Bean Supreme (Tiny Bean’s Big Adventures, Book #2) – written and illustrated by Stephanie Graegin
Tundra Books, 2026
While the relationship between a grandparent and grandchild is certainly a promising subject for a children’s book, not every book is this category achieves both realism and imaginative innovation at the same level. Bean Supreme is the second volume in Stephanie Graegin’s series about a very small hedgehog and her wise and loving grandmother. The illustrations emphasize the miniaturized scale of their adventures, but also capture the essence of the characters’ bond. Graegin narrates the episodic events in Tiny Bean’s life, accompanied by the unobtrusive guidance of Grandma.
The introductory chapter, “Tiny Bean, Tiny Neighbor,” introduces Bean to anyone who is not familiar with the first book. The essential qualities of her identity are that she is a hedgehog and she is very small. She has a favorite stuffed animal, a pig named Clem. Arrows point to these important people, and toys, in Bean’s life, including her grandmother, who waves at readers from her position underneath a strawberry hanging from a stem. On the ground is a basket of “giant strawberries.” Writing and images about smallness need to avoid exaggerated cuteness, and Graegin accomplishes this with great subtlety.
“Ice Cream Bean” begins with Bean drawing on the walls and wood floor of Grandma’s house. She’s not much mischievous as artistic, and Grandma’s explanation for Bean’s rule breaking is that they both had eaten too much ice cream, leading to wild dancing and exhaustion, as well as the episode of “redecorating.” Grandmother and granddaughter are similar visually, and in their thinking. Soon they are using a roller and a paintbrush, at two different height levels, to clean up.The array of portraits on Grandma’s walls shows that she empathizes with a creative act, even one that Bean herself concedes was “a bit much.”When Bean and her friend, Gus, fly kites, Grandma helps her learn about the need for practice, but Grandma also experiences the anxiety of watching Bean elevated way too high. In this case, Grandma decides that the kites need to be put away in her attic until Bean is a bit bigger.
The book is not an ode to free-range parenting, but rather to common sense protectiveness. In “Clean Bean” the little hedgehog learns about helping with chores and the need for a bath, and in “The Tall Tale of Bean Supreme” Graegin combines the wild imagination of a child with the child’s specific need to feel big and important. Whether giving piggyback rides to creatures much smaller than herself, standing like a colossus next to an apartment building, she builds a sense of power. When Bean returns to reality and recognizes her own smallness, Grandma affirms her reasoning.
Every story is accompanied by detailed images of domestic and outdoor scenes, gradations of color and shading, and composition that conveys both activity and stillness. Bean Supreme is a visual and emotional treasure for multigenerational sharing.
Imaginary Elevators 