{My thoughts} – I may be one of few people from my generation that has never actually read the original books by Ann M. Martin. I did how however watch a few episodes of the television adaptation years ago when it was airing. I don’t even recall if it was on for more then a season or not but that would have been back in the 1990’s. That was the first time I’d ever really been introduced to The Baby-Sitters Club.

Kristy’s Great Idea is about a girl that comes up with a business opportunity for her and her close friends. The idea is that they create a club of baby-sitters so that when people in the neighborhood need a sitter they can call them. There ends up being for girls in the club and they all work around each other’s schedules to help make sure that everyone that needs a baby-sitter gets a baby-sitter.

This book also goes over some challenging issues that youth faces. The biggest being responsibility. Baby-sitting is a huge responsibility and sometimes you can end up in over your head. It discusses topics such as divorce, lying, diabetes, single parents, loss of a parent, parents getting remarried and more. I think all of the things discussed in this book are important issues that need to be addressed even today in our modern society.

I really like how the text and the illustrations go together so nicely in this book. The illustrations help the reader to better understand the book and what is going on. It’s an east to follow storyline and I am sure that even the most reluctant reader will be able to enjoy this book. ( )

For some reason, I actually think a little bit is lost in the graphic novel, but that could just be me; I read the BSC series growing up and was super into it! The graphic novel is definitely a faithful to the original story, and is a fun read, but for me personally the charm will always be in the novels. :) Also, Telgemeier's backgrounds in here are incredibly bland? It just wasn't very enjoyable to look at as it could have been. ( )

Telgemeier's illustrations breath fresh life into Martin's beloved series, and I greatly appreciate that it was not modernized. ( )

3.5 Stars. This did a solid job establishing each girl in the club with their distinct personalities and personal dramas while keeping the focus mainly on Kristy and her adjustment to the guy in her mom’s life.

The emotions maybe could have had a bit more nuance and situations resolved a little more easily than they would in life, but it’s a quick enjoyable read, the illustrations have a nice bright bold feel, and it’s good to see fiction portray potential step-family in a positive light instead of awful, Watson and his kids are such likable characters. ( )

I find the choice to update this as a graphic novel but not actually UpDate it very odd. ( )