Ivy and Bean What's the Big Idea?

By Annie Barrows and Sophie Blackall

In this seventh entry in the New York Times–bestselling series, two unlikely best friends get creative as they prepare for the Science Fair.

It’s the Science Fair, and the second grade is all over it! Some kids are making man-eating robots. Some kids are holding their breath for a very, very long time. Some kids are doing interesting things with vacuum cleaners. The theme, obviously, is global warming. But what should Ivy and Bean do? Something involving explosions? Or ropes? Something with ice cubes? Or maybe . . . maybe something different.

Praise for What’s the Big Idea?

“This seventh episode about unlikely best friends Ivy and Bean may be the most ambitious and triumphant yet . . . . Barrows and Blackall know just how to expose situations that are familiar to second-graders—with empathy and a light touch.” —Shelf-Awareness

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Jul 1, 2010
• ISBN: 9780811879767

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

�X��dbook_preview_excerpt.htmlmVێ�6����}�[a,�)�&)ؠEi��X��*�S���/�9CY����&�Ù3g��4|������>���_�T�G,�����IF �Ugc��jJ��W6�7F���'�!��l��Eg�����G1T.������T��������C���†>׽��VX��3�#���0�.��0�RL�X�y. y)?Z�V�<5"��ҡU!.5r��m�$O�qa�\�#.�"�lT�r��ߟ�"�5��n�U'��=�V��A��ϒ������,�sU�ӹ؆��T��b�_:dڌ�d�'���o8� j�!�� 0V���~�+!E�M��w��� Ѫ&�<�����`@�5�ĺa��s�
Ks��f��Y��p � d�W���
�z��"T��&D� �H`�W�\��\D��s�6F��vz j�@�KF7Ce!ܖ���+kR�f5�T��N{�D��mȺ�O��aK%b] i��\���1��$t�9YF�p�*�F���@��D��^DB����Ѻ>��� ���ݖ��ޓcm�E�rt��������zG�t슕:I���.E_)V d�[o�F���ė�-T2�j�������;���I����]���@�/�1h���o)�)�M�R�<�|�="a`Lt11+Gu}�����R-ګIg��0�k�Tsb<����&��n!�M<<��h��`�'�e�ֱ�l@ �ܟ/�2�E5�1o5�'�V���P@6:H�Q�#��hKLRk �8��,`!����A�L�1r�b�gA
����H�Å�hG�� o�a�i�i��:Y8jjq�i����%Hڕ�f`�x%.��4�u�^1���`=R>;]O���`2l�Re�I��_�SM����A^��>��^�g�D/�~(u����3{?\ ���ܪ��;�O��_8A��W�&tb7�YQ��h�o����Õ W�v��,��A�0Y2]�=�a�� ���g�m��~/�u��Wx��M� �:J?�ꋭ�9��9

Enjoying the preview?

Subscribe to continue reading

Reviews for Ivy and Bean What's the Big Idea?

[hellokitty201 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

i think this book is a great young reader book because it is teaching a lesson in the book and the lesson is to work together and if you have a disagreement it does not always have to turn into a fight if you were going to read this book read 1,2,3,4,5,and 6 because it makes more sense on how they met and how their friendship works or you will be a little stumbled but i like girls at the age of 6 should read this book it is so amazing and for young girls it will be very interesting to them because it is based on two girl best friends and this is why the book is so great because it does not have hard words in it and i could read it in two weeks the whole collection of book from 1 to 7 so that is how great it is and really good for girls who have a close friendship with one of their friends

[abigailadams26 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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 destruction? Their teacher, learning of these feelings, suggests that they each devote their Science Fair project to a possible solution to the problem. And so Ivy and Bean, after a number of false starts involving pounding rice, tossing ice cubes, and tying themselves up, hit upon an idea that might just be the beginning of a solution...As with the other installments in this ongoing primary school saga, I found the story of Ivy + Bean: What's the Big Idea entertaining, and the artwork charming. Barrows does a good job presenting the basic idea of global warming, without getting into too many specifics, and offers a sensitive portrayal of how young children might react to that idea. Although I understand why one fellow reviewer found this title a little less than informative, on the topic - I don't think there ever is a very clear explanation of global warming, or its causes, in the story itself - I think this rather misses the point. Young children often hear stories - through their peers, at school, overheard on the news - that they don't fully understand, but whose import they fully grasp. A child doesn't need to understand all the complexities of global warming, to know that it is a serious problem, or to feel afraid - and it is this, I think, that Barrows is addressing with her story. For those who want more details, there is an informative non-fiction afterword that provides them.In sum: a satisfactory addition to the series. Not my personal favorite, of the lot, but it will still have appeal for young readers who are fans of Ivy and Bean, as well as for those looking for children's stories that address the theme of global warming.

[robertalea-223265 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Adults have a lot to learn from these two young scientists.