Rating: I like it BUT some families may not

Reading Level: Early elementary, Mid-late Elementary

At first I was utterly UN-impressed by the rude and self-centeredness of Clarice Bean. However, as I read on I kind of grew to appreciate this salty-yet-honest girl. She made me laugh and in the end what I thought was rude is perhaps just painfully honest.

Possible Concerns:

  • Negativity/Rudeness. Clarice can be a bit negative and rude. I have included a photo to give an example later on in this review.
  • Teacher with little patience. Clarice’s teacher is *not* a model teacher and is a bit of a mess.

All in all, if you think your kid can manage to *not* adopt some of the salty attitude Clarice brings, and if reading a story with a dud teacher wouldn’t bother you, then this would probably engage and entertain and has some redeeming qualities.

Things I like:

  • Learning to like someone. Clarice learns to respect and appreciate a boy that she snubbed earlier in the story
  • Pursuing passion. For her class project, Clarice pursues her passion instead of doing what her teacher would suggest
  • Strong relationships with parents. Clarice appears to have a great relationship with her mom.
  • Positive Views on Reading. Clarice loves a book series about a 10-ish-year old girl Ruby Redford who works as an undercover James Bond-type secret agent. Clarice is honest about ways her life looks nothing like that of Ruby’s.
  • Acknowledging mistakes. When Clarice makes a mistake regarding her friend she admits it (at least to herself).
  • Creativity. Clarice learns from her reading to explore some other options/creatively consider alternative explanations
  • Realistic expectations. Her team doesn’t win the prize. It is refreshing that kids will grapple with non-Disney endings.
  • Entertaining. The writing is entertaining & honest… I know she’s not all rainbows but I just really enjoy Clarice Bean.

Below you can see the reading level and an example of Clarice’s saltiness in these two pages where Clarice is less-than-excited about being at school and notices her teacher scolding her. She explains you can tell it’s Mrs. Wilberton “by her honking goose voice.” Here it picks up: