I'm not sure why I like these enough to keep reading, when I actually don't like so much about them. I don't like Nancy, or all the destructiveness, and unkindness.... I guess I respect them for being both sweet and spicy?

I guess because sometimes they're really really good. I think the science fair project that these two second graders come up with is an absolutely fabulous idea. And I am charmed by the reasoning that got them to that point, about how grown-ups like to be in charge, don't like surprises... etc....

Highly recommended.
(But read it yourself first because that Katy is wacko and you might want to skip that chapter.)

And no, you don't have to read it just for Earth Day but that would be a good time to.
And no, you don't have to teach it as part of the STEM curriculum, but that would work.
And no, you don't have to read any of the other books in the series... this stands alone just fine. ( )

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. ( )