Clarice Bean, Smile

Name: William Joseph
Price range: $

by Lauren Child

Interest age: 6 to 8
Reading age: 7+

Published by Harper Collins, 2024

Chapter books
Funny

About this book

Readers may know the Clarice Bean picture books, but this is one of the stories about Clarice for older children, best for those aged around 8 years old.

Clarice is a wonderful day-dreamy girl who has been procrastinating during ALL of the summer holidays about her school project on endangered things. Now school is back, she has to cram it into a tiny amount of time, and she still doesn’t know what to focus on.

And that’s not the only problem; it seems like not only the whole world but her whole family needs her help. Plus her best friend Betty Moody has moved to America!

So Clarice does what Clarice can, including applying for a job on behalf of her stressed-out dad, complete with quotes from her favourite fictional character Ruby Redfort; Ruby Redfort was once a fictional book series that only existed in Clarice Bean, and then author Lauren Child wrote them. So if children enjoy this book, at 10+ they might love to get into the whole series, starting with Ruby Redfort: Look Into My Eyes.

Clarice Bean, Smile has short chapters and lots of lovely illustrations, including all the different types of smile you might give (11 in all - these are pages to return to!) It all adds up to a most charming, funny, engaging story.

About the author

Lauren Child is a multi-award-winning, bestselling writer and artist whose books are known and loved the world over. She is the creator of characters including Clarice Bean, Ruby Redfort and Charlie and Lola.

Lauren Child has been at the forefront of innovation in children's books for over 15 years and has raised the profile of illustration as an artform for all ages. She's worked with mixed media, pioneered text as an integral part of illustration and collaborated with artists across different fields.

Lauren is also a passionate advocate for visual literacy and the importance of quality picture books for children. She is also passionate about encouraging creativity in children and adults. She is a trustee of House of Illustration, a gallery set up by Sir Quentin Blake. She has been awarded an MBE for her work and was appointed as an Artist for Peace by Unesco in 2008.