Product Description

When someone steals the winner's trophy for the school book project, Clarice emulates Ruby Redfort, ace girl detective and star of Clarice's favourite books.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8527 in Books
• Published on: 2003-07-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Amazon.co.uk review
Utterly Me, Clarice Bean is Lauren Child's rather marvellous follow up to the super-savvy picture books that first launched the unforgettable Clarice into Smarties Prize and Kate Greenaway Medal winning orbit. This time, Child has moved away from her usual format and strikes gold in a novel for younger folk.

Clarice's extraordinarily ordinary family are under pressure. Dad keeps muttering about how "there might be a reshuffle going on at work" and how he will "have to jump through hoops" if he wants to get a "share of the pie" because "the big cheese" has been making noises about "some people being left out in the cold if they don’t keep their eye on the ball", while mum spends her life "gribbling about pants on the floor and shoes on the sofa". And as for her brother, Minal Cricket, he "tends to be utterly a nuisance".

Meanwhile, Mrs Wilburton, the school teacher who insists that Clarice sets a book project "which sounds utterly dreary", until, that is, Miss Bean realises there is a prize. Together with best friend Betty Moody, Clarice sets about bagging the booty with the aid of The Ruby Redford Collection, a series of books about an 11-year-old detective.

As the games commence, Clarice tells her story through her diary, navigating childhood minefields and inviting readers to join her in her wide-eyed wonder at the madness of it all. Children will enjoy the easy-flowing, slightly breathless style and the familiarity of day-to-day dramas, and will undoubtedly agree with many of Clarice's observations on the utter unfairness of childhood in general.

Black and white drawings and random meanderings into alternative type faces that perfectly ape the bored scribblings of many a child add a visual dimension that will appeal even to less able or reluctant readers as well as to those who enjoy a good read. And let us not forget that Utterly Me, Clarice Bean is just about perfect for reading aloud--in fact, this option is highly recommended as depriving the grown-ups of this laugh-out-loud experience would be utterly, utterly unfair. Ages six and over. --Susan Harrison

Review
Lauren Child's first Clarice Bean book, Clarice Bean, That's Me, was published in 1999 and shortlisted for the Smarties Award. Her delightfully wacky young heroine and her madcap family were an instant hit with young readers; fans of the Bean household will be captivated by her latest escapades in this full-length novel. Once again Child's vivacious prose leaps off the page, accompanied by her trademark sparky black-and-white illustrations. The print jumps boldly from upper to lower case, fonts are juggled with gay abandon and Child delights in swirling the text around on the page to suit the plot. The result is a story bubbling with exuberance and vitality. Clarice can't concentrate at school and her teacher, the dreaded Mrs Wilberton, is on her back. The trouble is, Clarice can't think of anything but the adventures of her favourite girl detective, Ruby Redfort, and spends every spare minute devouring the stories. When the class is asked to do a school project on a book, Clarice and her best friend Betty decide to write about their beloved Ruby. But before they can get under way mysterious things start to happen. Why does Grandad keep disappearing off to the shed? Who is moving the coats around at school? And what has happened to the school project trophy? Then Betty herself disappears with just a tattered postcard as a clue. Can Clarice use all those detective skills picked up from Ruby Redfort and find her missing pal? The story is full of hilarious characters, who are way out yet instantly identifiable - many parents will know only too well what it's like to cope with a soap-loathing Kurt or an eccentric Grandad who won't abide by the rules. Lauren Child has said she doesn't believe in underestimating children - her latest book is funny and absorbing yet full of a witty sophistication which will not be lost on her young readers. Ages 7-10 (Kirkus UK)

The flibbertigibbet, middle-child star of three picture books jumps to a more extended format without losing her exuberance, short attention span, or stream-of-consciousness style of narration. So wrapped up is Clarice in gobbling down mysteries featuring a Nancy Drew-like sleuth, that she can't think of any other books to use in a class project that's supposed to highlight reading's educational benefits. Then, not only does her partner and best friend Betty Moody disappear on a sudden family trip, leaving her saddled with class troublemaker Karl Wrenbury, but the trophy cup that was earmarked for the winning project disappears. Despite a lack of evidence, humorless teacher Mrs. Wilbarton blames Karl, thus leaving Clarice partnerless again. Meanwhile, there are mysteries on the domestic front. Using extra punctuation and changes in type and line shape for emphasis, Child not only gives Clarice a distinctive preteen voice, but captures the chaos around her with plenty of sketchy, interspersed ink drawings and collages. Not that it wins the trophy, but this middle-class Eloise turns out to be a good loser, and she will certainly win over plenty of readers. (Fiction. 9-11) (Kirkus Reviews)

Evening Standard-London
"Bridget Jones for young girls...charmingly illustrated, packaged and utterly appealing to girls aged seven to ten"

Customer Reviews

A GOOD BOOK
I am Sophie and I am 7, I read this book 2 months ago and thought it was good.It made me be like her.

clarice bean uttterly me
Clarice Bean is a brilliant creation.Its funny and quirky.Clarice Bean and her familes antics are portrayed extremley well from the point of veiw a child.This will defintley make you laugh.But i think its a good book for a 8-10yrolds.The pictures are brilliant too.

best book I've ever read apart from the Giggler treatment
I am 9. I got this out of the school library for reading time and UTTERLY adored it. I couldn't stop reading it and finsighed it in 3 sessions. It's got a great sense of humour and I found at my first attempt I got up to page 90. I didn't laugh out loud because my teacher would have got annoyed but I hooted lots in my head. I really want to read some more Lauren Child books