Annie Barrows

Best friends, Ivy & Bean, both desperately want to dance ballet with the drama of “Giselle.” Instead, they must learn the basics and finally are cast as squid in the recital. How these recognizable 2nd graders manage to keep their promise not to quit makes the latest installment a worthy one.

All the kids have it — the cheese covered with red wax — except Ivy & Bean. How they earn the money to buy it causes funny mayhem and minor disasters.

Two girls, Bean and Ivy, learn that in spite of their very different personalities, they have lots in common. And their funny, sometimes outrageous, highly credible, everyday adventures begin one summer.

Humans don’t have a lot in common with a tin can, but maybe a little bit with a swimming pool. People do have a lot in common with other people — in fact we’re more alike than not. Comparisons in this book are both unexpected and humorous, illustrated in bold shapes and bright forms provide a surprisingly sophisticated look at what being human is like.