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The Baby-Sitters Club Portrait Collection #5
Kristy's Book
The fifth in a series of portraits of the main members of The Baby-sitters Club, this volume focuses on Kristy Thomas, the president of the club and the star of Kristy's Worst Idea. Original.
145 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1996
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227 people want to read
About the author
Ann M. Martin
1,123 books3,086 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 - 19 of 19 reviews
March 28, 2018
this potrait collection book by portrait collection writer extraordinaire Jeanne Betancourt is all about kristy, framed as being her autobiography that she had to write for school. here are the main stories she tells:
-within her first five years of life: her mom goes into labor while she and kristy's dad are at a yankees game. they almost don't leave the game because they want to watch it so badly. later in these early years chapters, kristy, claudia, and mary anne build a snowperson. one of their neighbors says she misses the snow people her kids used to make so kristy has her first great idea to build snowpeople for neighbors. the neighbors all pay the kids well because the kids plan to spend the money on a gift for mimi. they end up buying her a scarf that she wears every winter for the rest of her life.
-at age 5 1/2: kristy wants to be independent like her brothers, so when she finds out they are going to see a movie called car man, she schemes to get to see it with them. she tells her mom she's going to claudia's but actually meets up with her brothers and then tells her brothers that her mom let her go with them to the movie. kristy's mom figures out that kristy had lied and ends up going to the theater to take kristy out before the movie ends. desperate to find out how the movie ends kristy and claudia and mary anne play car man and convince sam and charlie to play with them so they can sneakily find out the ending from them.
-at age 6: kristy's dad leaves. he doesn't tell anyone in his family but tells his boss where he's going and the family just has to figure it out by calling the boss. kristy's mom gets a job and needs the kids to take care of themselves but they basically just eat pizza and chinese food every day and at one point louie gets sprayed by a skunk and they try to clean him but end up making a mess and getting locked in the bathroom. kristy's mom sees this as a wake-up call that they need to get better organized. after that they enact a chore wheel and start cooking instead of just eating pizza.
-at age 10: kristy goes to softball camp and gets involved in annoying drama. the cabins have too much spirit and it makes them hate each other too vehemently so they relentlessly prank war with each other. when the cabins are enmeshed for an all-camp team, they in-fight so much that the coach gets frustrated quits. but eventually they make it up to her and stop being jerks. kristy is sort of mature in this because she recognizes the other cabin's shortstop as a better shortstop than her and becomes friends with her
-at age 12: kristy's dad comes back and it's basically the plot of the bsc movie. he keeps trying to get her to stay out with him and lie to her family. at one point he gets her a baseball glove as a present but it's a righty and she's a lefty. she's really bummed out but decides to try to exchange it and turns out it was swag from a banquet that he got because he works in the industry (meaning, he didn't buy it for her but just took it as a giveaway to give to her). watson ends up getting her a new glove that is actually right for her because he's her REAL father in spite of not being her bio father. and then her bio father ends up leaving again without telling her AGAIN.
highlights:
-krisy apparently ran her first steps. why am I not surprised?
-the premise of car man: a used car salesman who could turn into any car he wanted. goshdarnit I love this so much. it's like if transformers were just totally uncool.
-apparently kristy's dad thought kristy had shown spunk when sneaking out and going to car man and didn't want to punish her. dear kristy's mom: I think you were better off without him, because this dude is not equipped to coparent.
-kristy gets short sheeted as a prank at the softball camp! wasn't I keeping track of short sheets in these books? there hasn't been one in a while. I believe the most recent one was Jessi's Baby-sitter.
lowlights/nitpicks:
-sam tells his mom that it was her fault their dad left. woof.
-in the illustration of the junk food kristy and her brothers were eating when their mom got a job, there's a carob bar. really? carob as junk food? carob is what dawn eats. chocolate is junk food.
-patrick keeps insulting kristy's mom by saying she's too controlling and such. it's almost exactly what happens in the last chapter of the mary anne portrait collection book, Mary Anne's Book, where her grandmother keeps insulting her father. I'm not saying it's badly done or anything, but it just seems like lazy writing to have such a similar plotline in two back-to-back portrait collection books.
-within her first five years of life: her mom goes into labor while she and kristy's dad are at a yankees game. they almost don't leave the game because they want to watch it so badly. later in these early years chapters, kristy, claudia, and mary anne build a snowperson. one of their neighbors says she misses the snow people her kids used to make so kristy has her first great idea to build snowpeople for neighbors. the neighbors all pay the kids well because the kids plan to spend the money on a gift for mimi. they end up buying her a scarf that she wears every winter for the rest of her life.
-at age 5 1/2: kristy wants to be independent like her brothers, so when she finds out they are going to see a movie called car man, she schemes to get to see it with them. she tells her mom she's going to claudia's but actually meets up with her brothers and then tells her brothers that her mom let her go with them to the movie. kristy's mom figures out that kristy had lied and ends up going to the theater to take kristy out before the movie ends. desperate to find out how the movie ends kristy and claudia and mary anne play car man and convince sam and charlie to play with them so they can sneakily find out the ending from them.
-at age 6: kristy's dad leaves. he doesn't tell anyone in his family but tells his boss where he's going and the family just has to figure it out by calling the boss. kristy's mom gets a job and needs the kids to take care of themselves but they basically just eat pizza and chinese food every day and at one point louie gets sprayed by a skunk and they try to clean him but end up making a mess and getting locked in the bathroom. kristy's mom sees this as a wake-up call that they need to get better organized. after that they enact a chore wheel and start cooking instead of just eating pizza.
-at age 10: kristy goes to softball camp and gets involved in annoying drama. the cabins have too much spirit and it makes them hate each other too vehemently so they relentlessly prank war with each other. when the cabins are enmeshed for an all-camp team, they in-fight so much that the coach gets frustrated quits. but eventually they make it up to her and stop being jerks. kristy is sort of mature in this because she recognizes the other cabin's shortstop as a better shortstop than her and becomes friends with her
-at age 12: kristy's dad comes back and it's basically the plot of the bsc movie. he keeps trying to get her to stay out with him and lie to her family. at one point he gets her a baseball glove as a present but it's a righty and she's a lefty. she's really bummed out but decides to try to exchange it and turns out it was swag from a banquet that he got because he works in the industry (meaning, he didn't buy it for her but just took it as a giveaway to give to her). watson ends up getting her a new glove that is actually right for her because he's her REAL father in spite of not being her bio father. and then her bio father ends up leaving again without telling her AGAIN.
highlights:
-krisy apparently ran her first steps. why am I not surprised?
-the premise of car man: a used car salesman who could turn into any car he wanted. goshdarnit I love this so much. it's like if transformers were just totally uncool.
-apparently kristy's dad thought kristy had shown spunk when sneaking out and going to car man and didn't want to punish her. dear kristy's mom: I think you were better off without him, because this dude is not equipped to coparent.
-kristy gets short sheeted as a prank at the softball camp! wasn't I keeping track of short sheets in these books? there hasn't been one in a while. I believe the most recent one was Jessi's Baby-sitter.
lowlights/nitpicks:
-sam tells his mom that it was her fault their dad left. woof.
-in the illustration of the junk food kristy and her brothers were eating when their mom got a job, there's a carob bar. really? carob as junk food? carob is what dawn eats. chocolate is junk food.
-patrick keeps insulting kristy's mom by saying she's too controlling and such. it's almost exactly what happens in the last chapter of the mary anne portrait collection book, Mary Anne's Book, where her grandmother keeps insulting her father. I'm not saying it's badly done or anything, but it just seems like lazy writing to have such a similar plotline in two back-to-back portrait collection books.
November 17, 2014
I've never been a huge fan of Kristy's books since she's pretty much the complete opposite of me, and as I suspected sports were a big factor in this one, which makes sense since she is the BSC's sport freak, and I'm not a fan. But I did enjoy the story about her and Mary Anne and Claudia making the snow women to get Mimi a present, and the story about Patrick being a jerk father was relatable. I especially liked that she realizes what a good father Watson is to her, and that Patrick isn't. All in all, pretty typical for Kristy, thought admittedly I've liked some of the other portrait collections better personally.
December 12, 2022
Kristy was my first favourite BSC member; I got started in the world of Stoneybrook through her little sister, so it was only natural I'd choose my most familiar character as my fave. And, like Kristy, I was never a fan of makeup, dresses, or boys when I was growing up. Sure, Kristy got a little annoying and controlling as the series went on (and on and on) and everyone got Flanderized, but she still holds a spot in my heart. And I feel like her autobiography perfectly captured the essence of Kristy. From her early entrepreneurial tendencies, to sneaking out to watch a movie with her brothers, to pretty much her plot from the 1995 BSC movie, I feel like she wasn't too over the top bossy, and was interesting to read about. I also liked getting more of a glimpse of Patrick, and getting to know what a scumbag he actually was. (Makes me excited to reread
Kristy's Big News
because it has been a LONG time and I forget if he gets redeemed. But let's be honest, Watson is her real father. He might be bald and he might be kind of a goon, but he loves all his kids.)
October 15, 2019
Kristy was never my favorite member of the Baby-Sitters Club. But I enjoyed re-reading her autobiography and learning more about her past. Kristy grew up with two older brothers who refused to play with her because she was younger and a girl. Before Kristy's Krushers and Bart's Bashers, I wonder how the athletically-inclined Stoneybrook residents participated in sports before they were old enough for Little League. Was there a youth softball league in Stamford that Kristy could not join because she was a latchkey kid? When she was ten years old, Kristy won a full scholarship to attend a month-long girls' camp where she specialized in softball. In her application, Kristy "wrote about how it was hard for a girl to find a good game in [Stoneybrook] because the guys were sort of dumb about letting girls play with them".
When Kristy was six years old, her father left. He told his boss, but not his family, where he was going. At the time, Kristy and her two older brothers were in elementary school and David Michael was a baby. Kristy wanted her father in her life until he came back and made her sneak around and lie to people she loved, á la the plot of The Baby-Sitters Club movie. In the end, Kristy realized that she did not need her biological father in her life when she had such an amazing stepfather. "My real father may have disappointed me. But my stepfather would not. He knew me. He loved me. And he was there for me."
When Kristy was six years old, her father left. He told his boss, but not his family, where he was going. At the time, Kristy and her two older brothers were in elementary school and David Michael was a baby. Kristy wanted her father in her life until he came back and made her sneak around and lie to people she loved, á la the plot of The Baby-Sitters Club movie. In the end, Kristy realized that she did not need her biological father in her life when she had such an amazing stepfather. "My real father may have disappointed me. But my stepfather would not. He knew me. He loved me. And he was there for me."
June 13, 2024
I didn’t read this back in the day. I remember buying it when I was at the mall with my friends back in eight grade, and they made me return it so I could buy myself lipstick
It was a nice read, but unlike the other portrait collections, this was my least favourite. I liked reading about Kristy, Mary Anne and Claudia making snowmen for neighbours, and Kristys thought process when her father returned to Stoneybrook and she kept it a secret. This story was very similar to the one in the bsc movie. I really liked reading about her bond with Watson towards the end and how he is a great father to her instead
It was a nice read, but unlike the other portrait collections, this was my least favourite. I liked reading about Kristy, Mary Anne and Claudia making snowmen for neighbours, and Kristys thought process when her father returned to Stoneybrook and she kept it a secret. This story was very similar to the one in the bsc movie. I really liked reading about her bond with Watson towards the end and how he is a great father to her instead
October 16, 2022
3.5 stars and rounding up. The portrait books are such a nice departure from the other series-within-a-series the BSC has because they're so personalized to each sitter. That said, Kristy's last story about her dad felt very shoehorned in (I'm assuming this was around the time the BSC movie came out and they had to make it fit?) And left the book feeling a little lackluster.
August 29, 2017
Kristy's dad was a total loser. I personally think Mrs. Thomas should have punched him when she had the chance. Or, at the very least, Charlie should have in the Friends Forever series before those kids peaced out of his life for good.
June 6, 2020
This is probably my least favorite of the portrait collection books, but I do still like it a lot.
Seriously, though - she got a B on this? Who is grading these things?!
Seriously, though - she got a B on this? Who is grading these things?!
October 5, 2020
Unremarkable except that I completely forgot a section of this book was the basis for the original BSC movie from the mid-90s.
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January 1, 2021Read my recap at A Year with the BSC via Stoneybrook Forever: https://www.livethemovies.com/bsc-blo...
May 19, 2022
Well. This book basically just reinforced my bad opinion of Kristy.
August 12, 2023
I love the insight into Kristy's childhood!
May 7, 2011
wow. what a snore. i don't remember disliking the portrait series so much the last time i read it. i thought it was cool to get more background on the childhoods of these characters that i was reading so much about. but this time through...maybe it's different because i am writing up all the books in this forum. it makes them a little more loathesome.
anyway, kristy's childhood is pretty uninteresting. she is jealous that sam & charlie are granted age-appropriate privileges that she is too young to enjoy, such as crossing the street by herself, calling a friend without first getting permission, etc. she deals with this by sneaking off to a softball game they are playing & telling their chaperone that mrs. thomas had granted permission for kristy to join her brothers & their friends at the movies. of course. mrs. thomas has said no such thing, & she wheedles the truth out of mary anne & then storms into the movie theatre to publicly embarrass all three of the eldest thomas children. kristy gets in big trouble, but i think there's also something about how mrs. thomas starts giving her more responsibility too.
kristy writes about the chaotic days shortly after patrick abandoned the family. mrs. thomas got a job in stamford & enrolled david michael in daycare. the older three kids would be responsible for themselves after school. there were some basic rules, but mrs. thomas was basically just riding by the seat of her pants & had failed to consider a whole lot of different eventualities. the shit hit the fan at the end of the first week, when louise got sprayed by a skunk, & sam, charlie, kristy, mary anne, & claudia all managed to lock themselves in the bathroom while trying to give hima tomato juice bath. mrs. thomas came home to unauthorized guestsa, a trashed house, & a skunk dog. after that, she came up with the chores for each of the kids, & rules about friends & homework & stuff. she also came up with a game plan for dinner, so they wouldn't just be eating take-out every night. somehow all of this instilled a love of responsibility in the thomas children.
& kristy writes about the time patrick came back to town. he was basically living in a motel & sneaking around to see kristy, telling her that he wasn't ready to see her brothers or anyone else yet. he kept talking about wanting to move back to stoneybrook & get to know his kids again. kristy felt weird about the whole thing, but she also felt like patrick was a fun guy to hang out with. he ends up giving her a baseball glove & she's totally pumped...until she notices that it's a right-handed glove. kristy is left-handed. she goes to the sporting goods store to exchange it, but can't, because it has been engraved. it was a free giveaway at a dinner for california sportswriters. patrick lied when he told kristy he bought is especially for her. then he disappears without saying goodbye. kristy finally fesses up about where she's been going to elizabeth & watson, who are not mad. they understand kristy's impulse to try to have a relationship with her father.
kristy gets a B+. i don't know why this warranted a B+ & mary anne's got an A+. they seemed pretty even in quality to me. i guess mary anne's was slightly more exciting, with the whole dead-mom-dad-gave-me-away thing, but i don't think a teacher should mark kids down for being boring.
anyway, kristy's childhood is pretty uninteresting. she is jealous that sam & charlie are granted age-appropriate privileges that she is too young to enjoy, such as crossing the street by herself, calling a friend without first getting permission, etc. she deals with this by sneaking off to a softball game they are playing & telling their chaperone that mrs. thomas had granted permission for kristy to join her brothers & their friends at the movies. of course. mrs. thomas has said no such thing, & she wheedles the truth out of mary anne & then storms into the movie theatre to publicly embarrass all three of the eldest thomas children. kristy gets in big trouble, but i think there's also something about how mrs. thomas starts giving her more responsibility too.
kristy writes about the chaotic days shortly after patrick abandoned the family. mrs. thomas got a job in stamford & enrolled david michael in daycare. the older three kids would be responsible for themselves after school. there were some basic rules, but mrs. thomas was basically just riding by the seat of her pants & had failed to consider a whole lot of different eventualities. the shit hit the fan at the end of the first week, when louise got sprayed by a skunk, & sam, charlie, kristy, mary anne, & claudia all managed to lock themselves in the bathroom while trying to give hima tomato juice bath. mrs. thomas came home to unauthorized guestsa, a trashed house, & a skunk dog. after that, she came up with the chores for each of the kids, & rules about friends & homework & stuff. she also came up with a game plan for dinner, so they wouldn't just be eating take-out every night. somehow all of this instilled a love of responsibility in the thomas children.
& kristy writes about the time patrick came back to town. he was basically living in a motel & sneaking around to see kristy, telling her that he wasn't ready to see her brothers or anyone else yet. he kept talking about wanting to move back to stoneybrook & get to know his kids again. kristy felt weird about the whole thing, but she also felt like patrick was a fun guy to hang out with. he ends up giving her a baseball glove & she's totally pumped...until she notices that it's a right-handed glove. kristy is left-handed. she goes to the sporting goods store to exchange it, but can't, because it has been engraved. it was a free giveaway at a dinner for california sportswriters. patrick lied when he told kristy he bought is especially for her. then he disappears without saying goodbye. kristy finally fesses up about where she's been going to elizabeth & watson, who are not mad. they understand kristy's impulse to try to have a relationship with her father.
kristy gets a B+. i don't know why this warranted a B+ & mary anne's got an A+. they seemed pretty even in quality to me. i guess mary anne's was slightly more exciting, with the whole dead-mom-dad-gave-me-away thing, but i don't think a teacher should mark kids down for being boring.
August 1, 2024
Even though I'm sure there is a certain order to these, I decided to go in the order the girls joined the club and the offices they hold. Kristy being the founder and president goes first. As expected this book has a lot to do with baseball, which is Kristy's life. But it was interesting to see her life and childhood. From amusing stories like Louie getting sprayed by a skunk and the kids turning the bathroom into a tomato juice bloodbath, to young Kristy, Claudia and Mary Anne building snow people to earn money for Mimi's birthday present there were some non sports happenings. Especially sad was the depiction of Patrick Thomas, the absentee dad who didn't come home from work one night and then six years later showed up to try and win Kristy over by making her lie to her mom and everyone else. It was an okay book, Kristy wasn't the obnoxious person in this story that she usually is. It was touching to see her relationship with Watson which has grown into a nice father daughter bond. Also to see her early leadership skills while at sports camp as she helps to bring the camp softball team together to try and win. It was a nice look into the early life of Kristy Thomas and I'm looking forward to seeing the childhoods of the others now too.
August 12, 2010
Kristy's book is another book in the BSC series that takes a page from the movie and references Patrick Thomas appearing in Stoneybrook only to see Kristy. If the BSC were more realistic, I wonder if her brothers ever would have found out that their father had no interest in them at all. I wonder if it would have bothered them, especially DM since Patrick chose to walk out on them right after DM was born and pretty much NEVER saw his youngest.
The stories of younger Kristy (and MA as well as Claudia) are sweet, but my favorite is the way Watson steps in for Kristy. Looking back on the series, he seems to be an iffy father (at best) for Karen and Andrew (think about how much time they spend with babysitters before they do the one month on, one month off switch. It's a lot.) but when he gets it right, he really, truly does.
The stories of younger Kristy (and MA as well as Claudia) are sweet, but my favorite is the way Watson steps in for Kristy. Looking back on the series, he seems to be an iffy father (at best) for Karen and Andrew (think about how much time they spend with babysitters before they do the one month on, one month off switch. It's a lot.) but when he gets it right, he really, truly does.
July 28, 2011
I don't generally enjoy the portrait collections as much as the 'regular' books, and this was no exception. I did find it interesting that the first BSC movie (and the only one I've seen) was referenced in this one though.
January 18, 2016
I've read every BSC book except Abby's Book now, and this is the first time I'm learning that Kristy is left-handed.
December 25, 2019
Kristy is the funniest baby-sitter that will catch your heart. Her stories will make you laugh your head off.
June 22, 2023
I never really liked Kristy all that much, but this reveals more than the bossy sports freak by telling stories we've never heard
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews