A Slice of Life children's book series written by Lauren Child, who is also the illustrator, in 1999 and published under Orchard Books (except for the second book, published under Candlewick Press). As a result of the latter, the art style is the same as her later (and much more famous) series, Charlie and Lola.
The Protagonist of the novels is the eponymous Clarice Bean, a middle-schooler. Ruby Redfort is a Book Within a Book that later became a Spin-Off in its own right.
Novels
- Clarice Bean, That's Me (1999)
- My Uncle Is a Hunkle, Says Clarice Bean (September 2001)
- Clarice Bean, Guess Who's Babysitting? (March 2001)
- 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)
- Clarice Bean: Think Like an Elf (2021)
- Clarice Bean: Scram! (2022)
Tropes:
In general
- Catchphrase Insult: In the in-universe book series Ruby Redfort, Ruby apparently calls people "armpits" and says, "Take that, scumbo!".
- Does Not Like Spam: Clarice describes bread and butter pudding as her "worst utter pudding". The in-series fictional character Ruby Redfort hates tapioca pudding, to the point where she uses it as a code for "bad news".
- Unspoken Retort: Mrs. Wilberton says to Clarice Bean, "You are utterly lacking in the concentration department, and a common housefly has more ability to apply itself". Clarice notes that she wants to reply, "Well, you are utterly lacking in the manners department, and a hippopotamus has more politeness than you!", but she won't because teachers are allowed to be rude, but not students.
Clarice Bean, That's Me
My Uncle Is a Hunkle, Says Clarice Bean
Clarice Bean, Guess Who's Babysitting?
- Donut Mess with a Cop: Clarice's uncle Ernie is a policeman in New York who manages to injure himself by slipping on a donut while getting out of his squad car.
What Planet Are You From, Clarice Bean?
Utterly me, Clarice Bean
- Domestic Appliance Disaster: Clarice asks her grandfather to launder her jersey, but it shrinks down to "the size of a midge".
- The Food Poisoning Incident: Mr. Tuesday pretends that he has food poisoning so he can go out of work to go to his daughter Clarice's school production. Unfortunately, her classmates Noah and Suzy feed him bad sushi, which actually gives him food poisoning.
- If I Had a Nickel...:Mrs. Tuesday: I don't get paid to pick up your smelly socks! If I did, I'd be a rich woman!
- Mistaken for Thief: The trophy for a competition goes missing and Mrs Wilberton thinks Karl Wrenbury stole it, but Clarice Bean and Betty Moody know he didn't do it because he said so and Karl always boasts about naughty things he's done, so they play detective to figure out what really happened to the cup. Clarice, during her investigation, suspects Mrs Wilberton, Toby Hawkling (another prankster, but he usually only pranks with Karl) and Grace Grappelo, who didn't steal it either. It turned out to only have been taken to be cleaned.
Clarice Bean Spells Trouble
Clarice Bean, Don't Look Now
- Injured Limb Episode: Karl Wrenbury, The Prankster, breaks his arm.
- Moving Angst: Clarice, who is going through a bit of a worrywart phase, overhears her mother talking about "more space" and an extra bathroom. This, combined with the mother having previously looked at real estate, makes Clarice worry that she and her family are moving house. She frets excessively over it, to the point of literally losing sleep and writing it on her list of "worst worries". Luckily, however, the house is only being renovated and they're not moving.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
- Betty is uncharacteristically moody and it turns out to be because she's moving house.
- Subverted. Clarice hears her parents arguing and thinks they're getting a divorce (because they usually never argue) but they don't.
- Out-of-Context Eavesdropping: Clarice assumes her family will be moving house when she overhears her mother say something about more space and an extra bathroom, but actually, they're getting their house renovated.
- Playing Sick: Clarice fakes being sick (making up a lie about a "headacheish tummy ache that's causing [her] limbs to feel a bit detatched"), but it backfires when Mrs. Tuesday gives her a boring babysitter.
- Potty Emergency: Clarice has to run to the toilet to pee after drinking four cups of tea.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons:
- Played straight when Clarice overhears a relative talking on the phone about "more space" and "another bathroom", then sees her mother looking on the real estate, and concludes that she and her family will be moving house. She is right that someone is moving house, but it's actually her friend Betty, not herself.
- Subverted when, after she learns that Betty is the one who's moving and Clarice's house is just being renovated, she notices her parents being uncharacteristically grumpy and arguing despite usually getting along well. Seeing as she'd previously thought Betty's parents were getting a divorce, but they were moving house instead, and she'd also previously thought she was moving house, she then concludes that her parents must be getting a divorce, but she's wrong — nobody is getting a divorce.
- Sleep Deprivation: Clarice gets very nervous and literally loses sleep over her worries.
Clarice Bean: Think Like an Elf
Clarice Bean: Scram!
