Bella & Bean by: Rebecca Kai Dotlich

Genre: Picture Book

Illustrated By: Aileen Leijten

Publisher: Atheneum

Copyright Date: February 10, 2009

Number of Pages: 40

Reading Level: Ages 4-8

Summary: This is a story about two mice who are best friends: Bella and Bean. Bella would write poetry everyday at her desk by the window. Her friend Bean was a free spirited enthusiastic girl. One day when Bella was trying to write her poems Bean kept coming up to her window to distract her. She came to show Bella her hat, but Bella told her she doesn't have time for hats. Bella told Bean that she was writing poetry and she needed to think about rivers and mountains. Bean didn't understand so she left. The second time Bean came up to show off her toes. Apparently she had been told she had the cutest toes. Bella told her again that she didn't have time to look at toes because she had to write her poetry. Bean called her grumpy and left again. As the story continued on, slowly what Bean was showing Bella shaped Bella's poetry from stories about mountains to stories about hats and toes, but Bella didn't realize it. Bean distracted her again with an invitation to go to Spoon Pond and plant a bush. Bella said no, but from that came a poem about a snow bush. Bella wrote and wrote all day until the sun was gone. As she was writing she realized that her poems were all coming from her experience with Bean. She called and invited Bean to Spoon Pond. They went and Bean surprised her with a hat like hers. They stretched out on a blanket and Bella wrote a poem about the two of them. "One blanket holds two friends, calm and cozy at the edge of a pond. The moon looks like a clock in the sky with the big hand on forever."

Who would benefit from reading this book/to whom would I recommend this book?

This would be a perfect book to read when you are introducing poetry to your class. So, any teacher who does a poetry unit I would recommend this to. I think that a student who is having a hard time coming up with creative poems could benefit from it. I think it is best suited for younger kids because the language is pretty basic.

What conflicts/problems could this book potentially cause?

I don't think that this book could cause any conflicts.

My Reaction:
I chose this book because my brother and sister-in-law just had a baby girl named Bella. It is a really cute book. It has a good message as well. It is basically saying that the best poems (or stories etc.) come from real life experiences and that what and who we interact with, impacts us even though we don't know it.