I found out through my friend Missy that Scholastic is re-releasing the first two books in The Baby-sitters Club series, with an additional prequel written by Ann M. Martin. They’re updating the series to jive with today’s pre-teens, taking out dated references like typewriters, scrunch socks, hi-tops, and I hope the word hunk.

Kristy and the Snobs, the 11th book in the series, was the first chapter book I ever read. But at the age of seven, I didn’t realize that such books should be read in chapter order. I thought the numbers were just sub-stories, just like my Richard Scarry Best Storybook Ever! book. I didn’t understand why Kristy’s dog would be dead in one section, yet alive in the next one I read. When Mom asked me how I enjoyed my first chapter book, I told her I hated it. It then dawned on her that I didn’t read it correctly the first time around. Upon my re-read, I became in love with the series.

Why start with book 11 and not the first, Kristy’s Great Idea? The series was so popular by then that it was next to impossible to read the books in order. If you wanted to read a specific book, you had to add your name to the library’s waiting list of 20 equally fascinated 8 to 12  year olds and hope they would read quickly – or even return the book at all. I would read the books as fast as I got my hands on them. My favorite ones focused on Mary Ann Spier, the shy, reserved babysitter – I most connected with her. I was disappointed when Islip Public Libarary’s summer reading club put a cap on only reading three books by the same author or series, so I was forced to read other books to meet my quota.

I think The Baby-Sitter’s Club movie was also the first movie me and my best friends were allowed to see by ourselves – never mind the fact that our parents were one theater over watching A Walk In The Clouds.

When I started babysitting, I realized that their charges were a little idyllic. In reality, I caught my seven and nine-year-old charges watching the Playboy channel after I returned from putting their baby brother to bed. BSC parents never came home drunk, nor did they ever make inappropraite comments towards the babysitter. I have plenty of stories to tell, but this entry is getting long enough.

Well, I’m excited. And if I ever have a daughter, I hope she finds as much joy in a series as I did.

Recommended Reading

• Scholastic’s Great Idea via Jezebel
• The Baby-sitters Club via Wikipedia
• What Claudia Wore