NPR Looks Back on 40 Years of The Baby-Sitters Club

To celebrate 40 years of Ann M. Martin’s beloved children’s book series The Baby-Sitters Club, NPR visited Martin at her house in upstate New York to talk about why the series has meant so much to so many generations of readers.

NPR recognized the “can-do spirit” that is present in all of The Baby-Sitters Club novels, and how Martin’s writing has given generations of kids the opportunity to see the best parts of themselves on the pages of her books. “It’s easy to see why the books have endured for four decades. There was something, and someone, for everyone in the The Baby-Sitters Club, starting with the original four,” NPR shared.

The world of Stoneybrook that Martin created has expanded over the last 40 years, with four spin-off book series, bestselling graphic novel adaptations, a TV series on HBO, a feature film from Sony Pictures, an acclaimed original Netflix series, and the recently released The Baby-sitters Club Fan Edition: Baby-sitter Summer. The first ever stage adaptation of The Baby-sitters Club Musical is currently in development and written by Kate Wetherhead (The Devil Wears Prada) with music and lyrics by Mark Sonnenblick (KPop Demon Hunters).

“The legacy that I see or I hope for is that the books have helped to turn kids into readers. I get so many letters from people who read the books and have grown up to become writers, librarians, teachers, bloggers. I think that’s fabulous,” Martin told NPR.

For the full feature, click here: 40 years later, ’The Baby-Sitters Club’ is still helping readers see themselves