The first of the new Collector's Club Editions features a new logo, bright new cover, and fill-in pages to personalize as Kristy comes up with the idea for the Baby-sitter's Club with friends Claudia, Stacey, and Mary Anne.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
The Baby-Sitters Club #1: Kristy's Great Idea
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
It all began with a great idea ... and the inspiring original story of the Baby-sitters Club is back! Kristy Thomas's brilliant business plan gets off to a great start with the help of Claudia Kishi (vice-president), Mary Anne Spier (secretary), and Stacey McGill (treasurer).
Amazon Exclusive Inteview with Author Ann M. Martin
Amazon Exclusive Inteview with Author Ann M. Martin
Q: It's been a decade since the last Baby-sitters Club books came out, and 24 years since the first book was published. What was it like to come back to the BSC after so many years away?
Martin: I had a great time re-visiting the characters. It was fun to explore their lives in the prequel, “"The Summer Before," and to figure out what led the girls to form The Baby-sitters Club, something that would eventually change their lives. It was like a reunion with friends--friends who haven’t changed a bit.
Q: Kristy, Claudia, Mary Anne, and Stacey are very different characters, which is in part why the series was and is still so popular. Every reader can relate to at least one of the characters. So, we have to ask you--which character are you most like?
Martin: I am most like Mary Anne who is the shy and quiet one. Like me, Mary Anne enjoys more solitary pursuits such as reading and needlework. My favorite character, however, is Kristy. I think she's my alter ego.
Q: Were you allowed to baby-sit when you were twelve? If so, were they any funny or awful stories you'd like to share?
Martin: Yes, I did a lot of baby-sitting when I was twelve. One of the worst and also funniest things that ever happened was when I was baby-sitting for our neighbors and the kids wanted to wash their parents' car. They started the job with much enthusiasm--using Brillo pads.
Q: More than 200 BSC books were published in the eighties and nineties. Are there any that you are particularly fond of and why?
Martin: My favorite Baby-sitters Club book is "Kristy's Great Idea," which is the first book and sets the series in motion. I also like the more serious books such as "Claudia and the Sad Good-bye," which deals with the death of Claudia’s grandmother. This book was written shortly after my own grandmother died. My other favorite BSC books include “Kristy and the Secret of Susan,” in which the members of the BSC baby-sit for a child with autism, and "Jessi's Secret Language" in which the girls learn American Sign Language in order to communicate with a sitting charge with profound hearing impairment.
Q: Why do you think that the series is so well-loved and has endured over so many years?
Martin: I think the characters in the BSC books are easily relatable. The books deal with timeless topics including friendship, family, and school. Also, the books tackle serious issues including racism, bullying, kids with disabilities (physical and mental), and death of a loved one. These issues were relevant to kids in the 1980s and 1990s, and are still relevant to kids today. In addition to being relatable, these are characters readers can aspire to. The kids run a business--in this case, a baby-sitting business. They are entrepreneurial, independent, creative, and confident. And at the heart of the series is the friendship--the "glue" that binds these characters. Sure, they have fights, but they're loyal and they support one another. I think a lot of us--even adults--can relate to that.
Q: "The Summer Before" takes place during the summer before the girls enter the seventh grade--where suddenly there's a ton of pressure to fit in. The months leading up to it can be filled with anxiety, excitement, and anticipation. Do you remember how you spent the summer before seventh grade?
Martin: I was nervous that summer because in the fall I would be going to a new school – the junior high (this was in the time before middle schools). Even the words "junior high" seemed terribly grown-up. My friends and I would be attending school with eighth-graders, who were one step away from high school. I spent that summer reading, going to the community pool, taking a family trip to Cape May, New Jersey, doing some baby-sitting, and also recovering from surgery. But the knowledge that I would soon be in junior high school colored every day and every activity and did lend the summer an air of both anxiety and anticipation.
Q: Despite the fun the girls have together in "The Summer Before," they're all dealing with pretty tough problems—moving away, an absentee father, a first crush. How did you choose the issues you wanted to focus on?
Martin: One of my favorite things about writing a series was that the characters themselves generated plot ideas for later books. One of the themes that developed as the series progressed was that of Kristy's relationship with her father. It was an idea I enjoyed exploring, and when I had the opportunity to write the prequel I realized that this summer would be a charged time for Kristy, and that I could introduce the issues she had with her father here; then they could unfold in the later books. The same applied to Stacey. Her reasons for moving to Stoneybrook had been revealed in later books, but I realized that during this particular summer the reader could actually watch the events take place. The other issues – a first crush, wanting more independence yet still feeling like a kid--are themes that I felt would resonate with most "tween" readers.
Q: Even though the books have been out of print for ten years there are still some very devoted fans. Surely you must have received a ton of letters about the series over the years. Are there any that stick out in your mind?
Martin: The most memorable are stories of girls who have written to me and told me that I’ve made an impact on their lives, that The Baby-sitters Club books have turned them into readers. Some have also said that the BSC books made them aspire to become writers. I’ve also heard from a lot of the original fans who grew up to become teachers, librarians, editors, journalists, entrepreneurs, etc. To know that this series inspired a generation of readers and writers is very humbling.
Q: There’s been a lot of speculation in the blogosphere about where Claudia, Kristy, Mary Ann, and Stacey would be now, in 2010, had they grown up. Do you have any thoughts on what path each would have taken?
Martin: I understand the fascination of the older BSC fans who would like to know what happened with the characters when they got older. It’s thrilling to realize that after all these years the fans remain passionate about the books and the characters in The Baby-sitters Club. I can see Kristy running a business--I can also see her being in politics. I think Mary Anne became a teacher. I imagine Stacey went into fashion--not as a designer, but maybe on the business side. And Claudia became an artist. I think fans can fill in for the rest of the characters!
From School Library Journal
Grade 4-6 Seventh-grader Kristy Thomas organizes her friends into a baby-sitters club. In the course of the operation of the club, Kristy comes to terms with her mother's engagement, Stacey confides to her new friends that she has diabetes, Claudia learns to tolerate and even appreciate her gifted older sister, and Mary Anne makes some compromises with her over-protective father. All of the elements of concern to pre-teen girls (wearing the ``in'' clothes, keeping friendships stable, coping with family stresses, and trying to grow up) are here, tied to the almost universal experience of baby-sitting. Characters are not drawn with great depth, but the action is on target. A pleasant offering that will find a ready audience. Candy Colborn, Cottonwood Creek Elementary School, Englewood, Colo.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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More About the Author
Ann M. Martin is the bestselling author of the momentous series The Baby-sitters Club, as well as the Main Street series. Her other acclaimed novels include "A Dog's Life," "Belle Teal," "Here Today," and the Newbery Honor Book "A Corner of the Universe." She lives in upstate New York. For more information, visit www.scholastic.com/bsc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
45 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What is wrong with you people???,
By Tiffany (Phila, PA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Kristy's Great Idea (The Baby-Sitter's Club #1) (Paperback)
You are complaining that the books are too "nice". There's no sex, drugs, drinking, etc. They're 13!!!! And I was 8 when I started reading the BSC. Why on earth would any responsible author write a series for young girls and fill it with stuff like that. This is FICTION (yeah, look it up). An escape from reality. You want sex, drugs, drinking, turn on the TV or something. The BSC was a GREAT series. I read it for years, well into my early teens, and I recommend it to any young girl. The was the series that spawned my love of reading.
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
YO!,
A Kid's Review
This review is from: Kristy's Great Idea (The Baby-Sitter's Club #1) (Paperback)
Hey, Um, you, who was talking about how you hate these books now, some people may agree with you or agree with me, but Ann Martin can't write about Claudia ,or whoever, having sex!I mean, yeah, some stuff doens't seem real, but these were the late 80's early 90's, M.A has a boyfriend in the later stuff, I mean, but sex? That would ruin the meaning of these books, they are supposed to be FUN, HAPPY, and some kids around 9 read these books too, I don't think they're parents would be happy having their 9yr old reading about a 13yr old having sex!! So, Don't blame Martin, you can write your own books about people having sex, ok?
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great when I was younger, but...,
By Amy S. "future writer girl" (Salem, OR USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Kristy's Great Idea (The Baby-Sitter's Club #1) (Paperback)
This is the first book in a 131 book series. It is about Kristy Thomas and how she starts the baby-sitters club along with Mary-Anne Spier, Claudia Kishi, and Stacey Mcgill. It begins when Kristy watches her mom make call after call to find a baby-sitter for Kristy's little brother when Kristy and both her older brothers are busy. So she starts the club and they all get into a big fight(over what I can't tell you about; you'll just have to read it for yourself). In the end they all make-up and continue on with the club. Yeah, it's a simple plot, and is probably only going to gather 8-11 year olds these days, but read on to see what I have to say about this and other books in the series that may interest older crowds. I started reading them when I was eight and I thought they were just terrific. However, as previous reviewers have mentioned, these books are a little outdated. I do think that the other reviewers only read so many of the old ones and none of Ann M. Martin's other books related to this series, because some of the issues the reviewer's wished would have been delt with were; just not in the first 30 or so books. For example, one of the later books deal with the death of a friend due to a drunk driver. And Mary-anne's house is burned to the ground in the last book. But if older readers are looking for something to suit their age better, I would suggest reading the California Diaries books, which are about Dawn Schafer's life and the lives of her friends in diary form after she moves back to California. These books deal with such issues as Anorexia, drugs and alcohol, the death of a mother due to cancer and racial prejudice against hispanics. These books, begun writing in 1996 or '97 are a little more up to date. Also try reading Ann M. Martin's more recent books "A Corner of the Universe"(2001 Newberry Medal Winner), or "Here Today"(2004). Don't completley pass on these books, just wait it out to the later more up-dated books. Because after all, Ann M. Martin has never written a truly horribly done book, so why not see what other GREAT books she's written. Over all, I'd give this book a B- for older girls, or an A+ for younger ones.
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