Clarice Bean series facts for kids

The Clarice Bean series is a collection of books for kids written and drawn by the English author Lauren Child. The first book came out in 1999. The main character and storyteller is a girl named Clarice Bean. Her stories are all about the challenges she faces at school and at home, like figuring out tricky social situations and what's right or wrong.

There's also a spin-off series called Ruby Redfort. This series started in 2011 and features a different character, Ruby Redfort, who is a secret agent.

Clarice Bean Books

Here are the books in the Clarice Bean series:

• Clarice Bean, That's Me (1999)
• My Uncle Is a Hunkle, Says Clarice Bean (Orchard Books, 2001)
• Clarice Bean, Guess Who's Babysitting? (Candlewick Press, 2001) — This is a version of My Uncle Is a Hunkle made for readers in the U.S.
• What Planet Are You From, Clarice Bean? (2001)
• Utterly me, Clarice Bean (2002)
• Clarice Bean Spells Trouble (2004)
• Clarice Bean, Don't Look Now (2006)

Awards and Special Mentions

Some of the Clarice Bean books have won cool awards!

• That's Me and What Planet? were both runners-up for the Smarties Prize in the 6–8 years age group. What Planet? even won the Kids Club category!
• That's Me also received a special mention for the Kate Greenaway Medal. This is a British award given each year for the best illustrations in children's books.
• Utterly Me was the first novel in the series. It was one of many books chosen by librarians for the Carnegie Medal, which is another big award for children's books.
• Trouble was a finalist for both the British Children's Book of the Year and the Red House Children's Book Award.

Who Are the Characters?

Let's meet the people in Clarice Bean's world!

Clarice Bean's Family

Clarice lives with a big family! Here are the main members:

• Clarice Bean Tuesday (She's 12 years old and the main character!)
• Minal Cricket Tuesday (Her younger brother, who is five. Clarice sometimes thinks he's a bit of a pest!)
• Marcie Tuesday (Her older sister, who is 14.)
• Kurt Tuesday (Her oldest brother, who is 16.)
• Her dad
• Her mother
• Her granddad
• Her grandmother

So, Kurt is the oldest, then Marcie, then Clarice, and Minal is the youngest.

Betty P. Moody

Betty is Clarice Bean's very best friend. They do almost everything together! Just like Clarice, Betty loves the Ruby Redfort books. Betty also really loves dogs. In the first book, she even gets a dog from Clarice's granddad's best friend. Betty wears glasses and her parents travel a lot. In the last book, Betty moves to San Francisco because her mom found a job there.

Karl Wrenbury

Karl lives with just his mom because his dad left when he was little. At first, Karl and Clarice don't get along, but later they become friends. Karl is super good with dogs. He even helps Clarice's granddad train their dog, Cement, to have good manners. Karl often gets into trouble at school with their teacher, Mrs. Wilberton. He's sometimes sent to Mr. Pickering's office for his behavior. In one book, he even throws his chair across the room!

Grace Grapello

Grace is usually Clarice Bean's biggest rival. She can be quite mean to Clarice, especially about her spelling. Grace seems to be good at everything, and people say she's Mrs. Wilberton's "teacher's pet." Mrs. Wilberton often believes Grace over Clarice.

Mrs. Wilberton

Mrs. Wilberton is Clarice Bean's teacher. Clarice doesn't always think she's very nice. Mrs. Wilberton often tells Clarice off about her spelling. Clarice describes Mrs. Wilberton's voice as a "honking goose voice" and says she has a "big derriere" (which means a big bottom). Clarice and Karl also joke that she walks like she's "walking on trotters," and Karl often imitates her.

Clem Hansson

Clem is a new girl who joins Clarice Bean's school. She comes from Sweden and has a pet rabbit named Kahneen, which is the Swedish word for rabbit. Clarice thinks Clem reminds her of Sadie Blanch, a character from the Ruby Redfort books.

Czarina

Czarina is Clarice Bean's drama teacher.

Books Within the Books

An important part of the Clarice Bean stories is the Ruby Redfort collection. These are fictional books that Clarice Bean and Betty Moody love to read. They often get ideas and inspiration from them! The Ruby Redfort books are about a young American girl who is a secret agent.

In Clarice Bean Spells Trouble, Clarice and Betty also watch the Ruby Redfort TV show, which is based on the books. In Utterly Me, Clarice Bean, they find out that Hollywood is even making a movie about Ruby Redfort!

There are nine fictional Ruby Redfort books in the series:

• There Was a Girl Called Ruby
• Run For It, Ruby
• Where in the World Are You, Ruby Redfort?
• R U 4 Real, Ruby Redfort?
• Run Ruby Run
• Who Will Rescue Ruby Redfort?
• Ruby Redfort Saves the Day
• Ruby Redfort Rules
• Rush to Russia Ruby

The fictional author of these books is Patricia F Maplin Stacey. Betty even meets her once in Russia and gets a Ruby Redfort book signed! In another book, Clarice gets to be in a movie where "Skyler Summer" plays Ruby Redfort.

Hitch is a character in the Ruby Redfort series. He is the Redfort family's butler. He's the only one in Ruby's house who knows she's a secret agent. Hitch often helps Ruby get out of tricky situations.

Lauren Child, the real author of Clarice Bean, later decided to write actual Ruby Redfort books!

Real Ruby Redfort Books

The Ruby Redfort books are now real books that you can read! So far, there are six books in this series:

• Ruby Redfort: Look Into My Eyes
• Ruby Redfort: Take Your Last Breath
• Ruby Redfort: Catch Your Death
• Ruby Redfort: Feel the Fear
• Ruby Redfort: Pick your Poison
• Ruby Redfort: Blink and You Die