Lauren Child's Clarice Bean Books
What Planet Are You From, Clarice Bean?
In this book, Lauren Child's slightly sassy heroine takes on the environment, global warming, and a crabby teacher in her role as an ecowarrior.
British author and illustrator Lauren Child has a knack for creating unforgettable, likeable girl protagonists. A perfect example is Child's Clarice Bean, star of several wonderfully witty, stylishly-illustrated books. Clarice Bean is a smart, creative, straightforward and slightly sarcastic protagonist. In What Planet Are You From, Clarice Bean? she takes on the environment in her own Clarice Bean kind of way.
The Story
What Planet Are You From, Clarice Bean? begins with Clarice's teacher, Mrs. Wilberton, assigning a report on "The Environment." Which is all well and good, except that Clarice gets paired up with the ever-annoying Robert Granger, who insists on doing the report on "who can walk faster, a snail or a worm?" Clarice protests that this isn't important, but Mrs. Wilberton overrules her.
Meanwhile, Clarice's older brother, Kurt (a very typical, silent and moody teenage boy) has learned that the city plans to cut down a very old tree on their street. In fact, the whole family, from Clarice's grandfather to her parents, are upset about the tree. The normally-lazy Kurt is spurred to action to become an "ecowarrior" by the tree situation, and ends up camping in the tree so it can't be cut down. In the end, Clarice's entire family ends up in the tree eating spaghetti (along with Clarice's nemesis, Robert Granger, who she just can't seem to get rid of) and a reporter takes their picture. They end up saving the tree, and Clarice does her report on being an ecowarrior instead of the unimportant worm versus snail debate.
The Illustrations
Child has an illustration style that gives her books a unique, modern look. She has explained that she draws her illustrations in pencil, then scans the pencil drawing into the computer, where she darkens the pencil lines, giving her work a bolder look. She then prints this out, and does whatever paint or collage she decides to do. The whole thing gets scanned in again, resulting in the final product. Textiles, leaves, and tree bark all make an appearance in the collage illustrations in What Planet Are You From, Clarice Bean?
Recommendation
What Planet Are You From, Clarice Bean? (Candlewick Press, ISBN 0-7636-1696-6) is perfect for children ages four to eight. It handles the important topic of the environment in a lighthearted way, so that even though several things are explained (such as the hole in the ozone layer, pollution, and grassroots protest action) readers won't even realize they've learned something.
Sources and Extras
Magic Pencil (British Council) Profile of Lauren Child
Candlewick Press Activities for What Planet Are You From, Clarice Bean?
