For an Exceptionordinarily Good Time: Meet Clarice Bean

Picture this: Two girls, ages 7 and 9, sitting at the kitchen table eating ice cream (two different flavors, mind you, since these two girls have no food preferences in common). Then imagine Dad, filling the dishwasher with dinner dishes and Mom, sitting with the girls, an open book in her hands. Mom is reading, and her entire family is utterly cracking up. I'm talking about ice-cream-coming-out-of-nose laughter. Why?

Because Mom (who is me, by the way) is reading the latest Clarice Bean middle grade novel by the fabulous, creative and hilarious Lauren Child. Clarice Bean, Don't Look Now, released only a month ago, arrived at our house via Amazon a few weeks back. Since then, I've been reading the girls a few chapters a night -- chapters with titles like "Never Eat a Polar Bear's Liver -- No Matter How Hungry You Are".

The cast of characters in this book is fantastic, starting with Clarice herself, a British tween with lots of spunk, who is stuck in the middle of a pretty typical nutty family. Her parents are frustrated, her older brother is moody, sister Marcie is a diva and little brother Minal Cricket (you've got to love these names) is a pest. Add to that Granddad, family dog Cement, the fact that Clarice's best friend has moved away and Clarice is now forced to play tour guide to the new girl in class -- and you've got all the right ingredients for a memorable middle grade novel.

Here's a taste of Clarice Bean's life:

"When I go upstairs ... there is an actual live worm on my pillow. To get my revenge, I put Minal's pajamas in the toilet and flush it.

This causes another flood, which makes Mom utterly livid.

Then Dad calls and says he will not be coming home from work for the foreseeable next few hours due to his boss Mr. Thorncliff making him work too hard.

Mom says she is at her wits' end and has had enough of this house and she's not feeling too crazy about some of the people who live in it either."

This scene brought on a raging case of the giggles when I read it aloud to my girls. Why? Maybe because this kind of thing goes on in our house slightly more often than not? And I'm guessing we're not alone....

The best thing about the Clarice Bean books is that they take a look at real life as seen from the eyes of a kid -- and its not all gut-busting humor. Clarice's reaction to her best friend moving away was particularly poignant to our family, who recently faced a heart-wrenching relocation. She must deal with worries, difficult teachers, bullies, making new friends, and even a home renovation.

Although I love this latest book, you may want to start with the first book, Utterly Me, Clarice Bean and move on to Clarice Bean Spells Trouble, which will introduce you properly to this utterly unforgettable series

So, do your girls a favor, and read the Clarice Bean books with them -- because the greatest books for girls are the ones that can bring a family together -- and make ice cream come out of their nose!

As Clarice would say -- have a exceptionordinary weekend!

Activity Books: I Absolutely Must Recommend This Book Now

I think that Lauren Child is a genius. From her creative website, to her fabulous characters to her hilarious dialogue, this artist and creator of the adorable Lola (also a cartoon on the Disney Channel) can count me as one of her biggest fans.

This week's activity book pick is based on Child's Charlie and Lola series. Even the title, I Absolutely Must Do Coloring Now or Painting or Drawing (Charlie and Lola), leaves you with no doubt as to how much fun you'll have when you open this book.

Coloring books have always bored my children, but the appeal of this particular book is that the pages are only half-illustrated. Prompts are given to finish the illustrations. For example, "Lola has invited a martian over for tea and he's drinking her pink milk through one of his mouths." Lola is already on the page, with a spot open between her and her brother Charlie. That's where your child can draw the multi-mouthed martian drinking pink milk.

This book is perfect for young children, offering more complete illustrations than Doodles (see previous post) by Tamo Gori but still allowing a lot of room for imagination.

I adore Child's simple, funny illustrations, which contain bits of actual photographs and other materials mixed in. And no matter how old you are -- every girl will enjoy Lola, who has a mind of her own and a soaring imagination. Who else can play hopscotch with the solar system and ask you to color in "ever so sparkly, really very spotty, completely stripy planets"?

Your girls will love this activity book ... it's my favorite and my best activity book ever!

Happy coloring or painting or drawing,

Christina