Taking Care of Terrific

This book is about a young four year old who is babysat by fourteen year old Enid. Enid takes this underprivledged youngster out on adventure after adventure, from a popcicle stand adventure to a boating experience. This book is great, but it also teaches you what not to do when you are babysitting a young child from a strict family. You'll love this book because it is a very touching story.

If only Taking Care of Terrific would come back in print! It was one of my favorite books when I was about 12. I could relate to Enid's dislike for her name and her love of baby-sitting, and drawing. I received it as a gift at 9, but couldn't get into it. I wasn't allowed to babysit and didn't understand a lot of the vocabulary. I also was confused as to why a 14 year old girl would be so disobedient to her folks and her employer. Her parent's obvious disinterest in her was disturbing to me. However, it was nice to see her parents seemed to pay more attention to her at the end. I think a kid should be atleast 11 before reading this book. About once a year I still read this book. I still want to go to Boston and ride the swan boats because of this book's incredible discription of it. The subject of homelessness is compassionately dealt with. Enid just wants to recieve and give love. Her parents and her friends's competitive, snooty parents were blind to that. Kids need love and acceptance more than rules and regulations.

The book I read was Taking Care of Terrific and the Author is Lois Lowry. This book is a wonderful book to read. It all starts out with a 14 year old girl named Enid. Enid is a wonderful girl who has a mother, father and a housekeeper, Mrs. Kolodny. Mrs. Kolodny gave Enid a message about babysitting for the Cameron's family. Enid went to the Cameron Family and the boy she had to look after was Joshua but his nickname is Tom Terrific. So Enid and Tom Terrific go to the Public Garden together and when they get their they meet a guy named Hawk. Hawk plays the saxophone. Also in the Public Garden are bag ladies. These bag ladies are homeless people who have no where to go. Enid asked Hawk why the bag ladies were so sad. They then started a discussion about why the bag ladies are upset and Hawk said probably because they had no root beer popsicles. So right then Enid had an idea to go on strike for rootbeer popsicles and that is what at Enid and Tom sit in the Public garden and draw pictures together of trees. Also Enid broke most of the rules that Joshua's mom made for him to follow. Enid also taught Joshua how to make prank phone calls. The next time Enid babysat she took Tom Terrific to the Public Park, Hawk was there too. They wondered if the bag ladies would like to ride on the swan boats that floated in the lake in the middle of the Public Garden. Hawk asked all the bag ladies if they would like to have a ride on the swan boats and they all said yes. My friend Seth Sandroff helped us with it. We drew out our plan and got all the bag ladies loaded up into swan boats and gave them a ride. They showed the homeless all a great time. I liked this book because it was entertaining. I liked the fact that Enid was interested in making people happy and having them experience new things. I liked that she took a chance of getting into trouble to make a little boys life brighter and more exciting. I would recommend this book to anyone.

At age 24, I often find myself thinking back about the books I read and loved as a child. I could never remember the title of one of my favorites, a story of a babysitter who took her charge to the Boston Common and eventually hijacked the swan boats in the park lagoon. After at least two years of asking my peers if they remembered that book (most of them did not) I decided to hunt it down with the only keyword I remembered from the title -- Terrific -- and to my delight I found it! That the book has kept with me this long proves what a great read it really is. A must for city children, but also for midwestern kids like myself looking for a window to an entirely different world.

This book is the story of a girl named Enid, who is just like a regualr kid the way kids actually are, and not the way that they are usually portrayed by adults. She and her babysitting charge (he wants ot be called Terrific) go everyday to the park and meet and befriend a variety of real life people. The characters, setting, and situation are just like real life, but not so ordinary that it gets boring. Many ages would like this book, but I think the reader will appreciate it more if they are older (around 9 or 10) and have a larger view and better understanding of the way life is for different kinds of people.