By Annie Barrows
Two seven-year-olds who couldn't be more different pull off one afternoon of bad ideas and come out best friends.
Bean is loud and fast and usually in the middle of some plan. The grown-ups keep telling her she'd be perfect friends with Ivy, the quiet new girl across the street, which is the exact reason Bean has decided she wants nothing to do with her. Then one of Bean's tricks on her bossy big sister Nancy goes wrong, Bean needs a place to hide in a hurry, and Ivy waves her in the front door. Turns out Ivy is training to be a witch, she has a book of actual spells, and she's happy to help Bean get even with Nancy. A dancing spell, a bucket of worms, and one long chase later, the two girls who were sure they had nothing in common are a team.
Few first chapter-book series work this well. It takes seven-year-old logic completely seriously, the chapters are short, and Sophie Blackall has a drawing on nearly every spread to carry a newer reader across the words. The whole thing runs like a comedy. What really sells it is the friendship, which starts in suspicion and stubbornness and turns real over one afternoon, about how fast these things happen at seven. If your child has ever dug in their heels after being told they'd love someone, they'll know Bean on sight. And if this one lands, there are ten more.