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

Re-read May 2021

Ivy, Bean, and their classmates in Ms. Aruba-Tate's second grade are working to solve the problem of global warming. (Why doesn't throwing ice cubes in the air work? Or holding your breath?) Ivy and Bean have an ingenious solution: teach grown-ups how to love nature again, and they will want to protect the earth. ( )

Ivy and Bean tackle the topic of global warming! And the author adds some information after the story. Cute! ( )

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. ( )

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 ( )

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