Beans on the Roof

The first graders at The Children's School loved this book. They thought it was funny and cute. They said that it "teaches us that having fun is better than winning." If they could, they would give it one thousand stars! A good book to read if you are interested in poems.

This is a good book to use to introduce young children to chapter books. It contains nine short chapters. Good book to use when beginning a unit on poetry (teachers) or reading poetry books (parents) together. Poor George gets writer's block--something we all can relate to. Mr. and Mrs. Bean as well as Jenny and Anna have no trouble with writing--how frustrating! Family love and unity come into play. Children will be motivated to try their hand at writing their own poetry.

I worked as a school librarian for a number of years and this is my favorite Betsy Byars book of all. It is a tender, yet funny, story of how every child has talents and is worthy of love. It's a great read-aloud or independent reader -- I used it for third grade on up.