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Baby-Sitters Little Sister #3
Karen's Worst Day
Karen's bad day begins when she falls out of bed and ends with her in tears so she is only mildly surprised to find she holds a family record for bad things happening in one day
100 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
64 people are currently reading
426 people want to read
About the author
Ann M. Martin
1,112 books3,056 followersAnn Matthews Martin was born on August 12, 1955. She grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, with her parents and her younger sister, Jane. After graduating from Smith College, Ann became a teacher and then an editor of children's books. She's now a full-time writer.
Ann gets the ideas for her books from many different places. Some are based on personal experiences, while others are based on childhood memories and feelings. Many are written about contemporary problems or events. All of Ann's characters, even the members of the Baby-sitters Club, are made up. But many of her characters are based on real people. Sometimes Ann names her characters after people she knows, and other times she simply chooses names that she likes.
Ann has always enjoyed writing. Even before she was old enough to write, she would dictate stories to her mother to write down for her. Some of her favorite authors at that time were Lewis Carroll, P. L. Travers, Hugh Lofting, Astrid Lindgren, and Roald Dahl. They inspired her to become a writer herself.
Since ending the BSC series in 2000, Ann’s writing has concentrated on single novels, many of which are set in the 1960s.
After living in New York City for many years, Ann moved to the Hudson Valley in upstate New York where she now lives with her dog, Sadie, and her cats, Gussie, Willy and Woody. Her hobbies are reading, sewing, and needlework. Her favorite thing to do is to make clothes for children.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/annmma...
Ann gets the ideas for her books from many different places. Some are based on personal experiences, while others are based on childhood memories and feelings. Many are written about contemporary problems or events. All of Ann's characters, even the members of the Baby-sitters Club, are made up. But many of her characters are based on real people. Sometimes Ann names her characters after people she knows, and other times she simply chooses names that she likes.
Ann has always enjoyed writing. Even before she was old enough to write, she would dictate stories to her mother to write down for her. Some of her favorite authors at that time were Lewis Carroll, P. L. Travers, Hugh Lofting, Astrid Lindgren, and Roald Dahl. They inspired her to become a writer herself.
Since ending the BSC series in 2000, Ann’s writing has concentrated on single novels, many of which are set in the 1960s.
After living in New York City for many years, Ann moved to the Hudson Valley in upstate New York where she now lives with her dog, Sadie, and her cats, Gussie, Willy and Woody. Her hobbies are reading, sewing, and needlework. Her favorite thing to do is to make clothes for children.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/annmma...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
April 15, 2013
It's odd that this is the worst day, and not the one where she, y'know, BROKE HER ARM.
April 29, 2009
The BSC version of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. I think they may have even referenced it? I quite enjoyed this one. It's always fun when things go wrong! (Especially when they go wrong for Karen.)
April 15, 2022
My husband asks…what actually happens in this book?? The answer is a lot of nothing. But this is also why these are such delightful books…because it’s truly from the perspective of a young girl. The only thing I kind of have to watch out for is we are still avoiding certain words at home so I usually quickly skip over or use an alternative word while reading out loud.
October 31, 2024
I read this in french
September 5, 2025
Karen is kind of spoiled but the rest of the family is so nice that they just roll with it. I did like the final bit with her big brothers; that was sweet. I wish she would work harder at appreciating the happiness of others.
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November 30, 2024Karen’s Worse Day
Since the last book (Karen’s Roller Skates) where she broke her wrist roller skating and now has to wear a cast for 8 weeks, Karen’s being having little bits of bad luck. She lost Moozie for a while. Then she dropped her tray in front of everyone in the lunch room. She also gave Andew an “interesting” hair cut (and probably got in trouble for it). Then there was the Saturday at “the big house.”
Karen can’t sleep and calls for Watson. She tells him she can’t sleep and she sees the witch and she thinks she’s up to something. He tells her to stop spying. He tells her to think pleasant thoughts and she’ll have pleasant dreams. She does fall asleep but she keeps waking up. She thinks of skating and has a dream she’s skating up a hill. She sees a talking rabbit that says he’ll help her get to the top of a steep hill. She turns to thank him but he’s gone. She sees a cliff and thinks she’ll just turn around but then she starts to fall. She falls out of her bed and Kristy is there. It’s morning.
Karen then tells Kristy about her dream. Karen apologizes if she’s woken her up, but Kristy says she was just in bed reading and even if she had it’s ok. Everyone has bad dreams. Kristy says since it’s a gorgeous day it might have started off bad, but it’s sure to get better. Kristy says she’ll help Karen get dressed. Karen wants to wear her new jeans that have zippes up the sides but she’s left them at her mom’s house. So, Kristy tells her to put on her pink sweat shirt, regular jeans, and white tennis shoes and she’ll have a surprise for her. Kristy comes back in the same outfit. Karen says “Neat” but still wishes she’d brought the other jeans.
Karen wants Crunch O cereal, but Andrew’s finished the box and got the prize (tatoo’s). Luckily, Elizabeth’s got another box waiting. She lets Karen look for the prize, but when she opens the package it’s empty. The company’s forgotten to put one in. Andrew says she can share with him. Still, Karen’s day is off to a half-bad start.
Karen wants to watch Mr. Ed but before she can turn it on, Andrew turns on his cartoons. They get into an argument and are interrupted by Watson. Again, Watson is a BILLIONAIRE! He can probably afford televisions for ALL there rooms. Watson says Karen can watch Mister Ed and then Andrew will be able to watch his show. By the time she turns on Mister Ed, there’s a program on and the show won’t be coming on. It’ll return the next day.
Karen goes outside she sees some birds and squirrels and thinks she wants to be around he pets. So, she goes to find Shannon and Boo-Boo. Shannon is sleeping but Karen wakes up and makes her chase her. Then they play fetch. Karen throws sticks for Shannon to fetch (and balls) but she throws one and Shannon can’t find it. So, she looks for it and Karen grows bored. Then David Micheal comes out and calls to her and Shannon forgets about Karen. So, she has to go get Boo-Boo (who does not want to play). Boo-Boo sees Morbidia freaks out and runs up a tree. Karen calls for him, but he doesn’t even look at her. So, she puts some of his favorite cat food in a dish.
Boo-Boo doesn’t even look at it. Karen starts to climb the tree, and he moves away. Then Watson sees Karen and tells her to get down. When she does, Boo-Boo starts to make his way down. Boo-Boo jumps down just as Morbidda says “Fiddle Sticks” and starts waving her rake around. Karen thinks it’s a spell and Boo-Boo speeds into the house. David Micheal wants to go see Linny and Karen says she’s going to see Hannah but David Micheal says no she’s not. They get into it. Luckily tho, Hannie and Linny come over. They want to invite them on a bike ride. They’ve brought food to have a picnic.
Karen glares at Hannie and tells her she knows she can’t go bike riding and she can’t go wading in brooks. She calls Hannie a toad. They argue back and forth. David Micheal and Linny go ahead. Hanny tells her she’s glad she can’t go and that they don’t want her. Then she leaves. Karen finds Kristy whose making brownies for the BSC. Kristy offers to play with Karen and they decide to play checkers. The game starts off good for Karen. Karen tells her not to take it easy on her. Kristy wins the game which makes Karen irritated. Kristy asks if she wants to play again. Kristy plays badly and Karen notices what she’s doing-and gets mad-. Kristy apologizes but Karen runs out her room.
She looks for Shannon, but she’s sleep. She decides to play with Moozie and Tickly. She tells them about her bad day start to finish. Then she notices Moozie has a rip and his stuffing is coming out. She tells Elizabeth he’s dying. Elizaeth says she’ll operate on him. Then she starts to sew him up. Elizabeth recognizes Karen is having a bad day and tells her about her worse day. In one day she flunked a test, the gym teacher yelled at me, she burned the chicken she was cooking for dinner, she cut her hand, and she had a fight with one of her sisters. Then she lost her favorite earring. She tells her about Alexander and the No-Good Horrible Terrible Day. Then she reads her the book.
After the book, she says she feels much better. Alexander’s day was worse. Elizabeth suggests she start the whole day over. Karen pretends to be sleep and Elizabeth wakes her up. She says she knows she’ll have a good day. The mail truck is coming. None of othe mail is for Karen. Andrew gets a package tho. It’s from his godparents. They’re the movies “The Secret of Nimh” and “Lady and the Tramp.” Andrew says they can watch the tapes but Karen says no. She doesn’t want to watch the movie with an egg head and a baldy. (Andew has just gotten a hair cut and the barber cut too much). Watson sends her up to her room and tells her just because she’s having a bad day she can’t take it out on everyone else.
Karen makes sad faces in her mirror and starts to think of how everyone hates her. Then she starts to sing the worm song. Then she makes Moozie mimick Andrew. She reenacts how the fight should have gone. Then she starts to sing the worm song again. Watson tells her (her) punishment is over. The good thing is she’s just in time for Mr. Tasty. Kristy and Andrew come out. David Micheal, Linny, and Hannie come back from their picnic. Then Amanda and Max join them. Hannie and Karen smile at each other.
Karen decides on a cherry Italian ice but when she gets to the front he’s run out of cherry. Karen runs inside and cries. When her family calls her down for dinner, she says she’s not hungry. They tell her to come down anyway. On her plate are her favorite foods (hamburger, baked potatoe). Sam, Kristy, and Charlie each tell Karen about their worse bad days. Then they start counting all the bad things that happen on their worse days. Karen wins with 14 total. Karen says that’s the first *good* thing. She set a bad day record. Karen says ice cream would be good but they don’t have any.
So, Sam and Charlie invite her to come to the sweet shop as their date. Karen gets a chocolate soda and Sam and Charlie get hot fudge sundaes. Some friends of Charlie and Sam’s stop by the table to talk. Nothing goes wrong at the ice cream shop. This is the second good thing that happened to Karen that day. That night Karen, Andrew, and David Micheal set a new foam record when they brush their teeth. This is the third thing. Karen says apologizes to Andrew, Kristy, and Hannie before she goes to bed. She reads the story of Alexander to Andrew to get him to understand how she feels. He says ok and she can still have half his tattoo’s.
She then calls Hannie and tells her about Charlie’s friend thinking she was his girlfriend and thinking she was 26. Hannie thinks that is very cool. She thanks Elizabeth for the story and fixing Moozie. She tells Kristy she’s sorry. She was just trying to be nice, but she was having too bad a day to appreciate it. Instead of reading “The Littleest Witch” Karen lets Kristy read another book and Kristy chooses “Charlotte’s Web”. When she finishes the story she says she’s sure tomorrow will be a good day. Karen says then that’s the fourth good things that happened that day.
My Thoughts:
I’m actually kind of jealous! The Brwers and Thompson’s were so supportive and encouraging to Karen. There was a couple of times when they weren’t (David Micheal could have not taken Shannon away and Andrew could have just let her watch Mister Ed-also Watson has GOT to be hands down the cheapest billionaire I’ve ever read about. One television?), but overall, THIS is the kind of family I want when I’m having a bad day. Now I’m not saying they *all* do this but if I have a day (or things frustrate me) do you know what my family would say? Either it would be, “Well you can’t do anything about that so you might as well get over it.” Or “Do you think you’re the only one that’s going through something?.” Or “Are you gonna let someone else stop your day from being good?” Or “Why are you worried about that?” They believe in TOUGH love. There would be no story about someone who had a bad day. There would be no relating stories of their own. And there *definitely* wouldn’t be a trip to the ice cream store. But if I had a daughter Elizabeth in this story is the perfect example of the caring, loving, mother I’d want to be. And I was trying as I read this to think of my worse day. Mine usually mostly revolve around living in a neighborhood I can’t stand because my neighbors love to do yardwork year-round. Then there are dogs barking and kids screaming to the top of my lungs for no reason. I could really relate to the part of the story where Mr. Tasty didn’t have what Karen wanted and she just broke down. One day, I couldn’t find the cord to charge my headphones and I broke down. Sometimes it just takes the smallest thing. I also remember a time when one night nothing I wanted to eat was available. No matter what fast food place or store I went too. Some days I just felt like Sleprock (from the Pebbles and Bam Bam show). The character that always had a black cloud haning over his head. But I will say that all my bad days combined didn’t equal what Karen went through. 14 things is A LOT!
Since the last book (Karen’s Roller Skates) where she broke her wrist roller skating and now has to wear a cast for 8 weeks, Karen’s being having little bits of bad luck. She lost Moozie for a while. Then she dropped her tray in front of everyone in the lunch room. She also gave Andew an “interesting” hair cut (and probably got in trouble for it). Then there was the Saturday at “the big house.”
Karen can’t sleep and calls for Watson. She tells him she can’t sleep and she sees the witch and she thinks she’s up to something. He tells her to stop spying. He tells her to think pleasant thoughts and she’ll have pleasant dreams. She does fall asleep but she keeps waking up. She thinks of skating and has a dream she’s skating up a hill. She sees a talking rabbit that says he’ll help her get to the top of a steep hill. She turns to thank him but he’s gone. She sees a cliff and thinks she’ll just turn around but then she starts to fall. She falls out of her bed and Kristy is there. It’s morning.
Karen then tells Kristy about her dream. Karen apologizes if she’s woken her up, but Kristy says she was just in bed reading and even if she had it’s ok. Everyone has bad dreams. Kristy says since it’s a gorgeous day it might have started off bad, but it’s sure to get better. Kristy says she’ll help Karen get dressed. Karen wants to wear her new jeans that have zippes up the sides but she’s left them at her mom’s house. So, Kristy tells her to put on her pink sweat shirt, regular jeans, and white tennis shoes and she’ll have a surprise for her. Kristy comes back in the same outfit. Karen says “Neat” but still wishes she’d brought the other jeans.
Karen wants Crunch O cereal, but Andrew’s finished the box and got the prize (tatoo’s). Luckily, Elizabeth’s got another box waiting. She lets Karen look for the prize, but when she opens the package it’s empty. The company’s forgotten to put one in. Andrew says she can share with him. Still, Karen’s day is off to a half-bad start.
Karen wants to watch Mr. Ed but before she can turn it on, Andrew turns on his cartoons. They get into an argument and are interrupted by Watson. Again, Watson is a BILLIONAIRE! He can probably afford televisions for ALL there rooms. Watson says Karen can watch Mister Ed and then Andrew will be able to watch his show. By the time she turns on Mister Ed, there’s a program on and the show won’t be coming on. It’ll return the next day.
Karen goes outside she sees some birds and squirrels and thinks she wants to be around he pets. So, she goes to find Shannon and Boo-Boo. Shannon is sleeping but Karen wakes up and makes her chase her. Then they play fetch. Karen throws sticks for Shannon to fetch (and balls) but she throws one and Shannon can’t find it. So, she looks for it and Karen grows bored. Then David Micheal comes out and calls to her and Shannon forgets about Karen. So, she has to go get Boo-Boo (who does not want to play). Boo-Boo sees Morbidia freaks out and runs up a tree. Karen calls for him, but he doesn’t even look at her. So, she puts some of his favorite cat food in a dish.
Boo-Boo doesn’t even look at it. Karen starts to climb the tree, and he moves away. Then Watson sees Karen and tells her to get down. When she does, Boo-Boo starts to make his way down. Boo-Boo jumps down just as Morbidda says “Fiddle Sticks” and starts waving her rake around. Karen thinks it’s a spell and Boo-Boo speeds into the house. David Micheal wants to go see Linny and Karen says she’s going to see Hannah but David Micheal says no she’s not. They get into it. Luckily tho, Hannie and Linny come over. They want to invite them on a bike ride. They’ve brought food to have a picnic.
Karen glares at Hannie and tells her she knows she can’t go bike riding and she can’t go wading in brooks. She calls Hannie a toad. They argue back and forth. David Micheal and Linny go ahead. Hanny tells her she’s glad she can’t go and that they don’t want her. Then she leaves. Karen finds Kristy whose making brownies for the BSC. Kristy offers to play with Karen and they decide to play checkers. The game starts off good for Karen. Karen tells her not to take it easy on her. Kristy wins the game which makes Karen irritated. Kristy asks if she wants to play again. Kristy plays badly and Karen notices what she’s doing-and gets mad-. Kristy apologizes but Karen runs out her room.
She looks for Shannon, but she’s sleep. She decides to play with Moozie and Tickly. She tells them about her bad day start to finish. Then she notices Moozie has a rip and his stuffing is coming out. She tells Elizabeth he’s dying. Elizaeth says she’ll operate on him. Then she starts to sew him up. Elizabeth recognizes Karen is having a bad day and tells her about her worse day. In one day she flunked a test, the gym teacher yelled at me, she burned the chicken she was cooking for dinner, she cut her hand, and she had a fight with one of her sisters. Then she lost her favorite earring. She tells her about Alexander and the No-Good Horrible Terrible Day. Then she reads her the book.
After the book, she says she feels much better. Alexander’s day was worse. Elizabeth suggests she start the whole day over. Karen pretends to be sleep and Elizabeth wakes her up. She says she knows she’ll have a good day. The mail truck is coming. None of othe mail is for Karen. Andrew gets a package tho. It’s from his godparents. They’re the movies “The Secret of Nimh” and “Lady and the Tramp.” Andrew says they can watch the tapes but Karen says no. She doesn’t want to watch the movie with an egg head and a baldy. (Andew has just gotten a hair cut and the barber cut too much). Watson sends her up to her room and tells her just because she’s having a bad day she can’t take it out on everyone else.
Karen makes sad faces in her mirror and starts to think of how everyone hates her. Then she starts to sing the worm song. Then she makes Moozie mimick Andrew. She reenacts how the fight should have gone. Then she starts to sing the worm song again. Watson tells her (her) punishment is over. The good thing is she’s just in time for Mr. Tasty. Kristy and Andrew come out. David Micheal, Linny, and Hannie come back from their picnic. Then Amanda and Max join them. Hannie and Karen smile at each other.
Karen decides on a cherry Italian ice but when she gets to the front he’s run out of cherry. Karen runs inside and cries. When her family calls her down for dinner, she says she’s not hungry. They tell her to come down anyway. On her plate are her favorite foods (hamburger, baked potatoe). Sam, Kristy, and Charlie each tell Karen about their worse bad days. Then they start counting all the bad things that happen on their worse days. Karen wins with 14 total. Karen says that’s the first *good* thing. She set a bad day record. Karen says ice cream would be good but they don’t have any.
So, Sam and Charlie invite her to come to the sweet shop as their date. Karen gets a chocolate soda and Sam and Charlie get hot fudge sundaes. Some friends of Charlie and Sam’s stop by the table to talk. Nothing goes wrong at the ice cream shop. This is the second good thing that happened to Karen that day. That night Karen, Andrew, and David Micheal set a new foam record when they brush their teeth. This is the third thing. Karen says apologizes to Andrew, Kristy, and Hannie before she goes to bed. She reads the story of Alexander to Andrew to get him to understand how she feels. He says ok and she can still have half his tattoo’s.
She then calls Hannie and tells her about Charlie’s friend thinking she was his girlfriend and thinking she was 26. Hannie thinks that is very cool. She thanks Elizabeth for the story and fixing Moozie. She tells Kristy she’s sorry. She was just trying to be nice, but she was having too bad a day to appreciate it. Instead of reading “The Littleest Witch” Karen lets Kristy read another book and Kristy chooses “Charlotte’s Web”. When she finishes the story she says she’s sure tomorrow will be a good day. Karen says then that’s the fourth good things that happened that day.
My Thoughts:
I’m actually kind of jealous! The Brwers and Thompson’s were so supportive and encouraging to Karen. There was a couple of times when they weren’t (David Micheal could have not taken Shannon away and Andrew could have just let her watch Mister Ed-also Watson has GOT to be hands down the cheapest billionaire I’ve ever read about. One television?), but overall, THIS is the kind of family I want when I’m having a bad day. Now I’m not saying they *all* do this but if I have a day (or things frustrate me) do you know what my family would say? Either it would be, “Well you can’t do anything about that so you might as well get over it.” Or “Do you think you’re the only one that’s going through something?.” Or “Are you gonna let someone else stop your day from being good?” Or “Why are you worried about that?” They believe in TOUGH love. There would be no story about someone who had a bad day. There would be no relating stories of their own. And there *definitely* wouldn’t be a trip to the ice cream store. But if I had a daughter Elizabeth in this story is the perfect example of the caring, loving, mother I’d want to be. And I was trying as I read this to think of my worse day. Mine usually mostly revolve around living in a neighborhood I can’t stand because my neighbors love to do yardwork year-round. Then there are dogs barking and kids screaming to the top of my lungs for no reason. I could really relate to the part of the story where Mr. Tasty didn’t have what Karen wanted and she just broke down. One day, I couldn’t find the cord to charge my headphones and I broke down. Sometimes it just takes the smallest thing. I also remember a time when one night nothing I wanted to eat was available. No matter what fast food place or store I went too. Some days I just felt like Sleprock (from the Pebbles and Bam Bam show). The character that always had a black cloud haning over his head. But I will say that all my bad days combined didn’t equal what Karen went through. 14 things is A LOT!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 22, 2019
TV watching was Mr. Ed and the Muppet Babies. Also a quote "I ran over to the TV so I could switch the channel." (haha, the good ol days when you had to turn the TV knobs). Also mentioned "prizes" in cereal. I had forgotten about that! We'd always search for prizes when I was a kid. Do they do that anymore?
April 26, 2015
Karen is having the worst day of her life, she didn't get a prize in her cereal, the pets won't play with her, the ice cream truck was out of the ice cream she wanted, she got in a fight with Kristy and Hannie and Andre got a prize in the mail, but she didn't, will this day ever get better?
February 6, 2011
In which Karen still has a broken wrist from book #2 (wow, continuity!).
July 24, 2011
What young girl did not love the Baby-Sitters Club and Karen, the Baby-Sitters Little Sister?
May 4, 2021
Good lord I hate Karen Brewer. She is the most spoiled entitled brat ever and the fact that everyone enables her or shrugs off her awful behaviour as being just Karen or having a wild imagination is why I'm convinced that had she not been fictional she would've become a serial killer. We have seen real life examples of Karen Brewer and let's say they all grew up to be professional victims where nothing is ever their fault and everyone is against them. If not a serial killer Karen would grow up to be an actual "Karen". In this book Karen has a bad day and takes it out on those around her. She falls out of bed after a bad dream, she doesn't get a prize in the cereal box (remember those I miss those days) her favourite ice cream is sold out on the ice cream truck, the mailman had the audacity to call in sick or take a vacation, Moosie has a rip, Andrew gets a present of VHS movies (lord I'm old for remembering all this) and she pitches a fit screaming at him even though Andrew truly is the sweetest boy, she forces poor Shannon who's having a relaxing nap to play with her but she chooses David Michael over her cause animals are intelligent creatures. Her friend Hannie wants to go for a bike ride and she throws a tantrum at her for being so selfish. She yells at Kristy for letting her win at checkers then yells again when Ktisty wins. I'm not an advocate for spanking by any means, but Karen needs one. Then she's punished for yelling at her poor sweet brother and screams out the nobody loves me song until her dad let's her out of punishment. Again enabling. My parents would've dug their heels in. Then she gets taken out for ice cream and rewarded basically for being a brat because they want her to have a good day instead. The only decent thing she did was eventually apologize to all those she pitched fits at so that's something. At least these books are short. Any longer and I might've destroyed my kindle by throwing it out a window in frustrating.
July 21, 2021
Karen was at her worst in this book. The things she considered to be part of her worst day, such as having a different mail carrier or forgetting her new jeans at Mommy's house, were minor annoyances. Also, I think Karen has ADHD. Obviously, that is no excuse for her bratty behavior, but it did help me understand why she struggled so much with routine changes, was so forgetful, was easily upset, and was hyper-talkative.
My favorite part was when Elizabeth told Karen she could restart her day anytime. She had Karen pretend to go to sleep and wake up like it was a new day and no bad things had happened yet. This is a good reminder for me, even as an adult.
I was creeped out by Karen's relationship with the mail carrier, Mr. Venta. Apparently, Karen regularly rode around with Mr. Venta in his truck while he delivered mail. Karen felt way too comfortable with random adult men in trucks (e.g., Mr. Venta and Mr. Tastee, the ice cream truck driver).
Even when Karen apologized for her behavior at the end, she used a caveat (at least at first). She told Hannie and Andrew that the reason she acted the way she did was because she was having a terrible day. I wished she would have taken more responsibility for her actions — 2 stars.
My favorite part was when Elizabeth told Karen she could restart her day anytime. She had Karen pretend to go to sleep and wake up like it was a new day and no bad things had happened yet. This is a good reminder for me, even as an adult.
I was creeped out by Karen's relationship with the mail carrier, Mr. Venta. Apparently, Karen regularly rode around with Mr. Venta in his truck while he delivered mail. Karen felt way too comfortable with random adult men in trucks (e.g., Mr. Venta and Mr. Tastee, the ice cream truck driver).
Even when Karen apologized for her behavior at the end, she used a caveat (at least at first). She told Hannie and Andrew that the reason she acted the way she did was because she was having a terrible day. I wished she would have taken more responsibility for her actions — 2 stars.
April 4, 2021
Recently my 7 year old daughter has gotten into reading the Baby-sitter's Club and Baby-sitters Little Sister Graphic novel series. When we came across this chapter book inside one of those little libraries, I told her she had to read this book first before she could read the graphic novel version of it. She read the whole book aloud to me in two sittings. We had many laughs about how dramatic Karen was about everything. As an adult, I got a kick out of reading about things that I remember from my childhood such as the Mr. Ed show, Muppet Babies, or looking for toys in cereal boxes. I liked that Karen apologized to people at the end of the book. As a kid I read pretty much every book of the original Baby-sitters Club series, but don't really remember reading any of the Little Sister series. I think they came out just as I was getting too old for the original series. This was a fun book to go down memory lane with and a perfect way to help introduce my daughter to the characters in the BSC series with a character who is more her age than the characters from the original series.
October 10, 2023
Okay, I feel for Karen, and I legit think this is an important book to show little kids that it's okay and totally normal to have a day when nothing goes your way. Elizabeth reads to Karen the book Alexander and the no good horrible terrible day, and I can appreciate the importance of sharing that kind of story with kids.
But Karen's an uber-brat in this one. She takes out her horrible feelings about the day on poor Andrew, bullying him with mean nicknames and saying mean things about the gift his godparents gave him, all because Karen didn't get any gifts herself in the mail. Plus Andrew's super sweet the entire time, offering to share his gifts with her, and also offering to split with her the temporary tattoos he got from the cereal box. (part of Karen's grouchiness is that Andrew got the toy in the cereal box and when Karen literally emptied out a new cereal box just to get that one's toy, a manufacturing error meant she didn't actually get one.) So Andrew's being super sweet and generous, and Karen's just being really mean to him.
But Karen's an uber-brat in this one. She takes out her horrible feelings about the day on poor Andrew, bullying him with mean nicknames and saying mean things about the gift his godparents gave him, all because Karen didn't get any gifts herself in the mail. Plus Andrew's super sweet the entire time, offering to share his gifts with her, and also offering to split with her the temporary tattoos he got from the cereal box. (part of Karen's grouchiness is that Andrew got the toy in the cereal box and when Karen literally emptied out a new cereal box just to get that one's toy, a manufacturing error meant she didn't actually get one.) So Andrew's being super sweet and generous, and Karen's just being really mean to him.
January 25, 2020
Karen Brewer has experiencing a lot of bad luck coming to her on a Saturday - her bad dream, falling out of bed afterwards, her newly bought jeans is missing, she didn't get a prize from a cereal box, her favorite TV show didn't air, the pets won't play with her, her favorite stuffed cat got ripped, she gets an argument with her siblings and her best friend, her favorite mailman is gone, and she didn't get an ice cream that she wants! She's also sent to her room for a punishment! Will Karen get her good luck before the day ends?
This 4-star book is recommended for 1st-2nd grade kids who enjoyed reading early chapter books and trying an old literary book.
This 4-star book is recommended for 1st-2nd grade kids who enjoyed reading early chapter books and trying an old literary book.
July 7, 2022
4.5 stars. Another cute one! This one is about a bad day for Karen. Things just keep happening that are frustrating but then it turns around. I liked how much she tried to turn her day around. There was definitely an opportunity to show the positive (even in the negatives) that I don't feel like she took, but thats being nit picky. This was fun and I really liked it!
August 2, 2025
This was one of my favorites when I was little! 🥹
I would recommend most of this series for young kids. It teaches a good lesson and has enjoyable characters.
The only problem (Thats not even actually a problem) is the lack of contractions. It messes up the flow a bit but I honestly didn’t even notice until I was 13. 😌
Anyways, great book and I would totally give this to a little girl. 😌🤩
I would recommend most of this series for young kids. It teaches a good lesson and has enjoyable characters.
The only problem (Thats not even actually a problem) is the lack of contractions. It messes up the flow a bit but I honestly didn’t even notice until I was 13. 😌
Anyways, great book and I would totally give this to a little girl. 😌🤩
October 24, 2025
Ditto to what I've said in my other reviews of the Karen spin-offs. I always find myself wishing Karen would learn a little more of a lesson after the way she always acts in this books--it would make for a more satisfying ending, and I think would be a better learning tool for the young readers this is actually geared toward.
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December 15, 2020Me: I'll never touch a Baby-Sitters Little Sister book again.
One book later: Picks up another Baby-Sitters Little Sister book and reads it.
This one wasn't as bad as the first one I read. It was much more readable.
One book later: Picks up another Baby-Sitters Little Sister book and reads it.
This one wasn't as bad as the first one I read. It was much more readable.
January 13, 2022
She is a real spoiled brat in this one, even though everybody was trying to be nice to her. I bet she grew up to be a Karen lol
February 16, 2022
It was about having a bad day. I liked it because it had ways to calm yourself down.
October 30, 2022
My first Little Sister book. I loved the BSC growing up, and it was a blast from the past reading this!
May 6, 2023
I listened to this one, and not even Stephanie Drake's awesome narration can make Karen less annoying in this book.
September 4, 2023
it was fine but probably won’t read again.
December 7, 2023
read this after a panic attack. helped a little. induced crying.
March 17, 2024
Everything is going poorly - for example, there was no prize in the cereal, there was no Cherry Indian Ice. Will Karen's bad luck ever end?
May 16, 2024
Oh Karen, wait until you have to work for a living. Then every day is a worst day.
August 31, 2024
Camp Bimini Buddy Cabin 2024
April 27, 2018
I just don't like Karen and I probably never will.
February 2, 2013
I've been re-reading this series to get accurate ratings(don't make fun), and this book is better than I remember it being. Yes, Karen is a brat throughout the whole thing, as usual, but this time she has a little bit of an excuse. The things that happen wouldn't make an adult as upset, but she's only six, so of course she's going to be more effected by her TV show not being on, or missing the prize in the cereal box. The unusual thing about this book, though, was that Karen actually apologized to the people she was a jerk to, and even without any prompting from her parents!
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