BEANS ON THE ROOF

In a novel that is hardly more difficult than an easy reader (though longer), the Beans are a typical Byars family: Papa sells fruits and vegetables; they live in an apartment house from which they wave at neighbors across the street; and they are distinguished by their common-sense and love for one another rather than by their cleverness. Sensibly, no one is allowed on the roof, which is reserved for a neighbor's rabbits and the laundry; but today Anna Bean is up there—with permission—writing a poem to be included in a book being compiled at school. Soon the other Bean children join her—they too will write poems. George wants to write "the best poem in the world," but has trouble with writer's block; Little Jenny's brief poem comes more easily. Even Mrs. Bean produces a poem—not great, she says, "but it is a true one." Anna is proud of her own effort, but it is not picked for the book after all; still, as her father points out, the important thing is that she was the first Bean to write a poem; if she goes on writing, one may yet be in a book. The way Byars can explore a loving family—and the act of creation—through such a simple device is little short of miraculous. She holds attention; she makes every word count; she devises believable, childlike verse—and does it all with a clear eye, a gently amused voice, and disarming affection. Young readers should be delighted.