Baby Sitters Club

One of Netflix's summer hits is the new Baby Sitters Club reboot. Whether you loved the series back in the day or are just discovering it now this blog post is for you! Here is some info on the HUNDREDS of books in the Baby Sitters Club universe and some read alikes for you to enjoy!

You might be happy to know that the BSC loves their local libraries too!

The Baby Sitters Club Original Series by Ann M. Martin
There are a whopping 213 novels that have been published! The first book came out in 1986 and the rest followed until 2000. According to an interview she did with Publisher's Weekly Ann M. Martin estimates that she wrote 60-80 of the novels and the rest were written by ghost writers. The series was hugely popular, inspiring many spin offs, reprints, a movie, and now a TV show.

Here are some of the special series within the Baby Sitters Club universe:

Super Specials  - these are extended versions of the original novels that often have multiple narrators
Mysteries and Super Mysteries - mysterious plots for the club to solve
Portrait Collections - autobiographies of the members
The Baby-Sitters Club: Friends Forever - these focus on the original 4 members as they graduate from Stoneybrook Middle School
The Summer Before - a prequel set the summer before the series began


There are also a few spin offs that have become immensely popular in their own right:

Baby-Sitters Little Sister
There are 122 novels in this spin off that follows Karen Brewer, Kristy Thomas's younger stepsister.

California Diaries
This spin off of 15 novels follows an older Dawn Schafer in California.

Graphic Novels
Raina Telgemeier illustrated 4 graphic novels  in 2006. Another 3 illustrated by Gale Galligan were then released in 2018 and the next book, Logan Likes Mary Anne, is scheduled to come out in July and is currently on order!

Three Baby-Sitters Little Sister Graphic Novels 
There are two books currently published and more in the works.




And if you think you've read all the Baby Sitters Club books you can handle, here are a few read alikes you might enjoy.

Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy: Little Women by Rey Terciero
This graphic novel is a modern retelling of the classic Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. It features another close knit group of young women supporting each other.

The Year of the Dog by Grace Lin (Pacy Lin Series)
When Pacy's mom tells her that this is a good year for friends, family, and "finding herself," Pacy begins searching right away. As the year goes on, she struggles to find her talent, deals with disappointment, makes a new best friend, and discovers just why the Year of the Dog is a lucky one for her after all.

Berrybrook Middle School series by Svetlana Chmakova
A graphic novel series sharing the trials and tribulations of a group of kids at Berrybrook Middle School.

Amina's Voice by Hena Khan
A Pakistani-American Muslim girl struggles to stay true to herself and her family's culture while also struggling to fit in at school. Along the way, she kinds her voice.

Introducing Creative Bug!

We are excited to introduce a new online resource called Creativebug! This site has on-demand access to 1,000+ art and craft classes for artists and makers of all levels. Classes are taught by experts and there are new classes added daily!

Creativebug access is free with your library. You can get started at https://www.creativebug.com/lib/alslib. You'll need your library card and pin number to login and create your account.

Then, you can search through their classes. They have loads of categories like sewing, knitting, cooking and baking, jewelry, etc. You can also search for things for special occasions like holidays or by theme. They have a kids section too!

One of the coolest features is the daily practice series. If you're looking to make creating a habit, this is a great resource! There are daily series on sketching, drawing, painting, card making, journaling and others. We bet you'll be able to find something to inspire you!

Fantasy for Adult Readers

This week our Mixed Bag Book Club is meeting online for the first time! This group meets every other month, but it's not your traditional club where everyone reads the same book. Instead, each month the facilitator, our library director Megan, chooses a theme or genre. Then, all the members read whatever they like in that genre. When the club meets, everyone shares what they have been reading. It's a great way to find out about new books you might enjoy and to try out a new type of book you might not normally choose!

This month, the group is reading fantasy books. Here's are some great titles and series to get you started. If you want to join the virtual book club, contact us at eagerfree@als.lib.wi.us to be added to the Facebook group.

Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin

This trilogy won the Hugo Award for Novel (science fiction/fantasy) three years in a row! She is the only author to have ever won the award in three consecutive years or for all three novels in a trilogy. She has also written many other short stories and novels, so if you like her stuff you'll have a lot to read!

The trilogy starts with The Fifth Season. Here is the book description from the publisher: "This is the way the world ends…for the last time. A season of endings has begun. It starts with the great red rift across the heart of the world’s sole continent, spewing ash that blots out the sun. It starts with death, with a murdered son and a missing daughter. It starts with betrayal, and long-dormant wounds rising up to fester. This is the Stillness, a land long familiar with catastrophe, where the power of the earth is wielded as a weapon. And where there is no mercy."

Discworld series by Terry Pratchett

If you want to get fully immersed in a fantasy world this might be for you. There are 41 novels to read starting with The Color of Magic published in 1983 and ending with The Shepherd's Crown published in 2015. This is a comedic fantasy series that often parodies fantasy clichés and themes. Each novel can stand alone, so it's not necessary to read them in order, though fans will find story arcs that carry through the books.

Pratchett's website states "All the Discworld novels take place on a flat, circular world which sits on the back of four elephants, which stand on the back of a giant star turtle. Although this world may look and sound completely different to our own, the Discworld novels explore a multitude of very human issues."

His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman

The trilogy beings with Northern Lights (as it was published in the UK) or The Golden Compass (as it was published in the US. The trilogy follows the comping of age of two children as they wander through a series of parallel universes full of fantastical creatures like witches and armored polar bears.You'll find this series in the Young Adult section, but don't let that keep you away!

This series has been adapted to the movie The Golden Compass in 2007 and more recently into a TV series. The first season of His Dark Materials of 8 episodes is available on HBO and has been renewed for a second season!


Circe by Madeline Miller

Inspired by Greek mythology, this novel explores the character of Circe. She is the daughter of Helios, the Titan god of the sun and the alluring Perse, a nymph daughter of Oceanos, the god of water. She is best known as a passing character in Homer's Odyssey, but in this novel her story takes center stage. Circe does not fit in the house of Helios, and when she discovers that she possesses the power of witchcraft and her power threatens her father's she is banished. A great stand alone novel for those of you not wanting to start a series.

New Picture Books

We have lots of new picture books just waiting for you to check them out!

You can place a hold on these by clicking the titles below and logging into your SHARE account or by calling EFPL at 608-882-2260.

We wanted to highlight a few new books that we are excited about!

My Friend Earth written by Patricia Mclachlan and illustrated by Francesca Sanna

This beautiful book is an ode to our planet and all of the beautiful natural elements we have around us. The artwork is made with die-cute pages adding to a sense of discovery as you turn each page.

Tomorrow Most Likely words by Dave Eggers and pictures by Lane Smith

"Tomorrow most likely there will be a sky. And chances are it will be blue. Tomorrow mostly likely there will be a squirrel. And chances are his name is Stu." So beings this lovely book. It's sweet and funny and might inspire you to write your own poems about what you will find tomorrow most likely.

The Boring Book by Yoshitake Shinsuke

This funny book was originally written in Japanese and translated to English. A bored child contemplated what it means to be bored and and what is truly boring. It makes for a story that is anything but boring and the small, detailed illustrations have a lot to explore!






There are lots of other great new books for you to check out as well!

Chicken Break! A Counting Book by Cate Berry
One Fox: A Counting Book Thriller by Kate Read
Three Little Kittens and One Hungry Mouse! by Barbara McClintock
Sootypaws: A Cinderella Story by Maggie Rudy
A Stopwatch from Grampa by Loretta Garbutt
Baby Day by Jane Goodwin
A Most Unusual Day by Sydra Mallery
My Brother the Duck by Pat Zietlow Miller
A Space for Me by Cathryn Falwell
The Boy Who Went to Mars by Simon James
The Cool Bean by Jory John
Busy Babies by Amy Schwartz
Don't Worry, Little Crab by Chris Haughton
Thank You, Garden by Elizabeth Garton Scanlon
Bathing in the Forest by Uya Nivola
Goldfish on Vacation by Sally Lloyd-Jones
Felipe and Claudette by Mark Teague
Dandelion's Dream by Yoko Tanaka
The Yawns Are Coming by Christopher Eliopoulos
The Berenstain Bears' Trouble with Money by Stan and Jan Berenstain
Two Little Trains by Margaret Wise Brown
Zero Local Next Stop: Kindness by Ethan Murrow and Vita Murrow
Pete the Cat Big Easter Adventure by Kim Dean
This Beach is Loud! by Samantha Cotterill
How to Read a Book by Kwame Alecander
Pete the Cat's Groovy Guide to Kindness by Kim Dean