Ivy & Bean Books in Order
Part ofAnnie Barrows Books in OrderExplore the Ivy & Bean series by Annie Barrows in reading order, with book lists, short summaries, and tips on where to begin with this funny friendship for early independent readers.
Last updated: June 7, 2026
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Publication Order
12 books
Ivy and Bean
by Annie Barrows
2006
When Bean’s prank on her older sister goes wrong, she ends up hiding with Ivy, the quiet new neighbor who is secretly studying to be a witch. One wild afternoon of magic, worms, and mischief turns two unlikely girls into best friends.
The Ghost That Had to Go
by Annie Barrows
2006
Ivy invents a ghost in the school bathroom to avoid doing cartwheels in gym, and soon the whole second grade is terrified of the misty stall. To fix the trouble she caused, Ivy and Bean stage an over the top ghost banishing ceremony.
Break the Fossil Record
by Annie Barrows
2007
Desperate to break a world record, Bean latches onto Ivy’s new obsession with fossils and dinosaurs. Their plan to dig up an amazing skeleton in the neighborhood turns into a messy, muddy project that teaches them more about patience than fame.
Bound to be Bad
by Annie Barrows
2008
Ivy decides to become so pure of heart that birds and animals will flock to her, while Bean volunteers to be as bad as possible so Ivy can practice reforming her. Their experiment in good deeds and mischief quickly slips beyond their control.
Take Care of the Babysitter
by Annie Barrows
2008
Bean is horrified when her bossy older sister Nancy is put in charge as her babysitter for the afternoon. With Ivy’s help, she hatches a plan to prove Nancy is terrible at the job, leading to attic escapades and sibling payback.
Doomed to Dance
by Annie Barrows
2009
After reading a dramatic ballet story, Ivy and Bean beg for dance lessons, imagining swirling capes and dangerous moves. Real class turns out to be slow exercises and a recital where they must perform as squids, so the girls scheme to avoid the stage.
What's the Big Idea?
by Annie Barrows
2010
A school science fair about fighting global warming sends Ivy and Bean searching for a project that really helps the planet. Their failed experiments with ice cubes, trampolines, and pretending to be weak finally lead to a simple plan that gets grown ups’ attention.
No News Is Good News
by Annie Barrows
2011
Everyone at school has fancy cheese in red wax except Ivy and Bean, who cannot afford it. To earn money they start a neighborhood newspaper, snooping for stories and learning the hard way what happens when private lives become headline news.
Make the Rules
by Annie Barrows
2012
During spring break, Bean’s older sister heads to a special girls’ camp, and Bean feels left behind. She and Ivy create their own Camp Flaming Arrow in the park, complete with homemade crafts, loud tap dancing, zombie first aid, and a crowd of eager campers.
Take the Case
by Annie Barrows
2013
After watching an old detective movie, Bean decides Pancake Court needs a private investigator. With Ivy as her partner, she hunts for mysteries big enough to solve, from odd noises to a mysterious yellow rope that appears overnight and winds around the neighborhood.
One Big Happy Family
by Annie Barrows
2018
When a classmate calls Ivy spoiled for being an only child, her feelings are badly bruised. She and Bean try out various ways to become unspoiled, from giving away favorite things to attempting to get a baby sister, with predictably chaotic results.
Get to Work!
by Annie Barrows
2021
A school career fair introduces Ivy and Bean to a treasure hunter who uses a metal detector, inspiring the second graders to dig for riches of their own. As classmates uncover coins and curiosities, the pair must rethink what truly counts as treasure.
Series background & context
The Ivy & Bean series takes the same unlikely duo and looks at their world as a whole. Ivy is the quiet new girl on Pancake Court who secretly trains to be a witch. Bean is the noisy kid across the street who would rather dig in the dirt than sit still.
Once a botched prank on Bean’s older sister pushes them together, they discover that each is exactly the partner in crime the other needed. From there the books follow their efforts to break fossil records, expose a school bathroom ghost, survive ballet class, start a newspaper, run their own summer camp, and even try their hand at detective work.
Barrows keeps the magic small and suggestive. A spell might work or might just be wishful thinking. Ghosts may be real or may be the product of nerves and foggy pipes. What is certain is the vividness of second grade emotions and the way big ideas can take over an afternoon.
Readers who come to Ivy and Bean through the live action film adaptations will find the same blend of humor and heart here, just in quieter, more detailed form. The books leave space for the kind of half remembered, half invented childhood moments that movies have to rush past.
For kids, these stories feel like a peek into their own lives, just turned up a notch. The chapters are short, the language is straightforward, and the pictures do real storytelling work, so new readers can follow along without getting lost.
On this page you can see every Ivy & Bean title in order, decide whether to begin at the very first meeting or dip into a later adventure, and get a sense of how the friendship shifts as the girls take on bigger, stranger, and funnier projects.
Across the whole run, the series balances rule breaking with consequence. Ivy and Bean do things adults would rather they did not do, yet the books never treat those choices lightly; instead they show how two imaginative kids learn, together, what kind of people they want to be.
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