Ivy and Bean No News Is Good News Read Free

dollar.”
    “What should we call it?” asked Ivy.
    “The Explosion!” said Bean.
    “No, that would be copycatting,” Ivy said.
    “Okay,” Bean said. “How about The Wax?” After all, wax was the whole point of the newspaper.
    Ivy frowned. “I don’t think most people like wax as much as we do.”
    “Well, you think of something.”
    “I am thinking,” Ivy said. She put her feet up on Bean’s wall so that all her blood would go into her head and help her brain.

    Suddenly Bean slid out of her basket chair and collapsed onto the rug. “ The Flipping Pancake! Get it? Because it’s Pancake Court! Isn’t that great?” Sometimes her ideas were so good she amazed herself.
    “ The Flipping Pancake, ” said Ivy slowly. “ The Flipping Pancake. ” She took her feet down off the wall. “It’s perfect. Everyone who lives here will buy it.”
    “We’ll be rich, rich, rich!” cackled Bean.
    “We’ll be rolling in wax!” cackled Ivy.

WHAT A DEAL!
    The first stop was Kalia’s house. Kalia was only two, so she couldn’t read The Flipping Pancake, but Kalia had parents. Both Kalia’s parents were named Jean, which Bean thought was hilarious. Jean the girl answered the door.

    “Hi, Bean,” she said. “What can I do for you?” A terrible scream came from upstairs.
    “Is that Kalia?” asked Ivy.
    “Is she okay?” asked Bean.
    “She’s fine,” said Jean. “She’s napping.”
    Bean cleared her throat. It was time for her speech. “Hello, I’m Bean,” she said. Another terrible scream rang through the house. Bean talked louder. “Would you like to know the latest exciting news about Pancake Court? For only one dollar, you can get one thrilling issue of The Flipping Pancake. And you’ll be helping to keep two neighborhood children off the streets.” She smiled at Jean with all her teeth, just like the people on television.
    “All for the bargain price of one dollar,” said Ivy. That was her part.
    Upstairs, something heavy crashed to the floor.
    Together, Ivy and Bean began to sing, “Get the news of Pancake Court! Pancake Court! Pancake Court! All the news of Pancake Court! For! Only! A dollar!” Ads on television usually had songs.

    “Sure.” Jean was looking at the ceiling. “Sure. A dollar. Hang on a sec!” She zipped down the hall. Ivy and Bean waited on the doorstep, listening to something hit a wall and break into lots of pieces. Jean zipped back.“Great! Here!” She handed Ivy a dollar just as the next scream blazed through the house. “Bye!” she said, shutting the door. They heard her running up the stairs.

    “Wow. Aren’t you glad we decided not to babysit?” said Bean.
    Ivy nodded and stuck the dollar in her pocket. “One dollar down, nine to go.”
    The next house was Mrs. Trantz’s. Mrs. Trantz’s yard had sparkly white stones and big silver bubbles and teeny fences around every rosebush. It looked like someone nicelived there, but that was a big lie. If Bean even so much as put one foot on Mrs. Trantz’s pink front path, Mrs. Trantz whipped out the front door and started yelling.
    “Forget it. Not worth it,” said Ivy.
    Bean nodded. Whew.
    They moved on to Jake the Teenager’s house. Jake the Teenager was in the garage beside his house. They knew he was in there because loud music with bad words in it was leaking out of the garage windows. Jake the Teenager didn’t seem like the typeto be interested in The Flipping Pancake, so Ivy and Bean didn’t go to the garage. They went to the front door of the house. Bean was surprised that Jake the Teenager’s dad heard the doorbell over the music, but he did. Bean hollered her speech as loud as she could, and Jake the Teenager’s dad nodded and smiled. But just when Ivy was about to say “All for the bargain price of one dollar!” a really amazingly bad word came flying out of the garage, and she lost her mind. “Give us some money!” she screeched.

    Jake the Teenager’s dad nodded very fast and pulled