To mark the release of the ninth book in Ivy and Bean series, Ivy and Bean Make the Rules, I asked Annie Barrows if she would confer with the dynamic duo about their thoughts on friendship and this is what they said.
Indigo blog
Hi. This is Ivy.
And this is Bean.
The people here want us to talk about friendship. They want us to give rules for friendship.
Because we are experts in being friends. Especially me.
Okay, then. What’s a rule of friendship?
[long silence]
Got one!
Great!
Rule one: If you want to be friends with someone, smile at her and offer her an apple.
That’s not what you did with me. With me, you screamed that you were going to wrap your icy fingers around my neck in the middle of the night.
That was a special occasion. You think of a rule if you know so much.
Okay. Rule two: If your friend is in the middle of a field and a giant bull suddenly appears and begins to charge in her direction, you have to wave something red at it so that it will stop charging at her.
But then I’ll get trampled.
Yup. But you will have saved your friend’s life, and she’ll put up a big statue about you.
I don’t know if that’s a good rule. You shouldn’t have rules where you end up getting stomped by a bull. Here’s another one: If your friend says something that everyone else thinks is really weird, like I flew up on my next-door neighbor’s roof last night, you’re supposed to act like you don’t think it’s weird at all.
What? You don’t think I really flew up on my next-door neighbor’s roof last night?
Did you?
My spirit did.
Oh. That’s nice. I have another rule. If your friend can do something really great that you can’t do, you can be a little bit jealous, but you still have to be happy for your friend.
That’s a good one! Like if your friend breaks the world record for doing a handstand while reciting the alphabet, you shouldn’t say, “I could do that if I wanted to.” You should say, “Good job, old sausage!”
Good job, old sausage!
What if your friend wants to make a swimming pool in her backyard, and you don’t think it’s a very good idea, should you do it anyway?
Yes! You should say, “Good idea, old sausage!”
What if the swimming pool is going to flood her basement?
It didn’t flood the basement!
But what if it was going to?
Then you should say, “Let’s go do something else, old sausage!”
What if your friend says let’s go play, but you really want to read your book?
Who would want to read a book when she could play?
Me.
What a weird kid. I guess you play sometimes, and you read sometimes.
You know what I think?
What?
I think that there aren’t really any rules of friendship. I think it all depends on the friend.
Yeah. I think you’re right. Everyone makes their own rules.
It’s more fun that way, probably.
Right, old sausage.
***
We thank Raincoast, Chronicle Books, Annie Barrows, and Ivy and Bean for doing this guest post.
To mark the release of the ninth book in Ivy and Bean series, Ivy and Bean Make the Rules, I asked Annie Barrows if she would confer with the dynamic duo about their thoughts on friendship and this is what they said. 
***
Hi. This is Ivy.
And this is Bean.
The people here want us to talk about friendship. They want us to give rules for friendship.
Because we are experts in being friends.
Okay, then. What’s a rule of friendship?
[long silence]
Got one!
Great!
Rule one: If you want to be friends with someone, smile at her and offer her an apple.
That’s not what you did with me. With me, you screamed that you were going to wrap your icy fingers around my neck in the middle of the night.
That was a special occasion. You think of a rule if you know so much.
Okay. Rule two: If your friend is in the middle of a field and a giant bull suddenly appears and begins to charge in her direction, you have to wave something red at it so that it will stop charging at her.
But then I’ll get trampled.
Yup. But you will have saved your friend’s life, and she’ll put up a big statue about you.
I don’t know if that’s a good rule. You shouldn’t have rules where you end up getting stomped by a bull. Here’s another one: If your friend says something that everyone else thinks is really weird, like I flew up on my next-door neighbor’s roof last night, you’re supposed to act like you don’t think it’s weird at all.
What? You don’t think I really flew up on my next-door neighbor’s roof last night?
Did you?
My spirit did.
Oh. That’s nice. I have another rule. If your friend can do something really great that you can’t do, you can be a little bit jealous, but you still have to be happy for your friend.
That’s a good one! Like if your friend breaks the world record for doing a handstand while reciting the alphabet, you shouldn’t say, “I could do that if I wanted to.” You should say, “Good job, old sausage!”
Good job, old sausage!
What if your friend wants to make a swimming pool in her backyard, and you don’t think it’s a very good idea, should you do it anyway?
Yes! You should say, “Good idea, old sausage!”
What if the swimming pool is going to flood her basement?
It didn’t flood the basement!
But what if it was going to?
Then you should say, “Let’s go do something else, old sausage!”
What if your friend says let’s go play, but you really want to read your book?
Who would want to read a book when she could play?
Me.
What a weird kid. I guess you play sometimes, and you read sometimes.
You know what I think?
What?
I think that there aren’t really any rules of friendship. I think it all depends on the friend.
Yeah. I think you’re right.
It’s more fun that way, probably.
Right, old sausage.
***
We thank Raincoast, Chronicle Books, Annie Barrows, and Ivy and Bean for doing this guest post.
