Ivy and Bean_ Books 4,5,6 - Annie Barrows [0]
For Liz and Morgan, babysitter and babysat —A. B.
For Callum and Harrison —S. B.
Book 5
To Sally, who is nothing like Nancy. —A. B.
For Sarah, Angus, and Anna, who are never, ever bad. —S. B.
Book 6
For Esme and Megan, friends from the beginning —A. B.
For the other Ivy and her brother Moss —S. B.
Text © 2008 by Annie Barrows.
Illustrations © 2008 by Sophie Blackall.
All rights reserved.
Band-Aid is a registered trademark of Johnson & Johnson.
Butterfinger is a registered trademark of Societe des Produits Nestle S.A.
M&M’s is a registered trademark of Mars, Inc.
Milk Duds is a registered trademark of The Hershey Company
Tootsie Roll is a registered trademark of Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc.
The illustrations in this book were rendered in Chinese ink.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available
eISBN: 978-1-4521-1342-5
Chronicle Books LLC
680 Second Street, San Francisco, California 94107
www.chroniclekids.com
CONTENTS
Book 4: Take Care of the Babysitter
TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE
DISASTER TWINS
THE SPECIAL EXPERIMENT
WHO’S IN CHARGE?
THE UNDERSHIRT OF FREEDOM
WHERE ARE YOU, MISS PEPPY-PANTS?
THE DOOR IN THE CEILING
UH-OH
A WORLD OF TROUBLE
ONE IS SILVER AND THE OTHER’S GOLD
JUST DESSERTS
Book 5: Bound to Be Bad
A PAIN IN THE KAZOO
TOUGH COOKIES
BIRD BRAINS
A CRUMMY PLAN
A GOOD BAD IDEA
THE WORST WORD IN THE WORLD
BEAN, QUEEN OF BAD
FROM BAD TO WORSE
BEAN OVERBOARD!
THE REVENGE OF DINO
GOOD AND SOGGY
Book 6: Doomed to Dance
BALLET OR BUST
DIP, DIP, CRASH!
BAD NEWS BENEATH THE SEA
SQUIDS IN A FIX
GERMS OF HOPE
TIGHT TENTACLES
BYE-BYE, BALLET
VERY FISHY
OCEAN LIFE GONE BAD
IN HOT WATER
SQUIDARINAS
Copyright
Contents
Ivy + Bean Book 4: Take Care of the Babysitter
TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE
DISASTER TWINS
THE SPECIAL EXPERIMENT
WHO’S IN CHARGE?
THE UNDERSHIRT OF FREEDOM
WHERE ARE YOU, MISS PEPPY-PANTS?
THE DOOR IN THE CEILING
UH-OH
A WORLD OF TROUBLE
ONE IS SILVER AND THE OTHER’S GOLD
JUST DESSERTS
TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE
Thwack!
Bean was grinding corn. She put a few pieces of Indian corn on the sidewalk and then smacked a rock down on top of them. Thwack! It hardly dented them, but that was okay. That was part of the fun. You had to pound for a long time. Thwack!
“What are you doing?” It was her sister, Nancy, standing on the porch.
“Grinding corn.” Thwack! Bean looked at her corn. It was dented now. “You can do some, too, if you want. I’ve got lots of corn.”
Nancy watched her pound. “What’s it for?”
“Food,” said Bean. “I’m making cornbread.” Thwack! “Hey, look! Corn dust!”
Nancy almost came to look. She even took a step down the stairs. But then she got a prissy look on her face and said, “Like Mom’s going to let you eat stuff that’s been on the sidewalk. Dream on.”
Bean could have thrown the rock at her, but she knew better than that. Bean was seven. Nancy was eleven. Bean knew how to drive Nancy nutso without getting into trouble herself. She began to moan loudly, “Grind or starve! Winter’s coming! If we don’t grind corn, we’ll have to eat rocks!”
“Cut it out, Bean!” hissed Nancy. “Everyone will see you!”
Nancy was always worried that everyone would see her. Bean wanted everyone to see her. She lay down on the sidewalk and rolled from side to side, moaning, “Just a little corn dust, that’s all I ask!”
The front door slammed. Nancy had gone inside. That was easy.
Bean lay on the sidewalk, resting. The sun was warm. She loved Saturdays.
“We’ve got dirt at my house,” said a voice above her.
It was Sophie W. from down the street.
“What kind of dirt?” asked Bean.
Sophie smiled. Both her front teeth were out, and she had filled the hole with gum. “A lot of dirt.”
That sounded interesting. Bean jumped up and grabbed her bag of corn. Together, she and Sophie hurried around Pancake Court.
Usually Sophie W.’s house looked a lot like all the other houses on Pancake Court, but today it looked different. Today, there was an enormous mound of dirt in the front yard. A monster mound. It was as high as the front porch. Maybe