Baby-sitters on Board!: A Graphic Novel

The Baby-sitters Club Super Special Graphic Novels #1

by Raina Telgemeier (Adapter), Ann M. Martin, Gale Galligan (Illustrator)

New York Times bestselling authors Raina Telgemeier and Gale Galligan team up and return to The Baby-sitters Club -- both Raina and Gale adapt and illustrate this super special graphic novel!

Kristy, Claudia, Mary Anne, Stacey, Dawn, Mallory, and Jessi are the luckiest baby-sitters in the world. This summer, they're going on what is sure to be the best vacation ever: a plane ride to Florida, a cruise to the Bahamas on an extravagant ship, and then back to Florida for three days of fun at a huge amusement park!

The BSC has a million adventures, of course. And they still have time for what they like best of all -- baby-sitting!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Fiction, Childrens, Graphic Novels Comics, Friendship, Contemporary

320 pages, Paperback

First published September 15, 2026

Reviews

[Ms. Yingling]

Okay. I have to admit it. Not a fan of the Baby-Sitters Club books. Now, now. I know there are a lot of people who LOVE these books. They're not bad. They just came out when I was in college, and I feel about them the same way I feel about the Smurfs, Cabbage Patch Kids, and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. It's for kids, so therefore it's bad.

As for the graphic novels, I'm biased against adaptations of original works. I bought the first three BSC novels, and they get checked out occasionally. My students LOVE the graphic novels, but I... just don't. They feel forty years old in some very important ways. There is some updating that would help..

I'm also too old to fully appreciate a Super Special Edition. I'm always confused about where in the series the Hunter's Warriors super specials should be read. I vaguely recall my own children getting enthused about Applegate's Animorphs ones.

But here we go. All the love in the world to Ann M. Martin and all of the 45 year old fans of this series. Don't mean to yuck your yum. I'm just old enough that I still think Louisa May Alcott ROCKS.

September 15, 2026 by Graphix
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

After Mallory's father wins a four day cruise and three days at Wander World, a whole bunch of the Baby-Sitters Club girls and their siblings get to go. Mary Ann and Stacy are supposed to be babysitting the younger children. Dawn, Kristy and Claudia are sharing a room, and having a battle over neat vs. messy. Mallory and Jessi, inspired by Harriet the Spy, wander around taking notes on other people on the cruise. Claudia has a secret admirer, Stacey meets a young boy, Marc, who is in a wheelchair because of a heart problem, and Dawn meets Parker and starts a sweet romance. Mary Ann meets Alex, a glamorous orphan who may or may not be telling the truth. Some of the younger brothers find a treasure map and are determined to follow it. The girls have BSC meetings, and their primary focus is to find a thank you gift for the parents for being nice enough to take them on the trip. This is a fairly long graphic novel (320 pages!) so there is a lot going on!

I can only imagine that the original book was inspired by The Love Boat, which went off the air in 1986. That show is definitely the reason I would love to go on a cruise one day. I was a little confused as to when this book was set; the girls all seem to have cameras from about 1995, but one of the characters has parents who are celebrity podcasters. The romances are a bit better that Boy-Crazy Stacy. Fans of the series are probably glad of these brief glimpses of their favorite characters having an adventure. It was nice that the girls wanted to make a thank you present.

There are at least twenty of these graphic novel adaptations, but I stopped buying them after Boy-Crazy Stacy. I haven't bought any of the Little Sister books. Karen is amusing, but in a rather disturbing way. In this book, she has quite the plan to use "charge it to the room".

[Ellie O]

It was a great book. I also liked that instead of it being one person as the narrator through the whole book it changed per chapter, unlike the other babysitters club books. The epilogue made me feel so happy. I’m Ellie and I’m 9.

[Melanie Dulaney]

Ann M Martin gave readers the very first Babysitter’s Club (BSC) book in 1986 and by the time the original series, written in prose, was finished, there were 131 installments and plenty of spin off titles. Then in 2006, Raina Telgemeier adapted that first title, Kristy’s Great Idea, into graphic novel format and a whole new generation of readers discovered this group of girls who helped each other deal with all manner of situations that come up when babysitting. Many of those have gone back to find the titles in prose form and readers of the original BSC have read the new format with a great sense of nostalgia.

This first Super Special Edition BSC puts all seven girls on a fabulous cruise and theme park and each one has a different adventure amid the fun and babysitting-a secret admirer, helping a older widowed man smile again, befriending a young boy about to have a serious surgery, showing a crush that his new step family could be a good thing, finding (and forgiving) a new friend, and more. There is friendship drama, some romance, and a variety of childcare scenarios.

The changing perspectives and intertwining storylines of the girls did get a little convoluted at times, but with the chapter headings clearing noting which girl was telling her story and the illustrated chart of all seven kept things pretty straight in my mind. Likely that readers who are already familiar with each babysitter’s appearance and personality won’t have any trouble keeping the threads straight.

This is definitely a first choice purchase for library graphic novel sections.

Age range: grade 4-6
Profanity: none
Violence: none
Sexual content: none (Some handholding and two kisses, one on the cheek and the other on closed lips)
Representation: Jessi is Black and the other babysitters are White; Marc and his family are Black; random shipboard and amusement park guests are diverse; wide variety of family configurations including divorced with step-children, widowed, one to seven child homes;
LBGTQ+: none

Note: Year of this updated Babysitter’s Club special edition is unclear. Smart phones were not regularly used until 2000-2010ish but Alex is clearly using one to input MaryAnne’s contact info while picture taking was all being done with cameras and photos were not easily shared/printed or sent to a photo album-making business. Also, Stacey is a diabetic who uses insulin shots and pricks her finger to test her blood sugar rather than using an insulin pump or continuous glucose monitoring. By the time frame of smartphones, it is the rare young diabetic who isn’t using at least one of those advances in the disease. That puts the time period of the book more in the 80s-90s, more in line with the time period of the original series.

Thanks for a print arc, Scholastic!

[Kali Cordes]

I really enjoyed this graphic novel! It's one of the longest graphic novels I've read, but I think it was well-done and necessary in order to fully cover each sub-plot. Graphic novel adaptions often feel like they are too simplified compared to the original book, but this one didn't feel that way. To be honest, I don't remember reading the original series when I was growing up even though I know they were very popular at the time. This graphic novel version didn't feel outdated though so I think it is a great way to get this generation interested in the series. I loved that each chapter was from a different character's perspective and their adventures were interwoven together. This was very engaging and I found myself invested in all of the adventures and mysteriousness happening. I also really appreciated the representation in this book, especially Marc with his wheelchair and heart problem, and Stacey with her diabetes. This book has definitely gotten me interested in reading the rest of the series!

[Meredith Ann]

ARC courtesy of Edelweiss.

The original was always my favorite BSC Super Special - the BSC and a trip to Florida, perfect combo of my younger self's interests. (I still think about Karen and the HM ghost following her home!) This graphic novel adaptation does the original book justice and fans of all ages will enjoy it. It's not a one-to-one adaptation but still captures the fun, mystery, and heart of the original book. Telgemeier and Galligan's styles go together wonderfully. Can't wait to buy a copy when it comes out later this year. :)

[Katie Reilley]

Review based on ARC from publisher at ALA.

Fans of BSC are going to love this super special storyline!
They’re headed on a cruise to the Bahamas and then to Florida for 3 days at an enormous amusement park. The trip involves, of course, babysitting, but also arguments between Dawn and Kristi over a neat vs. messy room, a secret admirer for Claudia, Mallory and Jessi spying on other cruise members, a treasure map, a sweet romance for Dawn, and a new friend who doesn’t seem to be telling the truth for Mary Ann.

Releases September 15th, and I’m excited to see the final art in color!

[Marissa]

I was very excited as other adults were when we heard the news of this book at a "Meet the author" with Raina in the spring. O went out and bought this the day it came out. Fun read, I've enjoyed all of the BSC GNs. I love both of the artists art and writing in these adaptations so it was fun to see them combine! I liked that each chapter was from a different character's point of view. It's always fun to grow our BSC and Raina Telgemeier book collection as her books are read and reread by all of my kids a great deal!

[Sydney Clarke]

I missed Raina as a BSC illustrator so badly!!!! Gale Galligan and all the rest of the other BSC illustrators are okay but Raina will always be my favourite and seeing all of the babysitters in her style again was so amazing and wonderful. I really need another graphic novel from her soon!!!!!! Anyways, this wasn’t as good as the first couple of novels (the ones illustrated by Raina 🫡) but I enjoyed it so much!!!!! I love Raina so much and I’ve always loved her!!!!! And I caught the Raina & Gale cameo right away!!! 😼

[Gabrielle S]

I don’t mind the changes they made about when Mallory becomes a club member because the girls are so mean to her in Hello Mallory but that put them in a weird situation in this book because Mallory is a babysitter in the graphic novels but not in the original text. Which also means Jessi wasn’t in this book originally so they have one shared, flimsy plot.

[Tracie]

A quick read and solid addition to the series, drawn by the powerhouse team of Telgemeier and Galligan. At ALAAC2026, they noted that their favorite part of adapting this text was designing the theme park.

[LivLovesBooks77]

Best Babysitters Club book on the market! The different were truly the best part of this story! I love how each girl had an individual problem. I think my favorite perspective was either Karen’s or Dawn’s. I am literally begging you to release more Super Specials!!!!🥺🙏📚❤️

[Shireen Hakim]

I took this exact same trip (to Disney World) in the 90's. My dad even won the trip.

Thank you Scholastic for the advanced physical copy.

[Bookmouse 🐁 📚]

Such a fun story! And the artwork is beautiful! 🥰

[Laila]

I LOVE THESE BOOKS I LOVE THESE CHARACTERS I LOVE THIS STORY AND I LOVE THE ART

[Laura]

Cute. This was a fun vacation with lots of new friends and even a bit of mystery.

[Lola]

I hope that in every life I will always be a girl with her babysitters club heart.

[Stacey]

Very cute - like all the previous BSC graphics. I remember reading the original book as a kid!

[Nikki Boisture]

Easily the best of the BSC graphic novel adaptations.

[Megan]

4.5 stars. I’m glad we finally got a Super Special graphic novel and 2 of the best BSC illustrators working on it!

[Tam I]

This was not only favorite BSC book, but one of my favorite books overall as a kid. The graphic version did not disappoint.