Clarice Bean series

The Clarice Bean series is a set of children's novels written and illustrated by English author Lauren Child. It deals with the eponymous Clarice Bean's difficulties in navigating the complex ethical and social questions children deal with at school and at home. Books from the series have received several awards, including winning the Smarties Prize twice.

Family

Clarice Bean's family there are

• Clarice Bean
• Minal Cricket
• Marcie
• Kurt
• Dad
• Mum

The books do not actually specify how old any of the characters other than Clarice are; only that Minal is the youngest, Kurt is the oldest, Marcie is the second oldest, and Clarice is the third oldest.

Other characters

The People at school are divided into two groups:

• The characters in more than one book
• The characters in one book

The Characters from more than one book include

• Mrs Wilberton
• Betty Moody
• Robert Granger
• Noah
• Grace Grapello
• Karl Wrenbury

The characters from one book include

• Bridget Garnett
• Rose
• Mr Washington

Betty Moody

Betty Moody is Clarice Bean's devoted best friend. Their catch phrase-‘Don't look now′ is used a lot in the first half of the book- Clarice Bean Don't Look Now. Betty is a big fan of Ruby Redfort, as is Clarice Bean.

Ruby Redfort

An important plot device in the "Ruby Redfort collection," a series of fictional books from which Clarice frequently find inspiration. The series is as follows

• There was a Girl called Ruby
• Run for it, Ruby
• Where in the world are you, Ruby Redfort?
• R U 4 Real, Ruby Redfort?
• Who will rescue Ruby Redfort?
• Ruby Redfort saves the day
• Ruby Redfort Rules

These 'books' are written by Patricia F Maplin Stacey, and in one book Betty meets Patricia F Maplin Stacey in Russia and gets a book signed. In another book, Clarice gets to be in a Ruby Redfort movie, starring 'Skyler Summer' as Ruby Redfort.

Book in the series

• Clarice Bean, That's Me (1999)
• What Planet Are You From, Clarice Bean? (2001)
• Utterly me, Clarice Bean (2002) - longlisted for the 2002 Carnegie Medal.
• Clarice Bean Spells Trouble (2004)
• Clarice Bean, Don't Look Now (2006)