Kidsmomo

A snobby mermaid, a kooky hotel, breakfast with Mickey Mouse, and special reading goggles — you’ll find them all in our latest podcast, all about beach reads! Plus, Nancy and Karen psychoanalyze each other, according to the world of the Baby-Sitters Club. C’mon, you don’t want to miss that!

  (11:38) 
Download the MP3 (5.6 MB)
• A surprise guest at the pool party (and Nancy goes all gaga over a cute guy) — aka our mystery book revealed
• Our beach read recs (The Pink Motel, BSC prequel The Summer Before)
• A sunny review by YOU (Sand Dollar Summer)

Also, don’t forget: our new theme is globe-trotting adventures! So send us a review of your favorite book about thrilling foreign travel (or an epic journey between countries) and check out our picks for globe-trotting adventures.

— Karen and Nancy

The upcoming BSC prequel -- out in April 2010!

Recently, it was announced that a new Baby-Sitters Club prequel is in the works. My response: throw hands up in the air, do a little happy dance, get kind of dizzy, sit down.

I do happen to work at Scholastic, which is the company that publishes the BSC books. But my joy at this news has nothing to do with that. I’m not involved in the editing or publishing of the books at all. But I kind of wish I were, because as a kid, I was absolutely devoted to Ann M. Martin’s series about a group of middle school friends who start their own baby-sitting business. I’d order a new installment every month through those book club fliers that come to your school. And when we stopped getting those fliers, I systematically went through every BSC book in my local library — and my best friend’s collection.

My BFF and I weren’t the only two girls who enjoyed escaping into the series. As you can see from her zombiefication of the books, Nancy was also a huge fan. Basically every female who’s around our age (which is to say, ancient) has fond memories of the BSC books.

The old version of BSC Book #1. Like, really old. Like, from when Nancy and I were kids. Seriously.

And I know they’re still somewhat popular today, although Scholastic stopped printing new copies a long time ago. That’s why in addition to the new prequel, Scholastic will also be reissuing the first five books in the series — so that they’re more easily accessible again.

At the same time, they’re also making some small changes to update the setting from the 1980s to today, like saying “headphones” instead of “cassette player” and “expensive hairstyle” instead of “perm.” Do you guys even know what a cassette player is? That actually brings up an interesting question — well, interesting to me anyway, and I’m the one writing this, so too bad for you:

As the target audience for the reissued books, how do you feel about these kinds of changes? Do you think they’re necessary? Is it harder for you to get into a book if it seems like the technology and fashions are outdated? Or does it not matter to your enjoyment of the story? Leave me a comment with your take on this issue. I’m really curious to hear your opinion!

And if you’re already a fan of the series, leave a comment telling me your favorite baby-sitter and/or your favorite book. (In case you were wondering, mine are Stacey and Book #13: Good-bye Stacey, Goodbye.)

And, of course, keep an eye out for the BSC prequel and the first two reissued books in April!

— Karen

NOTE: Nancy and I both work at Scholastic, but all the information for this blog post came from a recent New York Times article. Well, and from my childhood recollections — obviously not as reputable of a source as The Times…

Think of your favorite book character. Got it? Good. (Hm, I suspect many of those characters bear a striking resemblance to Daniel Radcliffe…)

Now, imagine that character with rotting flesh, flies buzzing all about, a blank stare, a little drool, and a penchant for eating human brains!

That’s right — you’ve zombie-fied that book character! Just like Greg from Diary of a Wimpy Kid has been zombie-fied in a new graphic novel, Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid.

Cover and interior page from "Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid," as reported by Publisher's Weekly

Jane Austen’s classic, Pride and Prejudice, was also recently zombie-fied into Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Can you imagine if your favorite book or series had zombies in the plot? Here is a Zombie Refresher Course:

• They’re reanimated corpses of the dead.
• They probably don’t remember who they once were.
• If they’re injured, they feel no pain.
• They crave human flesh… especially braaaaaiiinnnnnsssss.
• They usually travel in packs, typically moaning, “Braaaaaiiinnnnnsssss…”

Between Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, I was inspired me to zombie-fy The Baby-sitters Club series. Here’s a twist on some of the originals:

1. Kristy’s Great Idea: A club is formed by four friends — to kick butt and battle the zombie apocalypse (while thinking of fun activities to preoccupy the kids they’re watching).
2. Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls: Claudia is spooked by incessant prank calls… the only sounds heard on the line are heavy breathing and the creepy repeated whisper of, “Braaaaaiiinnnnnsssss…”
3. The Truth About Stacey: Stacey, one of the fabulous, zombie-slaying four in the Baby-sitters Club, is harboring a dark secret… Could she be a zombie herself?
4. Mary Anne Saves the Day: Despite being the quiet, shy one, Mary Anne steps up to the plate and saves everyone from the zombies… no one messes with Mary Anne “Pigtails” Spier!
5. Dawn and the Impossible Three: Despite the seemingly positive win over the zombies in Mary Anne Saves the Day, Dawn realizes that she must face the greatest threat of all — the three zombies who seem impossible to kill.

Leave a comment with your idea for a zombie twist to your favorite book!

— Nancy

PS: One more time! “Braaaaaiiinnnnnsssss…”