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Bella & Bean (2009)

by Rebecca Kai Dotlich(Favorite Author)

3.78 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0689856164 (ISBN13: 9780689856167)

languge

English

genre

Poetry

publisher

Atheneum Books for Young Readers

review 1: I quite enjoyed this story. It's cozy and cute--the tale of two mice, one loves quiet time and poetry and introspection, the other delights in fashion and socializing and fun. But, of course, each enriches the life of the other and, though inevitable squabbles ensue when two such different personalities meet, their friendship is strengthened by the fact that each admire the other's talents. Most of the time, I thought the illustrations were adorable (as on the cover) but a few times the mices' faces/mouths seemed a bit weird to me. But, overall, this is a cute story especially if any young ones are experiencing the growing-pains of a friendship with someone who has different interests.
review 2: Bella is a poet who needs time for thinking and writing. Bean... more, her best friend, wants Bella to come out and play. Can't Bella write poems and plant snowbushes at the same time? Can't Bean give Bella some space? In this book about creativity and friendship, Rebecca Kai Dotlich gives us two friends who manage to remain friends despite their differences.Dotlich, a poet for sure, sprinkles the text with Bella's poems, and as Bean so aptly points out: some rhyme and some don't. There are some killer lines in here. My favorite: "the sky poured stars like sugar."I used this book recently with a group of teachers in a writing exercise about friendship. Writing and friends. They go together as Bella and Bean so aptly show us. The love between the two shines through, and Aileen Leitjen's lovely art amplifies it. As well, anyone who has had work to do, but is being called out by a friend or little one, and anyone who has wanted an earnest friend to come play, will appreciate the frustrations from both forces. There is grump enough to go around, as well as Bean's cute toes. This one is a charmer. less

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