Sonderbooks Book Review of Utterly Me, Clarice Bean

****Utterly Me, Clarice Bean*

by Lauren Child

Reviewed November 24, 2003.
Candlewick Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2003. 190 pages.
Available on Amazon.com for $11.19 in hardcover.
Available at Sembach Library (JF CHI).

Utterly Me, Clarice Bean, reminded me of Agnes Parker, Girl in Progress, which I reviewed last issue, since it’s another story of an elementary school girl dealing with the ups and downs of school life.

Utterly Me, Clarice Bean is especially entertaining with its inclusion of the author’s cartoons and how she even uses the layout of the text to illustrate the story.

Clarice Bean loves to read the exciting stories of Ruby Redfort, girl detective. Strange things are happening around her. Can she use what she learned from Ruby to solve the mysteries?

Her teacher, Mrs. Wilberton, does not appreciate Ruby’s tendency to daydream during class. When all the kids in the class have to do a project showing something they’ve learned from a book, she doubts that Clarice can really have learned something from popular trash like the Ruby Redfort books.

This book is great for those ready for chapter books. It is easy reading with big print and lots of pictures, but also very entertaining. I only intended to skim it, but ended up unable to resist reading the whole story. A story that vindicates the avid reader.

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Maude: The Not-So-Noticeable Shrimpton

Book Reviews by Sondra Eklund

***Utterly Me, Clarice Bean

by Lauren Child

****Utterly Me, Clarice Bean*