- This article is about the book series. For the club in the series, see: Baby-sitters Club. For other uses, see The Baby-Sitters Club (disambiguation).
The Baby-Sitters Club (abbreviated as BSC) is the main series of books written by Ann M. Martin and published by Scholastic between 1986 and 2000. There are 131 books in the original series.
Spin-Offs and Adaptions
The series later expanded to include Super Special, Readers' Request, Mystery, Super Mystery, Portrait Collection and Baby-sitters Club: Friends Forever. Two "spin-off" series were also created, Baby-Sitter's Little Sister, and California Diaries. A spin-off series from the Baby-Sitter's Little Sister series is The Kids in Ms. Colman's Class.
The Baby-Sitter's Club series was so popular, the series was translated into several languages. In the Netherlands and Belgium, the series was known as De Babysittersclub and Le Club des Baby-Sitters, which was released in 1989, and 1990.
BSC Graphic Novels
In 2006, Raina Telgemeier illustrated four graphic novels based on the BSC books Kristy's Great Idea, The Truth About Stacey, Mary Anne Saves the Day, and Claudia and Mean Janine. In 2015-2016, the first four books were republished in color. In 2017-2019, Gale Galligan illustrated the fifth through seventh BSC graphic novels, Dawn and the Impossible Three, Kristy’s Big Day and Boy-Crazy Stacey. The eighth graphic novel Logan Likes Mary Anne! was published in September 2020. Claudia and the New Girl was published in February 2021.
Book Structure
Each book is about fifteen chapters long and has a main plot and subplot. The subplot might be a collection of sitting jobs and problems with clients, or a continuous plot. A member of the BSC will sometimes tell the backstory of the Barrett and Pike family when the first sit for them.
Chapter Two
In Chapter One, there is usually a description of the narrator's family; it's often in Chapter Two. Depending on the book and of Chapters One, Two, or Three (sometimes as late as Chapter Four) will have a breakdown of each member of BSC and how it was founded. Other typical things that are discussed for characters are include:
- Mimi's stroke and her struggle with language (between Claudia and Mean Janine and Claudia and the Sad Good-bye. then followed by her passing)
- Watson and Elizabeth's marriage and the family moving to his mansion (since Kristy's Big Day)
- Dawn's brother Jeff leaving for California (since Little Miss Stoneybrook ...and Dawn)
- Sharon and Richard's backstory of dating in high school and her parents not approving of Richard.
- Their wedding is mentioned in every chapter since Mary Anne and the Great Romance
- Claudia's older sister Janine being a genius
- Jessi being the only black sixth grader and a great dancer
- The large Pike Family
- Stacey moving away between Good-bye Stacey, Good-bye and Welcome Back, Stacey!
- Kristy forming the Krushers after Kristy and the Walking Disaster.
- Abby (and Anna's) Bat Mitzvah after Abby's Lucky Thirteen.
List of Main Series Books
Prequel: The Summer Before
- Kristy's Great Idea
- Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls
- The Truth About Stacey
- Mary Anne Saves the Day
- Dawn and the Impossible Three
- Kristy's Big Day
- Claudia and Mean Janine
- Boy-Crazy Stacey
- The Ghost at Dawn's House
- Logan Likes Mary Anne!
- Kristy and the Snobs
- Claudia and the New Girl
- Good-bye Stacey, Good-bye
- Hello, Mallory
- Little Miss Stoneybrook... and Dawn
- Jessi's Secret Language
- Mary Anne's Bad-Luck Mystery
- Stacey's Mistake
- Claudia and the Bad Joke
- Kristy and the Walking Disaster
- Mallory and the Trouble with Twins
- Jessi Ramsey, Pet-sitter
- Dawn on the Coast
- Kristy and the Mother's Day Surprise
- Mary Anne and the Search for Tigger
- Claudia and the Sad Good-bye
- Jessi and the Superbrat
- Welcome Back, Stacey!
- Mallory and the Mystery Diary
- Mary Anne and the Great Romance
- Dawn's Wicked Stepsister
- Kristy and the Secret of Susan
- Claudia and the Great Search
- Mary Anne and Too Many Boys
- Stacey and the Mystery of Stoneybrook
- Jessi's Baby-sitter
- Dawn and the Older Boy
- Kristy's Mystery Admirer
- Poor Mallory!
- Claudia and the Middle School Mystery
- Mary Anne vs. Logan
- Jessi and the Dance School Phantom
- Stacey's Emergency
- Dawn and the Big Sleepover
- Kristy and the Baby Parade
- Mary Anne Misses Logan
- Mallory on Strike
- Jessi's Wish
- Claudia and the Genius of Elm Street
- Dawn's Big Date
- Stacey's Ex-Best Friend
- Mary Anne + 2 Many Babies
- Kristy for President
- Mallory and the Dream Horse
- Jessi's Gold Medal
- Keep Out, Claudia!
- Dawn Saves the Planet
- Stacey's Choice
- Mallory Hates Boys (and Gym)
- Mary Anne's Makeover
- Jessi and the Awful Secret
- Kristy and the Worst Kid Ever
- Claudia's
FreindFriend - Dawn's Family Feud
- Stacey's Big Crush
- Maid Mary Anne
- Dawn's Big Move
- Jessi and the Bad Baby-sitter
- Get Well Soon, Mallory
- Stacey and the Cheerleaders
- Claudia and the Perfect Boy
- Dawn and the We Love Kids Club
- Mary Anne and Miss Priss
- Kristy and the Copycat
- Jessi's Horrible Prank
- Stacey's Lie
- Dawn and Whitney, Friends Forever
- Claudia and Crazy Peaches
- Mary Anne Breaks the Rules
- Mallory Pike, No. 1 Fan
- Kristy and Mr. Mom
- Jessi and the Troublemaker
- Stacey vs. the BSC
- Dawn and the School Spirit War
- Claudia Kishi, Live From WSTO!
- Mary Anne and Camp BSC
- Stacey and the Bad Girls
- Farewell, Dawn
- Kristy and the Dirty Diapers
- Welcome to the BSC, Abby!
- Claudia and the First Thanksgiving
- Mallory's Christmas Wish
- Mary Anne and the Memory Garden
- Stacey McGill, Super Sitter
- Kristy + Bart = ?
- Abby's Lucky Thirteen
- Claudia and the World's Cutest Baby
- Dawn and Too Many Sitters
- Stacey's Broken Heart
- Kristy's Worst Idea
- Claudia Kishi, Middle School Dropout
- Mary Anne and the Little Princess
- Happy Holidays, Jessi
- Abby's Twin
- Stacey the Math Whiz
- Claudia, Queen of the Seventh Grade
- Mind Your Own Business, Kristy!
- Don't Give Up, Mallory!
- Mary Anne to the Rescue
- Abby the Bad Sport
- Stacey's Secret Friend
- Kristy and the Sister War
- Claudia Makes Up Her Mind
- The Secret Life of Mary Anne Spier
- Jessi's Big Break
- Abby and the Best Kid Ever
- Claudia and the Terrible Truth
- Kristy Thomas, Dog Trainer
- Stacey's Ex-Boyfriend
- Mary Anne and the Playground Fight
- Abby in Wonderland
- Kristy in Charge
- Claudia's Big Party
- Stacey McGill... Matchmaker?
- Mary Anne in the Middle
- The All-New Mallory Pike
- Abby's Un-Valentine
- Claudia and the Little Liar
- Kristy at Bat
- Stacey's Movie
- The Fire at Mary Anne's House
Trivia
- Ann M. Martin only wrote the first 22 novels in the book series herself; The first ghost written novel was Dawn on the Coast, which was written by Jan Carr. The novels afterwards were written by Ann and ghostwriters, until the former permanently took over after Stacey's Choice.
- Dr. Claudia Werner was consulted first in the books related to Stacey's diabetes.
- Outlines and other materials that Ann used to help write the books are available to the public at Smith College called the Ann M. Martin Papers.
- Katherine de Vos Devine posed as Dawn Schafer on the original covers[1] and Suzanne Lucas posed for Mallory from books 59-126.