How to Choose Baby-Sitters Club Books

Baby-Sitters Club books are written for girls ages 8 and up and offer a range of genres to interest any girl.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Baby-Sitters Club Books
• Baby-Sitters Club Software
• Baby-Sitters Club Videos

1. Understand that Baby-Sitters Club books are a series of novels (chapter books)by Ann M. Martin, written for girls ages 8 to 13.

2. Know that the books are sold mostly as paperbacks and cost no more than $6 apiece.

3. Look for the different types of books. There is a line of mysteries. Super Specials include all of the girls in the stories, are longer than the regular books and include "handwritten" entries by the characters. The Portrait Collection contains one book per girl, each book giving a girl's life story.

4. Check out the Little Sister series - written about the girls' younger siblings and geared to readers ages 5 and up. The Super Mysteries are longer mysteries with the same features as the Super Specials. Readers' Request books concern characters who are not regulars in the series. The new Friends Forever series deals with changes as the girls begin to grow up.

5. Realize that a related series by the same author, the California Diaries, tells about one of the Baby-Sitters who moves to California and introduces the new friends she makes there.

Tips & Warnings

• The books deal with a group of middle-school girls who have formed a baby-sitting club. Each girl has a unique personality. The characters face problems and situations that are universal to girls in this age group. The books have no inappropriate material, but at the same time they are honest, very realistic and dead-on. The characters have various backgrounds, heritages and family histories - including divorce - and have interests that include dance, sports, art, writing, boys, horses and fashion.
• Libraries carry these books, but they tend to fly off the shelves quickly.
• The regular series has more than 130 books, but many of them are out of print and can be found only in used bookstores and libraries.
• Baby-Sitters Club dolls are available at Toys R Us stores (but not online).