Novel Series Book: Clarice Bean Spells Trouble

Book: Clarice Bean Spells Trouble
Author: Lauren Child
Publication: 2004

For my novel series book, I chose Clarice Bean Spells Trouble, about a young girl and her life events, anything from preparing for the school play, to watching her favorite TV detective Ruby Redfort, or struggling to keep her friendships in order. I really enjoyed this book because I found it to be lighthearted and an easy read - something I would have picked up as a kid because I loved fun, easy reads. This book is great for the reader who wants a more leisure style book and not something so in-depth and educational.

Lauren Child's style of writing is very laid back and almost kiddish in nature, using words such as "sort of" and "like" often. The author even uses words that the main character makes up, giving it that youthful feel. Child takes on a stream-of-consciousness type approach to her writing, where is sounds as if Clarice Bean is just writing her thoughts down on paper. It's almost as if the reader is basically seeing inside the main character's head and able to experience everything she is thinking. To give you a better idea, here is a quote from the book, where Clarice Bean is reminiscing about playing a carrot in the play last year.

"I have no interest in playing a speaking vegetable. It's not realistic. I don't mind people using their imaginations to come up with strange and unusual things but this is not interesting because who wants to know what a carrot would say if it could talk? The answer is no one, that's who, because a carrot has spent its whole life underground, in the dark, growing into a carrot. And then it gets picked - so it has nothing to say for itself. It has not had an interesting life. Even if it has met a worm" (Child, 36). 

Not only is Child's book fun and easy to read, but she also adds small educational components to make the book a learning piece. Child adds spelling, dictionary word references, and even life lessons into the book, without the reader really knowing it. Child uses Ruby Redfort, the main character's favorite television detective, to weave morals into the overall story. The reader is focusing on the episodes of the show and doesn't even realize there is this "ah-ha" moment at the end. For example, in Chapter 15, in one of the episodes Ruby Redfort says, "Never let a good pal down." This quote helps the main character, Clarice, solve her problems with a friend. The reader can also use this as a take-away and apply the lessons to his or her own life.