The Baby-sitters Club Guide to Baby-sitting

Original Publication Date: 1993 (around the time of Get Well Soon, Mallory! and  Dawn and the Surfer Ghost)

Ghostwriter? Yes and no--Jahnna Beecham and Malcolm Hillgartner, ghostwriting team of several books, are directly credited on the title page, but the spine of the book still lists the author's last name as Martin.

Synopsis

The book opens with a forward from Ann M. Martin, who reminds the readers that although baby-sitting can be unpredictable, knowing what to do in emergencies and in likely scenarios (e.g.; a child crying when the parents leave) will help you feel more confident and keep calm. 

This is followed by a sentence or two from each of the then-current baby-sitters (Kristy, Mary Anne, Claudia, Stacey, Dawn, Mallory, Logan, Jessi, and Shannon) explaining what they think makes a good baby-sitter.

From there, the book is divided into five sections: Baby-sitting (the basics of what to expect, how to advertise, and ideas of what do with your charges), Baby-sitting Clubs (ideas of how to run one and information on some real clubs across the US), Dear Ann (letters from BSC readers), Household and Medical Emergencies and First Aid (from bumps and bruises to loss of conscious and trouble breathing, including when to call for an adult or a medical professional), and My Baby-sitting Record Book (a fill-in-the-blank sample of what a baby-sitter might want to keep a log of).

Part I: Baby-sitting

The book does a good job of providing a variety of ways to learn about baby-sitting. I also like that it recommends checking the local going rate for baby-sitters, so that you can set your prices accordingly, and suggests considering charging more for late hours. It has a lot of good advice to help a new baby-sitter not get in too deep, and be prepared. There are tips geared for different age levels, too, including safety concerns (e.g.; if you're watching an infant, don't pack choking hazards in your Kid- Kit). It really covers everything, including how to handle parents who can't pay (write them a bill, give them a week to remember, then call) and what to do if the parents seem under the influence and you're not comfortable with them driving you home (call your own parents or another trusted licensed driver for a ride and be firm in refusing a ride from the parents).

Part II: Baby-sitting Clubs

There's basic information you might want to set up your own club, and advice from four real clubs in the US.

Part III: Dear Ann

Most of the letters seem pretty run-of-the-mill ("What's a good activity for a wide age range?" "Art!"). One deals with a client who routinely ends up watching eight children at once when only expecting two, which Martin calls out as unsafe even by daycare ratio standards, and encourages the letter-writer to speak up, perhaps with a parent's help.

Part IV: Household and Medical Emergencies and First Aid

There's some really solid advice here. The books goes into different scenarios, some of which can be handled by a baby-sitters (power outage, lightning storm) and some of which require professionals. There's even a part about what to expect when calling 9-1-1. It's a valuable read for any age, really.

Part V: My Baby-sitting Record Book

This has a client directory with spaces for specific information on each charge, such as allergies and favorite toys. There's also a blank calendar to fill in, a spreadsheet to keep track of earnings, and lined paper to serve as a notebook. I bought this book second-hand; it was previously owned by a Krystle Sword, but nothing is filled out.

Misc

Special thanks is given to Dr, Mark Sorenson, MD, and Beth Sorenson, P-AC, for their help with the first aid and emergency sections.

While Hodges Soileau is credited for the cover art as usual, Tony Talarico illustrated the medical and first aid pictures and Nancy Didion illustrated the other interior pictures.

The book has tidbits of advice "from" the members of the BSC sprinkled in, all in their own handwriting. In her first note Claudia thanks Mary Anne for helping her with spelling, and her entries are without their usual grammatical and spelling errors.

Karen's Birthday (LSGN#6)

Publication date: 2023

Ghostwriter? No, the text copyright is for Ann M. Martin

Illustrators: Katy Farina, with color by Braden Lamb

Synopsis:

Karen is about to turn seven, and all she wants for her birthday is for everyone in her family to be together. 

That is, her mom and stepdad AND her dad and stepmom AND Andrew and her other siblings and Nannie. Her mom and dad don't talk much anymore, and the rare conversations tend to devolve into fights. What if... could Karen find a way to get her mom and dad talking, and maybe they could get married again?

Karen knows the fastest way to get her mom and dad to talk is for them to come together over a problem. So she makes problems: when she gets hurt at school, she secretly calls her dad to pick her up while the school nurse calls her mom. She pretends to be a selfish monster over her birthday, forcing her parents to call each other.

Of course, it's not going to work. With help from Nannie and Seth (her stepdad), Karen is finally able to tell her mom and dad what's bothering her. They don't give her any false hope, but do acknowledge that at least as long as they're raising Karen and Andrew together, they need to communicate effectively. And they need to remember that Karen and Andrew are only seven and four--they're going to need help navigating the divorce and remarriages and complicated (though loving) families. When Karen's mom and stepdad arrive to pick her and Andrew up from her dad's house, they actually come inside and chat a little. It's not the party Karen wanted, but for a few minutes, her WHOLE family is under one roof.

Continuity related to BSC books:

Emily Junior, the rat, is now part of the (Little House) family.

Misc:

Martin dedicates this book to "the Fultons--Pam and Jim, Andrew and Patrick." Farina dedicates it to "my grandma, who gives the best hugs and makes the best pasta."

Instead of the party Karen was hoping for, she gets a fancy dinner at her mom's house, and a day at the circus with the Big House family and some friends, plus cupcakes at school. She does have fun, but it's so understandable that she'd want her family to be able to all be together.

It will never not be weird to see a smartphone in BSC media.

Andrew, with Seth's help, makes Karen a rat maze for Emily Junior. It's a very thoughtful present, and Karen's favorite of the ones she gets.

I distinctly remember the whole scene with Karen peeking at her presents. I've done it, too!

Of all the Little Sister books I remember (I didn't read all of them), this one made me feel for Karen the most. She and Andrew are the only links between two families, and they want to have the people they love together--but those two families don't exist in the same circles. Karen can certainly be annoying, but in this book I just want to comfort her.

Mary Anne's Bad Luck Mystery (GN#13)

Publication Date: 2023

Ghostwriter? No, the text copyright is for Ann M. Martin.

Illustrator: Cynthia Yuan Cheng

Synopsis:

The plot is, as expected, pretty much like the non-graphic version. 

My camera is behaving somewhat better; the colors aren't as weird as last month.


Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: Tootsie Rolls

One thing that seemed odd to me at first is how Dawn, the second-newest club resident of Stoneybrook (after Jessi), is the one who knows the legend of Old Man Hickory. It's the same in the original book, but there it's more established that Dawn loves ghost stories, so the readers can assume she'd been researching her new home.

Their Families: 

Tigger and Mary Anne's dad being startled when she falls out of her bed after tossing the chain letter:

The Pikes' "Daddy Stew" which looks awful as the description in the original book sounds:

The Club (and clients): 

Jacke Rodowsky spilling his mom's sewing supplies:

SMS:

Cokie and Grace in the cafeteria:

The SMS Halloween Hop:

PSA Time:

Fabric scissors are SO SHARP. Don't leave them out in the open or where little kids can easily get to them, and keep them closed and sheathed when you're not using them. It almost looks like Jackie uses the same scissors to cut the cardboard as he's making his robot costume--don't use fabric scissors for non-fabric things as it will dull the blades. Finally, related to sewing, Dawn was absolutely right to vacuum after the sewing notions spill. Little sharp things like pins are easy to miss.

Misc:

Martin dedicates this book to Aunt Martha and to the memory of her Uncle Lyman.

Yuan Cheng dedicates it to "Mom, who provided my foundation in both teaching kids and creating art. For Patrick, who would play the spooky Halloween soundtrack CD to scare me when we were little. To all the friends I've shared my Halloween adventures with over the years, I've been thinking of you fondly."

Book number THIRTEEN is the bad luck mystery!

The chain letter that starts it all:

The mustard seed necklace and accompanying threatening note:

Mary Anne and Logan in their Cats costumes:

Scaring Cokie, Grace, and their posse in the graveyard:

Jessi's Secret Language (GN#12)

 Publication Date: 2021

Ghostwriter? No, the text copyright is for Ann M. Martin.

Illustrator: Chan Chau

Synopsis:

The plot is, as expected, pretty much like the non-graphic version. 

Also, my camera kept screwing up the colors. The actual book has much better colors.


Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: chips, yet again; also Gummi worms:

Jessi always wakes up just before her alarm. She and Becca are also shown wearing silk sleeping caps, which is common among people with textured hair like Black people, to keep their hair healthy:

Their Families: 

Jessi's family at breakfast:

The Club (and clients): 

New BSC picture, without Stacey:

SMS: nothing new

PSA Time: nothing stood out

Misc:

Martin dedicates this book to Cary.

Epstein dedicates it to "Danya, Alice, Maddi, Harry, Ben, Brando, and Thomas. And to the lovely Erik, who helped carry me through the making of this book."

There's also a note thanking Lynne Kelly for "lending her expertise during the making of this book." Right by that is a note that while the book's font is all upper-case, it's appropriate to capitalize the word Deaf when referring to a person or to Deaf culture--essentially, if you're using it the way you'd describe an Irish or Japanese person or culture.

The book does a good job with ASL, including necessary pieces such as the importance of facial expression, and even addresses the syntax difference between ASL and spoken English (the former is object-subject-verb while the latter is subject-verb-object and ASL doesn't use articles or auxiliary verbs and tense is inferred; e.g.; "Ball boy kick" vs "The boy kicked the ball"). It also shows Jessi's name sign, which now makes more sense than the description in the original book.

Jessi's ballet school with Madame Noelle:

The Baby-sitters Club Netflix TV series: Kristy and the Baby Parade

Netflix has a new original series: The Baby-sitters Club! The second season and final covers eight books: Kristy and the Snobs, Claudia and the New Girl, Stacey's Emergency, Jessi and the Superbrat, Mary Anne and the Great Romance, Dawn and the Wicked Stepsister (notice the title change?),  Claudia and the Sad Goodbye, and Kristy and the Baby Parade. 

The plot is a combination of the original book,  Kristy's Big News, and the movie. Here are some things I noticed:

What stood out as surprisingly (not necessarily good or bad) different to me:

In this book, the baby parade is a tradition from World War II, and as prior winners, Kristy and her stepdad "get" to be on a float.

Kristy's biological father emails Kristy's mom to tell her that he and his new girlfriend will be passing through Stoneybrook with their new baby (Liz and Watson have stopped trying for a baby), and wants to meet up with Kristy and her brothers, including David Michael. But he bails on them at the last minute.

What I was happy stayed the same:

The hot mess that is the clashing float goes as well as in the book.

While the situation itself sucks, the variety of reactions of Kristy, her brothers, and her mom are all understandable and relatable.

Again, not happy it's the same--Stacey's parents' divorce is pretty much inevitable at this point.

Other interesting touches: 

When Kristy's dad stands up the family, the Brewers and the BSC really step up. They say some truths that are hard to hear, but needed for healing.

Watson's offer to officially adopt the Thomas children is very touching. I do wish the Emily Michelle plot could have also stayed.

A cover of the song from the original TV show plays over this last episode's credits ("Say hello to your friends...").

The Baby-sitters Club Netflix TV show: Claudia and the Sad Goodbye

Netflix has a new original series: The Baby-sitters Club! The second season and final covers eight books: Kristy and the Snobs, Claudia and the New Girl, Stacey's Emergency, Jessi and the Superbrat, Mary Anne and the Great Romance, Dawn and the Wicked Stepsister (notice the title change?),  Claudia and the Sad Goodbye, and Kristy and the Baby Parade. 

The plots are largely the same as the original books, so I won't rehash that except for the episodes that veer way off. But here are some things I noticed:

What stood out as surprisingly (not necessarily good or bad) different to me:

Mimi dies quietly in her sleep, without a drawn-out hospital stay. The suddenness of it helps the audience feel as shocked as Claudia.

Ashley Wyeth is still around--because she's Janine's girlfriend.

What I was happy stayed the same:

Another not happy about it same thing--Stacey's parents are fighting, badly.

Other interesting touches: 

Claudia has a few shirts with portraits of artists on them, like Salvador Dali and Frida Kahlo. 

A personal thing--Claudia narrates that she has the next 80 years to feel sad about her grandparent's passing, so why start now? She's 13, so she expects to die at 93. My grandfather just passed away, at 93.

The Baby-Sitters Club Netflix TV show: Dawn and the Wicked Stepsister

Netflix has a new original series: The Baby-sitters Club! The second season and final covers eight books: Kristy and the Snobs, Claudia and the New Girl, Stacey's Emergency, Jessi and the Superbrat, Mary Anne and the Great Romance, Dawn and the Wicked Stepsister (notice the title change?),  Claudia and the Sad Goodbye, and Kristy and the Baby Parade. 

Again, Richard and Sharon are not married like in the original book: the Spiers are staying with the Schafers for a week while the formers' house is fumigated for termites. But a week is still plenty of time for tension to develop between the would-be step-sister. And here are some other things I noticed:

What stood out as surprisingly (not necessarily good or bad) different to me:

The secret passage was built for alcohol smuggling during the Prohibition, not as part of the Underground Railroad.

It's to drive home the point about the underlying tension, but it's very strange to see Mary Anne being sloppy and scatter-brained.

What I was happy stayed the same:

Like in her very first appearances, Dawn is organized and neat.

The secret passage! Yay!

Mary Anne's aluminum can burglar alarm! Double yay!

There's shades of Poor Mallory! in the subplot.

Okay, maybe not happy that it's the same, but some of the worse Dawn tendencies from the books show up, especially in her steam-rolling and her becoming insensitive to the point of hypocrisy to other people's needs when under stress.

Other interesting touches: 

One of the sources of tension between the Schafers and Spiers is food, due to difference in their cultural upbringings (e.g.; what level of "spicy" is enough).

The club is still doing charity donations as established a few episode back.

The Baby-sitters Club Netflix TV show: Mary Anne and the Great Romance

  Netflix has a new original series: The Baby-sitters Club! The second season and final covers eight books: Kristy and the Snobs, Claudia and the New Girl, Stacey's Emergency, Jessi and the Superbrat, Mary Anne and the Great Romance, Dawn and the Wicked Stepsister (notice the title change?),  Claudia and the Sad Goodbye, and Kristy and the Baby Parade. 

The titular great romance in this book is actually Mary Anne and Logan, and while Richard confirms that he and Sharon are committed to each other, there's no wedding like in the original book. And here are some things I noticed:

What stood out as surprisingly (not necessarily good or bad) different to me:

Mary Anne and Logan don't officially become boyfriend and girlfriend until this episode. When they do, they're awkward and unsure of how to act around each other.

What I was happy stayed the same:

There's an allusion to the ghost of Ben Brewer.

Other interesting touches: 

I probably only notice this because I drive school buses, but the school bus here is specifically labeled "Stoneybrook Middle School" rather than being for the whole district, because a bus driver will usually drive students for a high school, a middle school/junior high, and an elementary school in the same day. Usually school buses are labeled by district (if the district has its own buses) or company (if the district contracts with an outside company).

Richard Spier has a speech prepared--with notes--for handling the inevitability of Mary Anne dating.

Logan is accidentally served a glass of wine (it makes sense in context) and Sharon quickly volunteers to take care of it for him.

Richard to Mary Anne: "Your friends love you in an almost an almost concerningly aggressive fashion."