The Baby-Sitters Club: Reader Survey

How old were you when you started to read The Baby-Sitters Club? (Do you remember which book you read first?)

Maybe around age 8. It was one of the first 4, I believe. Probably Mary Anne Saves the Day.

Who was your favorite BSC member?

Mary Anne

What was your favorite BSC book or plotline?

Babysitters on Board, where they went to Disney World. When I was reading them, I hadn't yet been to Disney World, so it was exciting to see the real thing after reading about the attractions in the book. My favorite part was Karen Brewer lying it was her birthday.

Did you collect the books, check them out from the library, borrow from/trade them with friends . . . ?

I collected the books, checked them out from the library.

Did you follow the entire series? (Super Specials, Mysteries, Portrait Collection, Friends Forever, etcetera)

I didn't read "Friends Forever" until 2006. I stopped around.. Mallory's Dream Horse.

Did you watch the TV show or the film?

The movie and the television show. A friend had a couple episodes and I used to borrow her tapes. Years later, I now own most of the episodes and the film on DVD.

Yes, I'm a guy, but I read whatever my sister had around too, so I thought I'd weigh in...I hope I remember this correctly:

How old were you when you started to read The Baby-Sitters Club? (Do you remember which book you read first?)
Hmm...probably 8 or so. I think I must have started with the first one in the series.

Who was your favorite BSC member?
I think Claudia and Dawn were my favorites.

What was your favorite BSC book or plotline?
The one that's most memorable is when Dawn found out she was diabetic. That was one of the early ones, wasn't it?

Did you collect the books, check them out from the library, borrow from/trade them with friends . . . ?
My sister brought them home from the library, and I read them when I was done with the books I took out. I pretty much read anything when I was a kid.

Did you follow the entire series? (Super Specials, Mysteries, Portrait Collection, Friends Forever, etcetera)
Whoa! I didn't know there were so many. I think at the time the only other spinoff series was Babysitter's Kids, which I read some of. I have a vague interest in checking out the manga series, just to see what it's like.

Did you watch the TV show or the film?
I saw the movie, and probably at least one episode of the HBO show.

I hope this helps!

Oh, very cool! I'm really looking forward to reading that. :D


How old were you when you started to read The Baby-Sitters Club? (Do you remember which book you read first?)
I can't remember how old I was, but I am fairly sure that Super Special #2 (Summer Vacation?) was the first one I read. It's still one of my favourite summer/camping books.

Who was your favorite BSC member?
Claudia! I could empathise with her junk food addiction and I tried to create secret hiding places around my room for sweets, even though there was no need for it. I also loved her crazy outfits and her artistic talents.

What was your favorite BSC book or plotline?
I loved #46 (Mary Anne Misses Logan) because of the author projects, #71 (Claudia's Dream Boy) because of her involvement in newspapers, and anything to do with Janine Kishi or Shannon Kilbourne.

Did you collect the books, check them out from the library, borrow from/trade them with friends . . . ?
I collected the books, cleared them out at some stage, and then took up collecting them again.

Did you follow the entire series? (Super Specials, Mysteries, Portrait Collection, Friends Forever, etcetera)
I gave up on the mysteries after the first few, but tried to keep up with the other series. The later books in the series and the Friends Forever books, I only read on my rediscovery of the series.

Did you watch the TV show or the film?
I watched the TV show but didn't see the film until a year ago.

I remember exactly when I started reading BSC. I got the first three books in my Easter basket when I was 8. It was perfect for me as I loved kids and couldn't wait to babysit myself. So I definitely read #1 first.

I liked Kristy the most because she was most like me in being outgoing and somewhat bossy.

I don't remember my favorite book, maybe the one where Claudia's grandma had the stroke.

I collected the books until about #20. Then my mom told me that I read them too fast and she wasn't going to waste her money on a book that took me 2 hours to read.

I stopped reading them by #30 for sure. I think I may have read one Super Special, but by that point I'd gotten bored with them and remembering being annoyed that the first 20 pages always had to reintroduce the characters.

I never even knew that it was a TV show or a film!

I do remember that there was a special BSC "guide to babysitting" which I bought and read feverishly.

How old were you when you started to read The Baby-Sitters Club? (Do you remember which book you read first?)

I must have been about eight years old. I picked up "Logan Likes Mary Anne!" at a school book fair and I was hooked.

Who was your favorite BSC member?
This varied over the years. I used to say Stacey because she was always the glamourous one, but the older I got, the more I identified with Mary Anne and found a kindred spirit.

What was your favorite BSC book or plotline?
I loved the Super Specials, especially when they did the Peter Pan play. It was great getting every character's POV in one book. But I must have read each book at least dozens of times. Even now, at 25, I can recall vivid details like the names of all 8 Pike kids and the name of the ghost at Dawn's house. But I very much liked Mary Anne's journey, since we'd both lost a parent at a young age and seeing her grow up without one and then merge into a blended family.

Did you collect the books, check them out from the library, borrow from/trade them with friends . . . ?
I bought every one. I finally stopped collecting them when they started numbering in the 60s. I still have my entire collection!

Did you follow the entire series? (Super Specials, Mysteries, Portrait Collection, Friends Forever, etcetera)
I followed everything until I stopped reading the series. I never saw the introduction of Abby, and I stopped reading shortly before Dawn left.

Did you watch the TV show or the film?
I wanted to watch the TV show, but we didn't get the channel at the time! I did see the film though, and it made me smile to see my childhood idols brought to life.

How old were you when you started to read The Baby-Sitters Club? (Do you remember which book you read first?)

Who was your favorite BSC member? Kristy or Claudia. I liked Kristy's ballsiness, and I liked that Claudia was repping the Asian girls well with her cool clothes and general hotness.

What was your favorite BSC book or plotline? Anytime they got into fights-- I liked the drama! For ex, Stacey's Mistake, Claudia and the New Girl, etc. I also loved the Sea City books.

Did you collect the books, check them out from the library, borrow from/trade them with friends . . . ? I bought them. Or rather, my mother bought them for me. I would stalk the local B. Dalton's.

Did you follow the entire series? (Super Specials, Mysteries, Portrait Collection, Friends Forever, etcetera) I was way into the Super Specials, I flirted with the Mysteries but by that time, I was sort of too old for them. (Unlike now.)

Did you watch the TV show or the film? I loved the movie-- I love that Alex Mack girl Larisa, who played Dawn! I owned the Christmas special, but that was the only TV show I watched.

How old were you when you started to read The Baby-Sitters Club? (Do you remember which book you read first?) Probably around eight or nine years old. They had the books at the school library, and I'd already gotten through the books assigned to our class, so I was allowed to read outside of the class picks. Kristy's Great Idea was the first one I read.

Who was your favorite BSC member? At first it was Mary Anne because she had a strict father like I did. When Mallory got mono, though, it had to be her.

What was your favorite BSC book or plotline? I really liked the plot of Mary Anne's father and Dawn's mother. It was interesting to see a blended family, and the showing of both the good and the bad that can come of it.

Did you collect the books, check them out from the library, borrow from/trade them with friends . . . ? It used to be my big treat, going to Beattie's every month and seeing if the new BSC book was in. None of my friends read the books, they were too busy trying to be older than they were.

Did you follow the entire series? (Super Specials, Mysteries, Portrait Collection, Friends Forever, etcetera) I followed the Super Specials, but not the other collections.

Did you watch the TV show or the film? I did not watch the TV show but I did see the film.

Very cool, LW! I'm sending my 27-year-old sister over to answer the survey. I'm too old for BSC :)

I forwarded it to two friends who mentioned reading the books. I was more of a Sweet Valley girl. We didn't realize we'd stopped carrying the books! Are they OP, or just out of vogue?

How old were you when you started to read The Baby-Sitters Club? (Do you remember which book you read first?) I think I was about 8 or 9. I started with book #1! Kristy's Great Idea. Funny how I still remember the title. :)

Who was your favorite BSC member? That's a toughie. I liked Mary Anne and Stacey the best.

What was your favorite BSC book or plotline? I liked the Super Special when they all went to NY. #6- New York, New York (had to look that one up. ;) I also LOVED the Secret Santa's and Chain Letter book. It was so cool how you could pull out the letters and little trinkets and what not. :)

Did you collect the books, check them out from the library, borrow from/trade them with friends . . . ? I collected and checked out from the library. Still have them!

Did you follow the entire series? (Super Specials, Mysteries, Portrait Collection, Friends Forever, etcetera) I read the regular series, Super Specials, Mysteries, and a few of the Little Sister ones. I don't think I ever read any of the Portrait Collection or Friends Forever...hmm.

<>Did you watch the TV show or the film?</i> YES! lol I used to rent the videos from the library and also watch it when it was on tv. I also saw the film (though I haven't seen it in years). Good times.

I hope you post the article when you are through with it! :D

Who was your favorite BSC member? I loved them all in different ways, but I aspired to be Kristy. I also liked Mary Anne a lot.

What was your favorite BSC book or plotline? I can't think of any one book, but I always liked Mary Anne's books the best, for some reason.

Did you collect the books, check them out from the library, borrow from/trade them with friends . . . ? I have probably 20-30 BSC and Little Sister books, but I checked a lot of them out from the library.

Did you follow the entire series? (Super Specials, Mysteries, Portrait Collection, Friends Forever, etcetera) I don't think I ever read ALL of them, but I tried my best! I did read several Super Specials, one or two mysteries, most of the portrait collection, and all of the friends forever - which were damn depressing, as I recall.

Did you watch the TV show or the film? I watched a few episodes of the show, and I think I watched the film once.

How old were you when you started to read The Baby-Sitters Club? (Do you remember which book you read first?) I want to say like... first grade. Maybe. My mom had given me one of the earlier titles (I want to say The Truth About Stacey) on a whim and then it happened that my older neighbor was selling hers in a garage sale about a week later, so I bought like 40 at once from her. I was so excited at the time.

Who was your favorite BSC member? I loved Mary Anne and Stacey best of all.

What was your favorite BSC book or plotline? I loved Boy Crazy Stacey. That was probably the first one I read more than once. And then any of the ones that took place at the Jersey shore after that one were some favorites.

Did you collect the books, check them out from the library, borrow from/trade them with friends . . . ? Collect. I'm still mad that my collection isn't complete. And I WILL finish it one day.

Did you follow the entire series? (Super Specials, Mysteries, Portrait Collection, Friends Forever, etcetera) Yes, mostly. The last one I remember buying was #94. I had a few of the Portrait Collection, a bunch of the mysteries and all the Super Specials. I didn't do the Friends Forever until I worked at B&N. And I always felt like the Little Sisters weren't part of the series.

Did you watch the TV show or the film? Yep. I have 4 of the TV episodes on VHS and the film on both VHS and DVD... and I've been known to watch it still.

How old were you when you started to read The Baby-Sitters Club? (Do you remember which book you read first?)
Between the ages of 6-8.

Who was your favorite BSC member?
Stacy! (Or was it Stacey?). She was the glamourous one! Something I very much was not.

What was your favorite BSC book or plotline?
Overall, those super specials were the most fun to read. However, the Litle Sister(?) series that focussed on Karen - there was one book where Karen got her glasses that I really identified with; as I was going through a similar situation at the time.

Did you collect the books, check them out from the library, borrow from/trade them with friends . . . ?
Got as many as possible through the Scholastic Book clubs; but raced through them and maxed out my library card getting the back catalogue. It was much easier once you realised you could virtually skip chapter 2 or 3 (as it was the introduction of the club members and seemed to be virtually identical in each book!).

Did you follow the entire series? (Super Specials, Mysteries, Portrait Collection, Friends Forever, etcetera)
The super specials and mysteries. I don't know what the other ones were. I might have graduated to more 'teenager' type content by the time the other series/spinoffs were printed.

Did you watch the TV show or the film?
The TV Show - I still can see one of the VHS *purchased* tapes from the series sitting on the shelf here! I think I saw the film, but I wasn't really paying much attention at the time...

/hope this helps!

I used to adore this series.

How old were you when you started to read The Baby-Sitters Club? (Do you remember which book you read first?) ---- Probably 8-10ish range. My first was "Dawn and the Secret Passage", because I liked the idea of one.

Who was your favorite BSC member? ---- I used to feel Stacey was glamorous and mature for her age, and just tended to favor her.

What was your favorite BSC book or plotline? ---- I used to love the Super Specials. Their trip to California was fun, but I think when they got shipwrecked I was the most riveted.

Did you collect the books, check them out from the library, borrow from/trade them with friends . . . ? ---- My father used to buy one for me if I were at the bookstore with him.

Did you follow the entire series? (Super Specials, Mysteries, Portrait Collection, Friends Forever, etcetera) ---- Other than the normal series, just the Super Specials and Mysteries.

Did you watch the TV show or the film? ---- I owned all the episodes on tape and had them memorized, but the movie was a one time deal (rented.)

That was fun, thanks. :)

Since I used to live and breathe BSC, I couldn't resist answering:

How old were you when you started to read The Baby-Sitters Club? (Do you remember which book you read first?) I was somewhere around 7 or 8. I think the first one I read was the very early one about Dawn and the troublesome kids. I stopped reading when I was 11, realized I was Mallory's age, and thought, "Hey, I couldn't get away with ANY of this stuff she does!"

Who was your favorite BSC member? My favorite was Dawn, although I identified more with Claudia's food habits than Dawn's.

What was your favorite BSC book or plotline? Any of the Super Specials, I loved how they had a different girl narrate each chapter.

Did you collect the books, check them out from the library, borrow from/trade them with friends . . . ? I owned every single one of them. I would get them in the book orders that teachers would hand out each month at school.

Did you follow the entire series? (Super Specials, Mysteries, Portrait Collection, Friends Forever, etcetera) I definitely read the Super Specials and Mysteries, but I can't recall the Portrait Collection or Friends Forever ones.

Did you watch the TV show or the film? I watched both, and never liked them. When I was in elementary school, I always imagined them being so much older than their years, since they had such freedom and did all sorts of crazy things (not to mention how many times they repeated the 8th grade ;D), and it was disappointing seeing such young actresses on the screen.

It breaks my heart to hear that the series is mostly out of print these days. I still have my collection packed away somewhere, along with the autographed Ann M. Martin biography I own. I thought they had recently given them all new covers?