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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
View of Babysitting from the Viewpoint of a Teen, July 29, 2008
This review is from: Amelia's Guide to Babysitting (Amelia's Notebook) (Hardcover)
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Amelia, our favorite middle school student, explores babysitting. She gives a lot of practical advice and information. She also shares some stories of babysitting experiences. Amelia and her friend Carly decide to give babysitting a try. They find that babysitting is harder than it looks. Then they remember what they used to do with their own babysitters!
This book would be good to buy for anyone considering babysitting. Teens and pre-teens will love the eye catching format. It has cute illustrations in a notebook like format.
Like the other Amelia books, you will love this true life experience in the world of babysitting.
Teachers and Media Specialists, this book is a must for your classroom or school library. Students in grades 4-8 won't be able to put it down.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
My tween loved it, but I didn't, August 1, 2008
This review is from: Amelia's Guide to Babysitting (Amelia's Notebook) (Hardcover)
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It somewhat pains me to give this book 5 stars. I must do so, since my child has read this book 5 times through since it came last week, so obviously it has enormous appeal for the target age group. When I asked the reason for the appeal, I heard, " I just love all the Amelia books, with the quizzes and the charts, and this one had a funny ending."
Having read the book, though, I am not overly impressed. There is very little plot, little character development, and it wasn't even very funny. She spends the entire book worrying about babysitting and characterizing different kinds of children and babysitters. Yawn. When she finally gets a job that presents some challenges it's a welcome relief from her pointless fretting and a delight to finally have something happen. It's also a signal that the book is about to end, which was, for me, also a relief.
This book is listed as for 10-13 year olds, but I think it very likely that elementary-school-aged children will read this one. Not only is the design appealing to younger children, but it is a continuation of a series that begins with an elementary-aged Amelia.
Given the possible younger readership, I would caution parents about two passages in this book. In one, a girl describes her embarrassment when the parents came home while she was with a boyfriend, and there is a drawing of a girl and boy kissing. In another, there is a mention of thong underwear. These may not be topics all parents feel comfortable having their eight-year-olds read about.
I'd give this two stars. My child gives it five, though, so I'll defer to the judgment of the targeted age group.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
For Amelia's Notebook fans and first-time babysitters, July 21, 2008
This review is from: Amelia's Guide to Babysitting (Amelia's Notebook) (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
AMELIA'S GUIDE TO BABYSITTING by Marissa Moss is the latest in the series of children's books that began with AMELIA'S NOTEBOOK.
Like the rest of the series, this "guide" looks very much like a 6th grade girl's notebook. Evenly spaced, blue, horizontal lines show through colorful, child-like doodles that illustrate the humorous, handwritten text. Even the copyright page is handwritten and includes notes like "with help from Lucy Ruth Cummins. She even changed a soggy diaper!"
The story, too, seems to have a real 6th grade girl's voice: completely honest, sweet and often funny. Amelia comes off the page as if she were a real person--and that is what makes the Amelia series such a delight. Most girls this age can identify with Amelia or would find her to be a girl they'd like to have as a friend.
In this book, Amelia and her best friend Carly decide to work as a babysitting team. To guide them, Amelia creates a series of quizzes, charts and scales on topics like "What Kind of Babysitter Are You?" "What Matters Most When You're Babysitting?" and the "Extra Chores Tolerance Scale."
Girls who like magazine personality quizzes will enjoy these. However, they do mean that most of the action takes place in the second half of the book. The slow start might be a turn-off to some readers, but fans of the series probably won't mind.
This book presents babysitting in a realistic light--complete with soggy diapers, little kids who won't stop screaming, and parents who call every five minutes. Babysitting is presented as rewarding, but not the "getting-paid-to-watch-TV" job some kids think it is. The honesty, however, might be a bit too much for some parents, particularly when Amelia's sister Cleo explains how she lost a babysitting job because she invited her boyfriend to the house.
I enjoyed the first book in the series more, but would still recommend this book for any young girl who is considering babysitting for the first time and for all fans of the Amelia's Notebook series.
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