Ivy and Bean Take Care of the Babysitter: Book 4

By Annie Barrows and Sophie Blackall

The adventures of Ivy and Bean continue in the latest installment from series creators Annie Barrows and Sophie Blackall. In Ivy and Bean Take Care of the Babysitter, the two girls hatch a plan to prove that Bean's big sister is the world's worst babysitter. Of course plans go awry, but fun ensues!

Includes bonus material!
- Sneak peek chapter from the next book in the Ivy + Bean series Ivy and Bean Bound to Be Bad by Annie Barrows, illustrated by Sophie Blackall

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chronicle Books Digital
• Release date: Jul 1, 2010
• ISBN: 9780811876544

Annie Barrows

Annie Barrows is the bestselling author of books for both children and adults, including the New York Times bestselling Ivy + Bean series, The Best of Iggy series, the YA novel Nothing, and the adult bestselling novel The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. She lives in Northern California.

Book preview

117

TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE

Thwack!

Bean was grinding corn. She put a few pieces of Indian corn on the sidewalk and then smacked a rock down on top of them. Thwack! It hardly dented them, but that was okay. That was part of the fun. You had to pound for a long time. Thwack!

"What are you doing?" It was her sister, Nancy, standing on the porch.

Grinding corn. Thwack! Bean looked at her corn. It was dented now. You can do some, too, if you want. I’ve got lots of corn.

Nancy watched her pound. What’s it for?

Food, said Bean. I’m making cornbread. Thwack! Hey, look! Corn dust!

Nancy almost came to look. She even took a step down the stairs. But then she got a prissy look on her face and said, Like Mom’s going to let you eat stuff that’s been on the sidewalk. Dream on.

Bean could have thrown the rock at her, but she knew better than that. Bean was seven. Nancy was eleven. Bean knew how to drive Nancy nutso without getting into trouble herself. She began to moan loudly, Grind or starve! Winter’s coming! If we don’t grind corn, we’ll have to eat rocks!

Cut it out, Bean! hissed Nancy. Everyone will see you!

Nancy was always worried that everyone would see her. Bean wanted everyone to see her. She lay down on the sidewalk and rolled from side to side, moaning, Just a little corn dust, that’s all I ask!

The front door slammed. Nancy had gone inside. That was easy.

Bean lay on the sidewalk, resting. The sun was warm. She loved Saturdays.

We’ve got dirt at my house, said a voice above her.

It was Sophie W. from down the street.

What kind of dirt? asked Bean.

Sophie smiled. Both her front teeth were out, and she had filled the hole with gum. "A lot of dirt."

That sounded interesting. Bean jumped up and grabbed her bag of corn. Together, she and Sophie hurried around Pancake Court.

Usually Sophie W.’s house looked a lot like all the other houses on Pancake Court, but today it looked different. Today, there was an enormous mound of dirt in the front yard. A monster mound. It was as high as the front porch. Maybe even higher. It spread across most of the lawn, all the way to the path. The dirt was dark brown, the kind of dirt that smells good and is already halfway to mud.

Reviews for Ivy and Bean Take Care of the Babysitter

[Clinton Jackson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Ivy + Bean is so funny and I love it so much!

[Lily · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Its great and fun and a story that makes
Children giggle

[marvelousleah · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Ivy and Bean are very realistic characters who play, laugh, fight, and get into trouble. They deal with the same issues that real middle class, 9-year-old girls deal with, like friends, siblings, and parents. In this installment, Bean is 'forced' into captivity with her older sister as the babysitter. Ivy helps her 'escape' and find more trouble. This chapter book has occasional sketches and illustrations that help readers visualize the girls' plight. Readers will also enjoy the ideas that Ivy and Bean come up with for games and activities.