38 pages • 1 hour read
Annie BarrowsIvy and Bean
Fiction | Novel | Early Reader Picture Book | Published in 2010A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Critical Context: Praise and Criticism for Ivy and Bean
Ivy and Bean has received acclaim and several awards, and it has provoked criticism from parents, who believe that the girls are detrimental influences on young children. On Common Sense Media, the reviews are mostly negative, as they argue that the titular girls encourage transgressive behavior. The girls consider "nice" a pejorative, and Bean constantly calls her sister unflattering names. She also steals money from Nancy’s purse. Ivy pursues witchcraft, which the parents see as odious. They also believe Ivy is preoccupied with death, as Ivy mentions the need for a dead frog and her plan to bury a mummified Barbie in a pyramid. The disapproving parents don’t view Ivy and Bean as healthy and productive models for young readers. They’d rather their children read books featuring young characters with overtly praiseworthy traits.
The young adult literature professor, Jennifer M. Miskec, applauds the novel for deviating from “generic ‘good girl’ qualities” and not imposing “a barometer for ‘good’ or ‘bad’” (Miskec, Jennifer M. “Meet Ivy and Bean, Queerly the Anti-American Girls.” Children’s Literature Association Quarterly, 2009, 159-60). Miskec appreciates Ivy and Bean for not subscribing to confining identities. The girls are empowered and confident. Bean can choose not to wear dresses, and Ivy can opt to wear them. Bean “stomped in puddles” and “smashed rocks to find gold” (9), while Ivy reads big books and practices witchcraft. The girls create their own identities and don’t stifle their creative expression to fit traditional gender norms or moral binaries of “good” versus “bad.” Through these characters, Barrows emphasizes that young girls can confidently define and embrace their identities—including their personalities and interests—in ways that are affirming and authentic, independent of external expectations or societal pressures.
Cultural Context: Combating Negative Representations of Witches
As Ivy strives to become a witch, the book addresses the representation of witches in Western culture. Ivy confronts a specific stereotype of witches when she tells Bean, “Witches are only green in movies. Real witches are just regular-colored” (65). Ivy alludes to The Wizard of Oz (1939)—the film adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s novel for young readers, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900). In the movie, the Wicked Witch of the West has a green face to signify her malicious intentions. In other well-known works, witches have contemptuous characteristics. In William Shakespeare’s tragic play, Macbeth (1623), witches compel the titular character to seize power through a series of deadly schemes. In Walt Disney’s animated film The Little Mermaid (1989), Ursula is a cruel, power-hungry sea witch. Though Ivy rejects the term “nice,” she is not a noxious witch. Unlike Ursula, the Wicked Witch of the West, and the witches in Macbeth, Ivy doesn’t use her alleged powers to harm innocent people. As Nancy antagonizes Bean and Ivy, she becomes a credible target. Since Ivy becomes close friends with Bean, she demonstrates qualities like sympathy and compassion. She hides Bean in her backyard, generously telling her, “You can stay for as long as you want. I'll bring you food” (41).
As a helpful witch, Ivy joins a growing list of positive witches in Western culture. In The Wizard of Oz, there’s also the Good Witch of the North. Her face isn’t green, and she doesn’t try to harm Dorothy, the main character who is lost in a peculiar land and wants to return home. Similar to how Ivy looks after Bean, the Good Witch of the North protects Dorothy. The television sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996-2003) also presents witches as lighthearted and kind, with the titular witch using her powers for practical purposes. Like Sabrina, Bean and Ivy see witchcraft as a way to counter the injustices, however dramatized, of their respective worlds.
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By Annie Barrows
