Amelia's Guide to Babysitting

My daughter adores the Amelia books written my Marissa Moss. With amusing colorful pictures, the stories and humorous side notes and drawings, Amelia's Guide to Babysitting provides tweens and teens a sometimes honest, a sometimes hilarious insight to babysitting. I found the section on "Types of Babies" and "Types of Toddlers" to be amusingly accurate!

I bought this book for my daughter. She's read all of the Amelia series, so she was excited to read this one. My daughter is about Amelia's age, so the books in this series are relevant. In addition, the "diary" format is fun to read, as the text looks like writing, and there are doodles, pictures, and sketches thrown in as well. My daughter loved it as much as the others, especially as she is so interested to begin babysitting! Great series for the pre-teen set.

Amelia's Guide to Babysitting (Amelia) This book is perfectly suited for any pre-teen, especially current or soon-to-be babysitters. My daughter is just entering 6th grade and she loved this book. Of course, I typically review a product on my own. However, due to the target audience of this book (youngsters) I felt my daughter's observations would help others decide whether they might like the book. The author has filled the book with Amelia's recount of her babysitting experiences, peppered throughout with tips the young reader might find humorous. Some of the tips appear on small charts, such as never taking a job babysitting for a "screamer". The book is approximately 80 pages, in fairly small writing. It is formatted as though Amelia is writing a journal in a notebook, and the font simulates hand printed words. What makes this book unique is the author's approach in using small multiple choice quizzes in the book to help the reader learn about babysitting and whether it is right for them. The quizzes are just multiple choice questions with four answers. The answer the reader picks most frequently helps to determine how suitable they are for babysitting. My daughter found the book delightful, funny, and some of the tips helpful, such as diplomatically telling a parent you would not be able to baby-sit their child again. She said she would read this book again and recommend it to friends. As a parent, I thought the book was well designed and amusing to read. The book is not too short or too long and includes enough variation and illustration to keep it interesting. My daughter particularly enjoyed the cute cartoons on almost every page. It is also the type of book a parent could read together with their child, using it to initiate thought-provoking conversation to help them decide if babysitting is a good choice for them. I have never read any of the other Amelia books, but if they are in the same format as this one I would try them for my kids.

It somewhat pains me to give this book 5 stars. I must do so, since my child has read this book 5 times through since it came last week, so obviously it has enormous appeal for the target age group. When I asked the reason for the appeal, I heard, " I just love all the Amelia books, with the quizzes and the charts, and this one had a funny ending." Having read the book, though, I am not overly impressed. There is very little plot, little character development, and it wasn't even very funny. She spends the entire book worrying about babysitting and characterizing different kinds of children and babysitters. Yawn. When she finally gets a job that presents some challenges it's a welcome relief from her pointless fretting and a delight to finally have something happen. It's also a signal that the book is about to end, which was, for me, also a relief. This book is listed as for 10-13 year olds, but I think it very likely that elementary-school-aged children will read this one. Not only is the design appealing to younger children, but it is a continuation of a series that begins with an elementary-aged Amelia. Given the possible younger readership, I would caution parents about two passages in this book. In one, a girl describes her embarrassment when the parents came home while she was with a boyfriend, and there is a drawing of a girl and boy kissing. In another, there is a mention of thong underwear. These may not be topics all parents feel comfortable having their eight-year-olds read about. I'd give this two stars. My child gives it five, though, so I'll defer to the judgment of the targeted age group.

Amelia, our favorite middle school student, explores babysitting. She gives a lot of practical advice and information. She also shares some stories of babysitting experiences. Amelia and her friend Carly decide to give babysitting a try. They find that babysitting is harder than it looks. Then they remember what they used to do with their own babysitters! This book would be good to buy for anyone considering babysitting. Teens and pre-teens will love the eye catching format. It has cute illustrations in a notebook like format. Like the other Amelia books, you will love this true life experience in the world of babysitting. Teachers and Media Specialists, this book is a must for your classroom or school library. Students in grades 4-8 won't be able to put it down.