from reading a chapter or two in a day.
One thing I think this book really nailed is realism. One thing we all are probably used to is gender roles. Even as children, there are certain things that we were conditioned to think were only for specific genders. Looking through hundreds of children's books and cartoons, you would usually see boys portrayed as rowdy trouble-makers while the girls are exempt from their rough play and are shown as softer or cuter. Boys would cause mischief, girls would tattle on them.
But Ivy and Bean paints a different picture, one where the wild, trouble causing child is a girl instead. Bean and Ivy run through neighbors yards, burp grossly at adults, and play with worms. This is a huge contrast to the American Girl series that we've recently looked at. While Addy from Meet Addy wishes she had a beautiful dress, Bean is described to only wear dresses when she's forced to. Ivy is shown to wear a dress, but she goes on to cover her face in paint (with red to look blood!) in order to look like a scary witch (rather than dressing up to look pretty). In this way the actions of Ivy and Bean remind me more of Where The Wild Things Are, where Max causes mischief for his mom and goes off on a wild adventure using his imagination. Bean definitely gets in trouble with her mom, and Ivy is pretty creative with her “witchcraft.”
I thought it was interesting to read a book where the girl takes on a role that is more rough than what we're used to reading. In all the other books, female characters were usually mother figures, and even our first encounter with girl child characters included themes that suggested the girls should be “quiet” and care about their appearance more.
I’m also interested in how children would respond to this book as well. This book features Ivy and Bean playing pranks and generally doing things that they aren't supposed to do, ending with them (mostly Bean) getting in trouble with their parents. I feel like kids would really relate to the actions portrayed in this book. I know I got nostalgic thinking about the things I used to do when I was younger while reading this book.
Discussion Questions: The class questioned if boys would be interested in reading Meet Addy, so what about this book? Would the subject matter of this book interest them more than the history based American Girl series?
Shaina King
Word count: 570
I really enjoyed reading Annie Barrows’ Ivy + Bean. This book really brought me back to my childhood as something I would have enjoyed as a young girl. The friendship between Ivy and Bean also brought back some memories of some my friendships when I was younger. It seems that mothers are always encouraging their children to make new friends, and to play with people who “look” nice. It is funny that we are always taught to not judge a book by its cover, yet we often look at people and make judgements before we even speak to them.
ReplyDeleteThis can be a great lesson taught to any young child who is reading this book. The whole time Ivy and Bean were trying to stay away from each other, they really could have bee developing a friendship. While this is only the first book in the series, I think it is safe to say that the girls’ friendship will continue to grow as they get to know each other more.
The tension between Bean and her sister seems like it could be very relatable to a child who has siblings. As I was reading, I was thinking about the fights my brother and I had when we were younger. I am four years older than him, and as I look back, I probably had some of my own “Nancy” moments while we were growing up. Even children reading this book who don’t have siblings could get a look in to what life is like with a brother or sister. It could be misleading, however. The story really gives a bad impression about two siblings not getting along, when that is not always the case.
One of the things I really enjoyed in this book was the illustrations. I really thought the illustrations did a great job of capturing the emotion on the girls’ faces, especially Bean’s. One of my favorite illustrations is on page 23. This is where Bean is riding her bike around the cul-de-sac, pretending like she is a motorcycle racer. You can see the excitement in her face and there is almost a mischievous look on her face as well. I also liked the two spreads that took up both pages. One was on pages 58-59 and showed the layout of Ivy’s room, and the other was on pages 74-75 which showed the route the girls had to take to sneak through all the backyards and in to Bean’s yard. These illustrations really helped in picturing what the girls were seeing, making it easier to imagine them sneaking through all of the backyards to finally get to Bean’s house.
I think this book could very easily be used in the classroom. There is a very obvious message of not judging someone before you actually meet them and talk to them. This is something that all children need to be reminded of. There is also the issue of some of the behavior present in the book, such as name calling. While I don’t think this is something that should be censored from children, because they are going to encounter it, I think it could be used as a teaching moment. I imagine asking my students how it would make them feel is someone called them a mean name and discuss why it is important to treat everyone with respect.
Discussion Question: How would the story be different if Nancy and Bean didn’t have such a hostile relationship? Do you think Ivy and Bean would have been friends if it wasn’t for Bean and Nancy getting in a fight? Why would Bean automatically assume that nice is boring?
Word count: 613
Allison Krueger
I found it interesting that the narrator described Ivy as being a naughty child but with a conscience. Ivy gets into trouble a lot although she does count how many times she had gotten in trouble. She figures out what kind of punishment she would be given according to so many problems. The writing style is cerebral itself. The writing flows along with just the kind of mind Bean must have. An example is when Bean continues to haunt Ivy in the bushes, “I’ll wrap my icy fingers around your neck.” “Bean! What are you yelling about?” Then the reader gets Nancy’s innocent, yet ironic, “Oops. It was Nancy.” When “Ooops” is read, it is from the narrator’s voice. It can be difficult sometimes to distinguish the omniscient narrator from Bean. Both ideas flow into each other as once again it is the cerebral consistency of the writing. More morality is talking to the reader once the girls cross Jake the Teenager’s yard, “there was loud music with lots of bad words in it.” The narrator tells the reader not to pay attention to such things. This kind of music is not good and not suitable for a seven-year-old.
ReplyDeleteI love that the girls in the story may prove to have feminine sides but obviously Bean’s adventurous nature, Nancy’s stern attitude, and Ivy’s eclectic tastes show other dimensions. This is a story for every girl. Girls do not fixate on being pretty all the time. Many enjoy playing in the dirt just the same. The main message is true friendship but also staying true to oneself. Similar to the American Doll series, The Ivy and Bean series pushes girls in the direction of building strong character. The picture on page twenty-three shows Bean racing along the curb as in comparison to a boy when realistically girls act the same way. There are some tomboys and some girlie girls. That does not mean the two should not be friends, a bookish girl and a adventure girl. A nice indication that girls live in the same realm as boys is he use of the dog-poopy yard they avoid. It is too late and Ivy steps in the dog poo.
I could not really image such a smart seven-year-old black mail her older sister. In some ways she had out-smarter Nancy. That must be the perks of being the youngest child observing behaviors of others. On page thirty-one, Nancy drags Bean out of the bush but Bean gets the idea to fake her ankle as broken. The way it is stated in the book makes it seem so sly, “My ankle’s killing me! It’s sprained!” This kind of vocabulary from a seven year old is pretty adult.
It is beautiful getting into the fantasies of the children. Bena is more of a doer playing with other kids as Ivy is the thinking using her imagination to bide her time. Ivy is very adult as well checking spell books all set with face paint that looks like make-up and a black bath robe. Bean helps teach Ivy how to draw stars and jump a fence. Bean teaches Ivy through experiences and Ivy teaches Bean through intellect and originality.
Q: What made the writer pose Ivy as such an eccentric character? Why provide her with make-up and a turban towel scarf. Could this concept of beauty that young children see help explore themselves and not constrict themselves to social norms?
word count: 575
Chelcie Ziegler
*Sorry, I completely forgot to post this before I went to bed last night!*
ReplyDeleteI had always been a fan of the American Girl series, but after reading a couple articles about it this semester I have all new views on it. I used to think the stories were enriching and that they taught good lessons, empowered readers and showed young girls growing up strong and independent despite any trouble they might be going through. After this class, however, I don't see the books in the same light. They now come across as being written purely to sell the dolls and create back stories for them and the messages they send generally push girls to believe that it's better to be “good,” to follow the rules. That's one reason I did like the Ivy and Bean book so much. It didn't seem to be teaching a lesson so much as to be read for pure enjoyment.
For the most part the critics in this article spoke like they swallowed a dictionary, which wasn't surprising, but one critic sounded like a normal human being. Jan Susina remarked that girls playing with Barbies could be prepping for the world of Cosmo while girls who played with American Girls could be getting ready for a Martha Stewart lifestyle. I completely disagree with Jan; I played with both Barbies and American Girls when I was little and neither influenced the way I grew up. I didn't always play with Barbies like they were going to the mall or doing “girly” things. My favorite ones were actually the ones that could ride bikes and skateboard. Likewise with the American Girl dolls, I never played with them in a historical context. I always treated them like normal dolls. My Samantha doll wore doll clothes from Target, went camping with me and even had braces at one point.
One thing I did agree with in the article was Ivy and Bean's lack of didacticism. The American Girl stories seem to be trying to teach a lesson all the time, albeit a somewhat convoluted message, but Ivy and Bean show a severe lack of respect for any kind of authority. They find sneaky ways around it, ways to completely escape it and ways to just meet it with confidence and a few wise words to show the adult or authority figure that they were in the wrong and that Ivy and Bean actually were right in doing what they did.
I also liked the fact that Nancy apparently stays the “villain” of the story for the rest of the series. The article pointed out that in the American Girl series whenever the girl and her siblings fight it always has a happy ending where they reunite as friends and have a close relationship once more. This is nice, but not realistic. Most sets of siblings, mine included, can take years to actually get along because it just feels natural to fight with them.
I found the part about the American Girl Samantha very interesting. That's one of the series I read all the way through and even read the little companion books and had the doll. I loved the Samantha series, but then the article pointed out what a brat she was. She let the floor get covered in ants, didn't buy her friend and Christmas gift and didn't invite her to her party. The critic compared Ivy and Bean to Samantha because Samantha doesn't really fit into the “wholesome” stereotype of the American Girl books and is more like the two adventurous troublemakers Ivy and Bean.
Word count:589