The second graders in Ms. Aruba-Tate’s class are surprised with a PTA-run Career Fair where the students get to meet local professionals, including a dentist, a lawyer, a plumber, a yoga instructor, etc. But the real draw for all the students is the treasure hunter. They soon all want to be treasure hunters, too! When the students start showing off their treasures at school, Ivy and Bean want to find at least as much as their classmates do – but they have no luck at being treasure hunters! What can they do to ensure they find something – anything – of value?

This is the first book in the Ivy + Bean series that I’ve ever read. There were a few times here and there where I assume some prior knowledge of the series might have helped but that context clues easily sorted. For instance, there is a brief mention of someone named Nancy with no real information about her; however, it is fairly clear from the conversation that she is Bean’s older sibling.

It seems that the series is trying to capture that childlike innocence and humor that was so perfectly done in Beverly Cleary's Ramona series, but I don’t think was done quite as well here. However, I think this series seems to do better than others that also try to capture that whimsy but spectacularly fail, such as Dory Fantasmagory and Junie B. Jones. That all being said, young children enjoy a lot of those series and they clearly go for this one as well based on its popularity.

I could see this book appealing to young elementary school-age readers who enjoy realistic fiction, particularly those that deal with friendship and/or school stories. The humor is a nice touch as well, although I’m not sure all of it will land with the young audience. I don’t particularly care for the illustration style myself, but it helps break up the text. Those combined with the relatively short chapters make this book a good bridge between early readers and heavier tomes. There’s attempts made at diversity in the make-up of the classroom, although Ivy and Bean themselves appear to both be white and female. ( )

Fast-paced chapter book that does allow young readers to draw some of their own connections. ( )

"Five stars" -L.

In the final Ivy & Bean book, everyone in Ms. Aruba-Tate's second grade class decides they want to be a treasure hunter after the Career Fair. Ivy and Bean - who originally wanted to be a witch and an arborist, respectively - join in the hunt, too, but they can't find any treasure! The class learns that treasure is in the eye of the beholder. ( )