When Bean's parents leave her in the care of her older sister Nancy for the afternoon, she enlists her neighbor and best friend Ivy to come over and teach Nancy how to be a really good babysitter.

When seven-year-old Bean plays a mean trick on her sister, she finds unexpected support for her antics from Ivy, the new neighbor, who is less boring than Bean first suspected.

When classmate Vanessa insists that all single children are spoiled, Ivy wonders whether she can become "unspoiled" by giving away all her clothes at school (which does not go over well with her teacher or parents)--but ultimately decides that all she needs to accomplish her goal is a little sister.