Karen's Witch

Baby-Sitters Little Sister Graphic Novels #1

by Katy Farina (Illustrator), Ann M. Martin

A fresh and fun graphic novel series spin-off of The Baby-sitters Club, featuring Kristy's little stepsister! Karen Brewer lives next door to Mrs. Porter, who wears long robes and has wild gray hair. Mrs. Porter has a black cat named Midnight and always seems to be working in her garden. Karen isn't supposed to spy on her neighbor, but she's determined to prove that Mrs. Porter is a witch named Morbidda Destiny! Mrs. Porter is getting ready to have a special meeting at her house, and Karen is sure the meeting is for witches. Are they going to cast a spell on Karen? Or will she be brave enough to send them away -- once and for all?

Genres: Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Childrens, Fiction, Comics, Realistic Fiction, Juvenile

144 pages, Hardcover

First published December 26, 2019

Reviews

[destiny ♡ howling libraries]

I loved both the Babysitters Club books and the Little Sister books as a kid, and I definitely remember Karen's Witch being a favorite of mine. I didn't remember how the story went until I started reading this adaptation, and it all immediately came back! This was such an adorable adaptation. I tried checking out the Raina Telgemeiger BSC adaptations a while back and didn't care much for them, but this was honestly precious and I will happily check out more of the Little Sisters graphic novels. The art was so cute, the color palette was gorgeous, and it perfectly conveyed the story in a short and sweet way without leaving any unnecessary details or boring bits in. Karen is such a cute, funny kid and I loved the "twist" about Mrs. Porter — er, sorry, Morbidda Destiny.

Thank you so much to the Amazon Vine reviewer program for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

[Scott]

Karen continues to be the worst, this time in graphic form. All in one book, she is a snoop and a liar and an oathbreaker and a thief. Her parents were all "We can't get too mad at you because you thought you were doing something brave", but Karen willfully made things up to get her friend to go along with her, so no, Karen didn't think she was doing something brave.

This is how wars get started, Karen. You literally accused a woman of having WMDs in her yard (weapons of magical destruction -- just go with it) and tried to wipe her off the map. And you learned nothing from it.

[Rod Brown]

This spin-off from the Baby-Sitters Club features Kristy Thomas' six-year-old step-sister, Karen, an annoying little brat who doesn't seem to have learned a thing by the end of this simple, but well-done adventure. I'm not sure I could put up with her for a second book though . . .

[Prabhjot Kaur]

Karen is six years old and she is Kristy's step-sister. She thinks that her father's neighbor Mrs. Porter is a witch and she calls her Morbidda Destiny. She is out to find proof that Mrs. Porter is really a witch and help the neighborhood. She also gets her friend Hannie to come along with her.

When Karen witnesses Mrs. Porter fly off on the broom with her cat, Midnight late one night, she tells Kristy the whole thing but Kristy tells her that may be this was a dream as Karen went to bed a while ago but Karen believes and knows that it wasn't a dream and she starts spying on Mrs. Porter even more. She finds out that Mrs. Porter is having a witches meeting and Karen has an idea to expose Mrs. Porter finally. She and Hannie go to Mrs. Porter's house and announce that they know their secret. Karen's grandma is also attending the meeting and tells them that this is a gardener's meeting and no one there is a witch. Karen gets in trouble with her dad and she ends up apologizing to Mrs. Porter but still believes that she is a witch.

This is a spin-off of the baby-sitters club books and I really enjoyed those but this wasn't that good and it definitely lacked the plot and pace. Also the illustrations weren't that good. Karen's dad and Kristy's mum seemed to be younger in these illustrations than the baby-sitters club books. I will continue with the series just to see what happens but this was more on the disappointing side.

2-2.5 stars

[Piper B]

I am 7. This is the first book I read by myself. It was a little funny. It was like a mystery book. I really enjoyed it and it was fun. You should read it too!

[Melki]

An appropriately named little girl refuses to mind her own business, and accuses a neighbor of witchcraft. Granted, the woman looks a bit like a Scooby Doo villain . . .

But, next thing you know it's 1692 all over again!

I'm on the witch's side in this one. Hope she turns Karen into a gerbil.

[Natalie]

The art was adorable and I love Karen’s vivid (sometimes too vivid) imagination!

[Kylie]

My lil sister loved this 🤗

[Nichole Dever]

6 Year Old Review:

If I saw a 6 year old kid, I would tell them to get ALL of the baby-sisters little sister books, because I think they’re all filled with magic. And I want you to NEVER spy on your neighbors, just like in this book! 📚🧙🏽‍♀️🪄👀

And make sure you listen to your parents if they say please do not stare at your neighbors or spy. And make sure you treat your friend differently than making her or him do your ideas instead of thinking her or his own way.

And do not tell your older sister that is 13 or older, that are in the teens, that people are witches, because they might not think the same as you and think they’re a witch. Because you can’t force people to think what you think or do what you do.

And also, my favorite part was when she talks to her brother on page 8 and 9, because it’s funny.

And I like all the pictures! 📸

[Ahmed Ridha]

A tremendous work. Mixing magical realism with an unreliable narrator creates a truly suspenseful work. Karen as a protagonist is curious and determined, but deeply flawed. I'm left with a great impression of uncertainty towards the ending. Was Morbidia a witch? Or just a fragment of Karen's overractive imagination. The answer isn't clear, and the line will continue to be blurred throughout the series.

[Erica]

Enjoyable but I prefer the Baby-sitters club books about the older girls. This on felt like they were trying to appeal to a younger audience and it didn’t do well without the context of the other books.

[Liz]

I really liked this series as a kid, but as an adult looking back, Karen spends the entire graphic novel getting up to mischief only to basically learn to try and lie and hide a little better next time so she doesn't get caught, fab lesson.

[Renata]

The art is adorbs, Karen is an icon, I'm glad these are getting GN adaptations. Weirdly I feel like the target age of these GNs is basically the same as the "older sister" OG BSC GNs?? Maybe slightly younger but like......idk not by much???

[SunnyGirlSue]

"I won't spy very much! Only when I really need to"

So what do u do when your dad has set a rule .. 'Absolutely No Spying On Neighbors' .. Well, if u are like curious Karen, u secretly continue spying 🤭
After all, Karen is convinced that Mrs Porter (or Morbidda Destiny as she calls her) is a witch, and she is determined to prove it.

U just gotta love Karen 😍 and her wonderful imagination. Maybe I like her so much bc she reminds me of, well, me 😅 bc when I was a young girl like her, I also used to make up fantastical stories .. come to think of it, I sometimes still do 🤭

[Leslie Carnahan]

I see why the kiddos love the BSC Little Sister books! SUPER cute :)

[AleJandra]

Muy divertido y entretenido.
La nueva serie favorita de mi hija de 8 años.

[Natalya]

I read this purely for nostalgia. I read so many Baby-Sitters Little Sister books as a kid so when I saw this at the library, I just had to pick it up.

It was fun and reminded me why I loved the series as a kid. Karen acts like a six year old and gets into silly trouble. It was also fun to read this in a graphic novel format.

A fun, short, nostalgic read.

[Amanda]

Having read the Babysitters Club Little Sister books growing up, I just had to check out the graphic novel. This book was super cute and kids will love its fresh look.

[Different Is Beautiful]

This book would have been perfect for Halloween time

[Christine Salek]

As someone who went through a big Baby-Sitters Little Sister phase about 20 years ago, yes to this.

[Fizah(Books tales by me)]

The graphics were good. The concept of two families was also nice but Karen herself isn't that interesting.

[Amaya]

It’s a good book. Love the part we’re Karen gets caught by Kristy spiting on her neighbor with Karen thinks is a witch. They have a rule that is do not spy on neighbors or anyone else.

[isabel tua]

I like how she thinks the way she thinks because she is a little kid still.

[Esther]

Karen is Kristy's little sister, and she's convinced that Mrs. Porter, the lady next door, is actually a witch! Karen has been spying, even though she isn't supposed to, and after careful thinking, she believes Mrs. Poter is throwing a witch meeting. Karen and her friend decide to stop the witches before they cast a spell on the whole town. Or, on Karen herself. But, will they be brave enough to banish the witches and warlocks so they never come back?

This was cute. I finished it in an hour or so, and I enjoyed immensely. My favorite character was definitely Karen. She reminded me of myself. The way she did crazy things without thinking them through, and how she kept breaking the same rule, no spying on the neighbors, over and over again. If I could describe Karen in a nutshell, she would be a rash misbehaver with a big heart and a born leader.

[Katie R.]

It was a witchy book 😋😂🧙‍♀️#i liked it 🧙‍♀️

[🌻 Sunita 🦋✨]

Karen is a little brat who likes her own way and will do anything to get it. She’s also a LIAR!!! Karen disregards everyone’s thoughts and feelings around her. I did not enjoy this one.

[Brooke Mallay]

What the fuck was Karen thinking in this book. She literally spies on her neighbor Ms. Porter and accuses her of witch craft and she had a stoneybrook gardeners club and Karen's dumbass self decided to tell her friend Hannie to go there and start chanting made up spells at the crowd to try and drive the witches away and guess what her grandma was there and got Karen in so much trouble for spying, trespassing and insulting the neighbors and she had to write an apology letter. What a brat Karen is I am so done with her I am gonna throw all my little sister books away pretty soon.

[Katie Fitzgerald]

This is a pretty faithful adaptation of the original series, which I started reading as a first grader in 1988. I'm not completely convinced that young readers can fully get the details of Karen's two-family life from the introductory panels included in this book, but her dramatic personality and penchant for letting her imagination run away with her do come through loud and clear. I also like the way the illustrator depicts Mrs. Porter (aka Morbidda Destiny). Her appearance is such that a young child might believe she is a witch, but can also probably be convinced that she is just a normal older lady with an interest in gardening. Surprisingly, I think reformatting this book as a graphic novel actually broadens the appeal a little bit. Whereas the original Little Sister books were definite beginning chapter books, the style here could really engage readers from ages 4 to 10, especially among kids who like family stories and may themselves have very big imaginations. I'm a little bit curious about the apparent decision to edit out Hannie's Greek heritage, as that was always an interesting part of this series for me, but that is a minor point that no contemporary child is going to notice given that the original series is only available in Kindle format and is nowhere near as popular as it was 30 years ago.

[Fairyfrog]

Okay…. I have a lot to say about this book. First: Karen. Girl, you need to make better life choices! I know, I know, she’s only six, but still, she should know better than to spy on a neighbor, which she got in trouble for anyway. Also, she barged into that poor old lady’s house and tried to get the “witches” to stop doin’ stuff that they didn’t even do in the first place! And dragging your innocent friend into it? Come on! She had literally nothing to do with it! Also she lied. A lot. While reading this book, I was very annoyed at what she was doing. So, basically, she did bad stuff, got caught, hurt and old lady’s feelings, and learned nothing from the experience. I found no moral in this story whatsoever. Though I suppose it could teach younger kids to think out their actions and learn to make good choices, but I honestly found no point in reading this. The whole time I was just watching six year olds make bad choices for no good cause, and there was nothing I could do about it. I think that was the most frustrating part. And Kristy, please try to do more than just tell her witches don’t exist. That’s just gonna make her want to prove you wrong even more. I just wanted to yell, “Yo, Karen, stop doing whatever it is that you’re doing, and think this through!” Other than that, I guess this book was fine. But that’s just me taking the cream out of “ice cream”. And I don’t know, some people might love this book, but these are just my thoughts.

Thank you.

[Liv Blackett]

This book is about Karen Brewer basically Christie‘s little sister. This is about her rollerskating and breaking her arm. In this experience she lied to her friends about how and then told him the truth in the end. This book tells kids that they should always tell the truth and be kind to everybody even if you wanna sound cool you might not want to because Andrew rats her out and she tells the truth