Things you can’t explain. Like why isn’t ‘you’ spelt U? And why opening your mouth can get you into some very big trouble. I am in nonstop trouble these days almost as much as Karl Wrenbury and he is the naughtiest boy in our school. Someone who is very good at getting OUT of trouble is Ruby Redfort. She is this girl detective on the TV. I’d love to be famous on the TV. I am really daydreaming about how when we have our school play I might get spotted by one of those people who spots children for being talents. You see,
if I was a child star then I wouldn’t have to be in Mrs Wilberton’s stupid Spelling Bee. I am not a good speller and being not a good speller can get you into all sorts of trouble...

Lauren Child was absolutely utterly never in trouble when she was at school. Ever. And if she was it was usually for a very good reason. And nearly always not her fault. Trouble is not her middle name, Margot is. Lauren does not think spelling is that important compared to some other things which are. (Lauren is not a good speller.)

Clarice Bean Spells Trouble is a longer book than Utterly Me, with less illustration. In this book Clarice is a couple of years older, perhaps ten. The content feels older too; Clarice is wrestling with things we all have to wrestle with in life – moral dilemmas like when is it right to do the ‘wrong’ thing and when is it wrong to the ‘right’ thing; the grey areas that are so difficult to navigate. Is it better to stand up for someone and risk your own good reputation? Can you live with yourself if you just walk on by?

The other theme is spelling. I chose spelling because a documentary had recently come out, Spellbound, that was about children taking part in the USA national spelling bee.
I remember watching these children as they studied the dictionary, memorising words and anxiously spelling them out on stage. It was gripping to watch but I couldn’t help feeling there had to be better things to do with your time than to agonise over spelling the word semolina. 

Unfortunately we tend to judge people on their spelling and children learn to believe that they are not ‘clever’ if they can’t spell, when the truth is it means no such thing. Clarice Bean isn’t a great speller and so a school spelling bee is quite an ordeal. In her bid to become a better speller, Clarice takes up learning the dictionary and ends up with a varied vocabulary of vast volume.