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Baby-Sitters Little Sister #1
Karen's Witch
Karen Brewer's imagination gets the best of her when she decides that her neighbor, Mrs. Porter--who has wild grey hair, wears black robes, and has a garden full of mysterious herbs--must be a witch and investigates the situation
97 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
137 people are currently reading
998 people want to read
About the author
Ann M. Martin
1,101 books3,045 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 128 reviews
January 12, 2019
From Harper (age 6.5): I want to read more books about Karen. I still don’t know if her neighbor is really a witch or not, so I want to learn more about her.
July 19, 2021
iconic...imagine having a 1st grader crash your gardening club and call you all witches....#goals
https://www.frowl.org/worstbestseller...
https://www.frowl.org/worstbestseller...
August 24, 2011
Well, far out, guys, Karen's next door neighbour is a witch. So what does she do? She ropes one of her best friends into her delusional fantasy, grabs some weeds and decides to stop her elderly neighbour invite some friends around by calling them all witches and warlocks. FFFFFUUUU
Also, in this book we learn Karen once said a swear in a crowded restaurant. Zing!
Also, in this book we learn Karen once said a swear in a crowded restaurant. Zing!
January 16, 2021
I was looking for a easy English book to read so I got Karen’s witch.
It is a short story about a seven year girl who believed her dad’s neighbor is a witch, and her efforts to show her up.
It is a short story about a seven year girl who believed her dad’s neighbor is a witch, and her efforts to show her up.
July 28, 2007
Karen got 2 of everything because her parents were divorced. I was so jealous! (Also, I was like 7 years old)
April 14, 2020
Karen has some big repressed witch energy here.
September 6, 2020
Oh my gosh Karen is literally the most adorable girl, so filled with imagination. She always suspected her neighbour of being a witch. So when it is her weekend at her dads place she is becomes even more suspicious of what she is up too and creates this illusion in her mind that she is having a witches meeting and is going to do something to her street.
This was just too cute honestly, she really over did her imagination in this one and with her whims did something very silly by addressing Mrs. Porters gardening club and claiming them to be all witches and warlocks, having a meeting. It wa sso adorable and so over the top and totally perfect for Karen.
I liked this book it was so cute and Karen was full of her personality and imagination in this book.
This was just too cute honestly, she really over did her imagination in this one and with her whims did something very silly by addressing Mrs. Porters gardening club and claiming them to be all witches and warlocks, having a meeting. It wa sso adorable and so over the top and totally perfect for Karen.
I liked this book it was so cute and Karen was full of her personality and imagination in this book.
June 17, 2022
This was a cute story about Karen (Kristy's stepsister) who thinks that their neighbor is a witch. She is an older lady who wears black robes and likes to garden, which makes her think she's growing herbs for spells. She also swears she sees her flying on her broom at night and she has a black cat. She gets her friend Hannie in on it and the 2 confront what they think is a witch meeting but its actually the gardener's club! Even Karen's own grandma is in it! She has to apologize and learns a lot of lessons about spying and assumptions. I loved seeing the relationship between Kristy and Karen and the positive, but accurate, portrayal of split homes.
February 3, 2018
Mom's Thoughts:
A great introduction to a series that is suitable for children ages 6 and up.
Daughter's Thoughts:
Karen is funny and this book was awesome. I really liked reading it because it was funny. I want to read more about Karen!
A great introduction to a series that is suitable for children ages 6 and up.
Daughter's Thoughts:
Karen is funny and this book was awesome. I really liked reading it because it was funny. I want to read more about Karen!
April 5, 2016
Reading this book from an adult perspective, I found it absolutely hilarious, hence the five stars. Long live Karen.
December 5, 2018
I read this out loud with my 6 yo daughter. For nostalgia purposes, obviously. I loved these books as a kid, and I'm so glad my mom kept them so that I can share them with my kids.
May 6, 2018
The end got really slow.
June 14, 2016
In a selfish attempt to get my 7 year old daughter to one day be obsessed with The Baby-Sitters Club, I introduced her to the Baby-Sitters Little Sister series with Karen's Witch by Ann M. Martin. In it, Kristy's younger step-sister, Karen, is obsessed with the notion that the next door neighbor is really a witch. Some hijinks ensue, but overall it was a fun story. And I love how Martin models blended families. My daughter and I enjoyed reading it together and I don't think this is the last little sister book she will read.
April 9, 2017
Really a witch?
August 24, 2017
This series was fun for me to read as a kid but looking back, Karen was a whiny little shit.
August 5, 2023
Really enjoyed this
I really relate to Karen
I really relate to Karen
December 20, 2017
I decided to do an impromptu readathon of nostalgic books. This is cute, but I did notice it isn't written very well. I know it is for children, so it has been really dumbed down. It is meant for a younger audience, but give kids some credit.
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March 16, 2020Read with the girls because I read and loved them
when I was a kid. Mara liked it, and actually took a turn reading a chapter. Mo also read a couple chapters out loud.
when I was a kid. Mara liked it, and actually took a turn reading a chapter. Mo also read a couple chapters out loud.
Read
October 5, 2023Allison's first chapter book read by me lol
February 19, 2016
I devoured this series as a kid. I ordered it from the book order and became part of the 'Babysitter's Little Sister club' where I got 3 new books of the series every month. I couldn't wait, every time I got the new books I quickly devoured them. I loved that Karen had two families, it was something I'd never read about before (and my parents were never together so I too had two families) #Relatable.
I still have ALL of these books as my subscription continued for years all the way up to book #103. I mean sure, now that I'm older I realize it's kind of weird that Karen started the second grade 12 times, and turned 8 another 12 times, but at the time I didn't care! I was so invested in Karen and her big family, her best friends and her crazy adventures. I am keeping all my books for my kids, who hopefully will like them as much as I did!
Ciara Elizabeth
http://yafangirlreviews.com
I still have ALL of these books as my subscription continued for years all the way up to book #103. I mean sure, now that I'm older I realize it's kind of weird that Karen started the second grade 12 times, and turned 8 another 12 times, but at the time I didn't care! I was so invested in Karen and her big family, her best friends and her crazy adventures. I am keeping all my books for my kids, who hopefully will like them as much as I did!
Ciara Elizabeth
http://yafangirlreviews.com
March 10, 2024
I read many Karen books when I was 6-7 years old but I had never before read this, the very first Karen book. Although it was interesting in some ways since it hadn't yet fallen into the formula of later books, it was a weird start to a series. If I had a kid, I would not give them this specific Karen book. I'm not sure who Ann M. Martin thought the target audience of this book was.
Since it is the first Karen book, it was certainly written by Ann M. Martin herself rather than a ghostwriter. As I said though, the intended target audience for the book is confused.
This series is a spinoff from the more famous 'Baby-sitters Club' books. I raise this because it almost seems like this is just a super-long re-telling of those chapters of Baby-sitters Club books where they recount the things the kids they are babysitting get up to except written from the kid's point of view, and then we are supposed to think 'oh aren't kids cute'.
Except in this case, Karen is not cute, she is just a spoiled brat and in this book I feel I would have been unable to relate to her even when I was 6. In slightly later books in the series, that effectively improves, Karen sort of learns a lesson from her behaviour and the books have a semi-positive message. In this one there is just validation of her bad behaviour and I'd hate to think what sort of message it would send a kid!
The premise of this book is very straightforward: Karen has decided that her neighbour is a witch. No reason except that the woman is older, probably lives alone, and has a black cat called Midnight. The neighbour isn't particularly mean or anything, she just happens to live next door and mind her own business. If you think that the book ends with Karen finding out her mistake and recognising the harmless neighbour is not a witch, it doesn't. Karen ends the book as convinced as ever neighbour is a witch and has learned absolutely nothing from the entire story!
In the retrospective glorification of Ann M. Martin and the BSC, I have seen people go on about the 'positive' messages it sends girls and Martin being a 'feminist' and all that, and books like this one are clear evidence that this is not the case. Try to think of this book more critically. Firstly, I would have known that this book was dumb even when I really was 6 because witches do not exist, and this itself is why I never read this Karen book to start with since I only chose the ones whose stories seemed interesting. However, as I got a bit older I learned something far more disturbing. Historically, pretending people are 'witches' has been quite literally used to oppress women. Usually some sort of single lady, who lives alone that was common in the past because even if they had family they often died off, and has a pet. nasty bullying people would declare them a witch and in some cases even have them burned to death. The book The Crucible, although fictional, is a dramatic account of a real-life event, the Salem Witch Trials. This stuff isn't harmless fun, it's serious.
Although it is unlikely a formal witch trial would occur via adult legal systems in Western society today, this hasn't stopped the ability for little brats like Karen to bully adults in the form of harmless female neighbours. If you want to encourage your child to bully adult female neighbours for no reason, then have them read this terrible book!
Therefore the plot of the book is just this. Karen has decided for no reason that the neighbour is a witch. She keeps spying on the neighbour, even though the adults tell her 'spying on neighbours' is against the rules. A few times Kristy/adults tell her witches are not real, but Karen ignores them. She overhears the neighbour talking about 'midnight'. This is clearly just talking to her cat, Midnight, but Karen is too stupid to realise this. She decides that neighbour is arranging a witch's meeting for midnight. Karen sets the alarm clock wrong and doesn't wake up at midnight to spy as she intended. However then at midday she sees people arriving at Neighbour's house and decides the witches meeting must be now!
In the book we also see the introduction of Hannie, which is one of Karen's best friends. Hannie is introduced ungloriously of being Karen's friend because she usually does whatever Karen tells her or decides. Not much of a friendship but that is apparently the kind of kid compatible with Karen! So Hannie immediately accepts or at least placidly goes along with Karen's accusation that Neighbour is a witch, and they both gatecrash this 'meeting' at neighbours house a room full of adults. Karen then accuses them all of being witches in a rude and hurtful way. I think Ann M. Martin is supposed to make us think 'Oh aren't kids cute/funny' here but I'm afraid it's either just dumb or disturbing. One of the attendees at the meeting is Karen's grandmother, who sort of tells Karen off. Karen is aware that her grandmother is not a witch, so she probably accepts that this was not a witches meeting and she made a mistake. But does Karen learn a lesson. NO NOT AT ALL!
First of all, Karen doesn't get into trouble. Her parents just reward her because 'she thought she was doing something brave'. She has to write a sorry letter to neighbour and Karen's reaction makes it clear she is not sorry and this chore is effectively meaningless.
Then the end of the book makes it clear the entire story had no effect at all. Karen is convinced as ever the neighbour is a witch and the entire book has not changed her mind at all.
I'm sure if I had read this book when I was 6, even then I would have thought it was dumb!
In conclusion: No, I do not recommend this book. I would not give it to a child to read and the messages in it are bad. In some of the later books, Karen sort of learns a lesson from the consequences of her actions, in this one she deliberately does not. The book is awful. 0 stars.
Since it is the first Karen book, it was certainly written by Ann M. Martin herself rather than a ghostwriter. As I said though, the intended target audience for the book is confused.
This series is a spinoff from the more famous 'Baby-sitters Club' books. I raise this because it almost seems like this is just a super-long re-telling of those chapters of Baby-sitters Club books where they recount the things the kids they are babysitting get up to except written from the kid's point of view, and then we are supposed to think 'oh aren't kids cute'.
Except in this case, Karen is not cute, she is just a spoiled brat and in this book I feel I would have been unable to relate to her even when I was 6. In slightly later books in the series, that effectively improves, Karen sort of learns a lesson from her behaviour and the books have a semi-positive message. In this one there is just validation of her bad behaviour and I'd hate to think what sort of message it would send a kid!
The premise of this book is very straightforward: Karen has decided that her neighbour is a witch. No reason except that the woman is older, probably lives alone, and has a black cat called Midnight. The neighbour isn't particularly mean or anything, she just happens to live next door and mind her own business. If you think that the book ends with Karen finding out her mistake and recognising the harmless neighbour is not a witch, it doesn't. Karen ends the book as convinced as ever neighbour is a witch and has learned absolutely nothing from the entire story!
In the retrospective glorification of Ann M. Martin and the BSC, I have seen people go on about the 'positive' messages it sends girls and Martin being a 'feminist' and all that, and books like this one are clear evidence that this is not the case. Try to think of this book more critically. Firstly, I would have known that this book was dumb even when I really was 6 because witches do not exist, and this itself is why I never read this Karen book to start with since I only chose the ones whose stories seemed interesting. However, as I got a bit older I learned something far more disturbing. Historically, pretending people are 'witches' has been quite literally used to oppress women. Usually some sort of single lady, who lives alone that was common in the past because even if they had family they often died off, and has a pet. nasty bullying people would declare them a witch and in some cases even have them burned to death. The book The Crucible, although fictional, is a dramatic account of a real-life event, the Salem Witch Trials. This stuff isn't harmless fun, it's serious.
Although it is unlikely a formal witch trial would occur via adult legal systems in Western society today, this hasn't stopped the ability for little brats like Karen to bully adults in the form of harmless female neighbours. If you want to encourage your child to bully adult female neighbours for no reason, then have them read this terrible book!
Therefore the plot of the book is just this. Karen has decided for no reason that the neighbour is a witch. She keeps spying on the neighbour, even though the adults tell her 'spying on neighbours' is against the rules. A few times Kristy/adults tell her witches are not real, but Karen ignores them. She overhears the neighbour talking about 'midnight'. This is clearly just talking to her cat, Midnight, but Karen is too stupid to realise this. She decides that neighbour is arranging a witch's meeting for midnight. Karen sets the alarm clock wrong and doesn't wake up at midnight to spy as she intended. However then at midday she sees people arriving at Neighbour's house and decides the witches meeting must be now!
In the book we also see the introduction of Hannie, which is one of Karen's best friends. Hannie is introduced ungloriously of being Karen's friend because she usually does whatever Karen tells her or decides. Not much of a friendship but that is apparently the kind of kid compatible with Karen! So Hannie immediately accepts or at least placidly goes along with Karen's accusation that Neighbour is a witch, and they both gatecrash this 'meeting' at neighbours house a room full of adults. Karen then accuses them all of being witches in a rude and hurtful way. I think Ann M. Martin is supposed to make us think 'Oh aren't kids cute/funny' here but I'm afraid it's either just dumb or disturbing. One of the attendees at the meeting is Karen's grandmother, who sort of tells Karen off. Karen is aware that her grandmother is not a witch, so she probably accepts that this was not a witches meeting and she made a mistake. But does Karen learn a lesson. NO NOT AT ALL!
First of all, Karen doesn't get into trouble. Her parents just reward her because 'she thought she was doing something brave'. She has to write a sorry letter to neighbour and Karen's reaction makes it clear she is not sorry and this chore is effectively meaningless.
Then the end of the book makes it clear the entire story had no effect at all. Karen is convinced as ever the neighbour is a witch and the entire book has not changed her mind at all.
I'm sure if I had read this book when I was 6, even then I would have thought it was dumb!
In conclusion: No, I do not recommend this book. I would not give it to a child to read and the messages in it are bad. In some of the later books, Karen sort of learns a lesson from the consequences of her actions, in this one she deliberately does not. The book is awful. 0 stars.
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November 28, 2024Karen’s Witch
Karen tells about the ups and downs of having two different families (celebrating two birthday, holidays, two different sets of rules, etc). She tells us one of the rules at her Dad’s house is no spying but she has to spy because there’s a witch next door. She goes by the name Mrs. Porter but her real name is “Morbidda Destiny”.
On a weekend, Karen and Andrew’s mom drop them off at Watson’s. Karen tells Andew it feels like a fall night. It’s windy and there’s a full moon. After they get settled in and eat, the rest of the family go off on their separate ways. Sam and Charlie to a school dance and Watson and Elizabeth to the movies. Kristy sits for them that night and they play “Old Maids.” Karen hears Boo-Boo and goes to the door to let him in, but it’s not Boo Boo. It’s Midnight-Morbidda Destiny’s cat-.
Karen thinks it might even be the witch herself. Kristy says he’s probably just coming to play with Boo-Boo. Only Karen points out he’s never done it before. They return to their game of “Old Maids”. Karen let’s David Micheal in on who it was. Kristy doesn’t see the big deal. Kristy wants to return to the card game, but Karen suggests telling scary stories.
Kristy reads them “The Tooth Witch” as a compromise. Karen wants a scary story, but Andrew doesn’t. The three kids brush their teeth and go to bed. Kristy -as promised- reads Karen “The Littlest Witch” -one of her favorite books-. She says she’d like the story more if there wasn’t a witch next door. Kristy says there isn’t, but Karen knows there is.
Once in bed, Karen replays back everything that happened since she got there. Then she starts thinking about Morbidda Desntiny’s wild gray hair, black cat, herb garden, and broomstick. The weird thing is tho she’s never seen her ride her broomstick. Maybe she thinks she just rides it at night. Karen tries to stay up and catch her riding it but she starts to nod off. (She can see Morbidda’s house though her window).
Something makes her sit up. She sees Morbidda riding on her broomstick with Midnight in front of her. Karen screams and Kristy comes in the room. But when they look out the window there’s nothing. The window isn’t even open. Kristy tells Karen she must have had a bad dream. Then she tells her she can sleep in her room. She can bring all her things and they’ll close the window. Karen can’t fall asleep so Kristy reads her a bedtime story. She must have been more sleepy than she thought because she can’t remember the story.
The next morning, Karen wakes up in Kristy’s bed and then remembers why. After eating breakfast she goes to spy on Morbidda Destiny. She looks all around-white avoiding Watson whose in the garden- but finds nothing. Kristy catches Karen spying inside and Karen tells her she doesn’t think MD came back. Which means she’s probably at a witch meeting and something is about to go down. Kristy just shakes her head.
Hannie comes by and they dress up like witches and think about rhymes. When they look for Boo-Boo to make him get on their broomstick he’s sleep. So they continue to make up rhymes until they hear someone in the garden. It’s MD. She’s in her herb garden snipping plants and Karen hears her mumble “Midnight, Important meeting, and company coming.”
Karen forgets where she is and lets out a loud explanation and Mrs. Porter hears her so she and Hannie run into the house. Hannie tells her she thinks she was just talking to her cat. Then Watson and Elizabeth come into the kitchen. Watson asks them what they’ve been upt to and Hannie almost says spying. (One of Watson’s rules remember is no spying). Karen says nothing (quickly) and asks what he’s been up to and he says gardening. He says maybe he’ll grow a berb garden and he’ll ask Mrs. Porter for some advice. Karen shrieks NO so loudly that Elizabeth drops a glass. She covers it up by saying she just doesn’t like herbs. Elizabeth sends them (Karen and Hannie upstairs while she cleans up the glass).
That night after Kristy reads to Karen -the Littlest Witch again- she tells her about the witch meeting that’s happening at midnight. Kristy closes the window and tells her don’t go spying tonight. It’ll just make her crazy. She offers to let Karen sleep in her room, but she turns it down. She has a plan. Karen sets an old alarm clock so she can wake up, catch the witches in the act, and if needed bring them to the neighbor’s attention. Only the alarm doesn’t go off and Karen suspects MD put a spell on it. She wonders what went on in the meeting and only has this day to find out before she has to go back to her mom and stepdad’s house for two weeks.
So, she tries to check out MD’s house for signs that she had company-a forgotten hat, or broomstick, or cat- but she finds nothing -again-. But Watson catches her and she has to lie and say she lost her ring. She’s also caught by Kristy. After she leaves to go off with Maryanne, Watson moves his gardening to the back-he’s trying to get his garden of herbs next to Mrs. Porters-. So, Karen moves her spying to the front-which is a better spot-. She sees Mrs. Porter come out and start sweeping and then cars of ladies start arriving. One is carrying a casserole dish. The other cookies. Another books and papers. Karen runs off to tell Hannie.
Karen tells Hannie she got it wrong. MD didn’t mean midnight. She meant noon. They have to go over there and stop her. Then they’ll be heroes and get a parade and a day off school. Hannie really doesn’t want to but Karen says they can get some herbs from MD’s garden. SMH If Karen knew anything she’d find some AMETHYSTE. But there are some herbs. I’m not sure if she’d have MINT or DILL. She’d probably need DILL-protection against dark forces-. But if she’s a witch.. Getting back to the story.
Hannie just steals some random herbs-where’s the internet when you need it in these days-. Then they say a spell over there. “Here are the witches. We’ll give them a wack. So they won’t hurt us and they’ll never come back.” ” Then they divide the leaves up and plan to barge right in and tell them they know what they’re up too-and this will make them stop-. SNORTS REALLY? Like they’ll be scared of *that*. They must not have read “The Witches” by Ronald Dahl. So, Karen marches over to the witch’s house. Hannie doesn’t want her to go through with it. When Mrs. Porter opens she’s surprised but lets them come inside when Karen says she wants to go to the meeting.
She stands up in front of all the witches and attempts to call them out, but grandmother is in the back of the room (mother’s mother-Mrs. Pickett-). She makes them apologize and then takes them home. Watson and Elizabeth say they can’t punish Karen because she thought she was doing something brave, but emphasizes there are no witches. Then they make her write a thank you note. (Sam and Charlie tease her heavily for this). She tries to play it off and says she knew it was a gardening meeting. She was just trying to give Mrs. Porter a laugh. But at the end of the book she says it might have been just a gardening meeting, but Mrs. Porter is *still* a witch and she’s the only one who knows it. And you know what I think she’s right!
My Thoughts:
This book amused me! A funny thing is when I read this a long time ago my mother must have liked the name “Morbidda Destiny” so much that she told me my father “acted like that character in that book”. And that’s what she started to call him. No lie! She *still* does from time to time.
This whole book should have been called “Karen’s Mistake” and not just the last chapter. And the mistake wasn’t even that Mrs. Porter wasn’t a witch. We’ll get to that. There were a lot of a mistakes. The first one was thinking a witch would be stupid enough to fly their broomsticks out in the open -even if it were night- for people to expose them. That would *NEVER* happen! I’d like to think witches would be smarter than that. Surely, they’d cast an invisibility spell. Did they have this in place when they transportetd Harry? Maybe if they had George’s ear wouldn’t have got hexed off? So, ok maybe Karen *did* see them. I’ll give her that one.
But then stealing herbs from a witch’s garden number one. Then you don’t even know what the herb IS. I know they didn’t really have the internet back then, but even if it was just dial-up, I’m sure Watson has a computer. He’s a BILLIONAIRE. And yes I know she didn’t have much time. Still, in a witch’s garden you just can’t take that chance. What if it wasn’t a protection herb but a dangerous herb they’d picked-against them-. Then they REALLY would have been sorry.
Then bursting up into a house when you *know* there’s a TON of witch’s is just SUICIDAL! I just keep thinking of “The Witches” where the boy tried that-calling them out- and he would up turned into a mouse. This was NOT A GOOD IDEA! Karen and Hannie could have ended up in a jar in the attic on MD’s shelves and no one would have ever heard from her again. Since her grandmother was one she certainly wouldn’t have told and exposed her whole community. She’d probably have made a clone to send back to Watson’s. Hmm!!!
But here’s something I figured out a long time ago! All these books “Karen’s Witch” “Mrs. Piggle Wiggle” “The Witch Down the Street”(a Care Bears book) and “The Haunted House” (a Sweet Valley Twins book) that try to get us to believe in the end it’s not a witch and it’s just “a little old lady that’s lonely” YEEEAH! 10x out of 10x the kid is right. IT’S A WITCH! They’re just trying to protect our innocence and get us to believe “there’s no such thing”. But if someone suspects it.. There’s probably a REASON. Just like in the SVT books, Andy really IS an alien. But that’s just my theory about these kinds of books. Even Karen knows what the deal is at the end of the book, which REALLY makes me question her sanity because I know she’s gonna continue to poke around until she *really* ends up finding something one day..
Rating: 7
Karen tells about the ups and downs of having two different families (celebrating two birthday, holidays, two different sets of rules, etc). She tells us one of the rules at her Dad’s house is no spying but she has to spy because there’s a witch next door. She goes by the name Mrs. Porter but her real name is “Morbidda Destiny”.
On a weekend, Karen and Andrew’s mom drop them off at Watson’s. Karen tells Andew it feels like a fall night. It’s windy and there’s a full moon. After they get settled in and eat, the rest of the family go off on their separate ways. Sam and Charlie to a school dance and Watson and Elizabeth to the movies. Kristy sits for them that night and they play “Old Maids.” Karen hears Boo-Boo and goes to the door to let him in, but it’s not Boo Boo. It’s Midnight-Morbidda Destiny’s cat-.
Karen thinks it might even be the witch herself. Kristy says he’s probably just coming to play with Boo-Boo. Only Karen points out he’s never done it before. They return to their game of “Old Maids”. Karen let’s David Micheal in on who it was. Kristy doesn’t see the big deal. Kristy wants to return to the card game, but Karen suggests telling scary stories.
Kristy reads them “The Tooth Witch” as a compromise. Karen wants a scary story, but Andrew doesn’t. The three kids brush their teeth and go to bed. Kristy -as promised- reads Karen “The Littlest Witch” -one of her favorite books-. She says she’d like the story more if there wasn’t a witch next door. Kristy says there isn’t, but Karen knows there is.
Once in bed, Karen replays back everything that happened since she got there. Then she starts thinking about Morbidda Desntiny’s wild gray hair, black cat, herb garden, and broomstick. The weird thing is tho she’s never seen her ride her broomstick. Maybe she thinks she just rides it at night. Karen tries to stay up and catch her riding it but she starts to nod off. (She can see Morbidda’s house though her window).
Something makes her sit up. She sees Morbidda riding on her broomstick with Midnight in front of her. Karen screams and Kristy comes in the room. But when they look out the window there’s nothing. The window isn’t even open. Kristy tells Karen she must have had a bad dream. Then she tells her she can sleep in her room. She can bring all her things and they’ll close the window. Karen can’t fall asleep so Kristy reads her a bedtime story. She must have been more sleepy than she thought because she can’t remember the story.
The next morning, Karen wakes up in Kristy’s bed and then remembers why. After eating breakfast she goes to spy on Morbidda Destiny. She looks all around-white avoiding Watson whose in the garden- but finds nothing. Kristy catches Karen spying inside and Karen tells her she doesn’t think MD came back. Which means she’s probably at a witch meeting and something is about to go down. Kristy just shakes her head.
Hannie comes by and they dress up like witches and think about rhymes. When they look for Boo-Boo to make him get on their broomstick he’s sleep. So they continue to make up rhymes until they hear someone in the garden. It’s MD. She’s in her herb garden snipping plants and Karen hears her mumble “Midnight, Important meeting, and company coming.”
Karen forgets where she is and lets out a loud explanation and Mrs. Porter hears her so she and Hannie run into the house. Hannie tells her she thinks she was just talking to her cat. Then Watson and Elizabeth come into the kitchen. Watson asks them what they’ve been upt to and Hannie almost says spying. (One of Watson’s rules remember is no spying). Karen says nothing (quickly) and asks what he’s been up to and he says gardening. He says maybe he’ll grow a berb garden and he’ll ask Mrs. Porter for some advice. Karen shrieks NO so loudly that Elizabeth drops a glass. She covers it up by saying she just doesn’t like herbs. Elizabeth sends them (Karen and Hannie upstairs while she cleans up the glass).
That night after Kristy reads to Karen -the Littlest Witch again- she tells her about the witch meeting that’s happening at midnight. Kristy closes the window and tells her don’t go spying tonight. It’ll just make her crazy. She offers to let Karen sleep in her room, but she turns it down. She has a plan. Karen sets an old alarm clock so she can wake up, catch the witches in the act, and if needed bring them to the neighbor’s attention. Only the alarm doesn’t go off and Karen suspects MD put a spell on it. She wonders what went on in the meeting and only has this day to find out before she has to go back to her mom and stepdad’s house for two weeks.
So, she tries to check out MD’s house for signs that she had company-a forgotten hat, or broomstick, or cat- but she finds nothing -again-. But Watson catches her and she has to lie and say she lost her ring. She’s also caught by Kristy. After she leaves to go off with Maryanne, Watson moves his gardening to the back-he’s trying to get his garden of herbs next to Mrs. Porters-. So, Karen moves her spying to the front-which is a better spot-. She sees Mrs. Porter come out and start sweeping and then cars of ladies start arriving. One is carrying a casserole dish. The other cookies. Another books and papers. Karen runs off to tell Hannie.
Karen tells Hannie she got it wrong. MD didn’t mean midnight. She meant noon. They have to go over there and stop her. Then they’ll be heroes and get a parade and a day off school. Hannie really doesn’t want to but Karen says they can get some herbs from MD’s garden. SMH If Karen knew anything she’d find some AMETHYSTE. But there are some herbs. I’m not sure if she’d have MINT or DILL. She’d probably need DILL-protection against dark forces-. But if she’s a witch.. Getting back to the story.
Hannie just steals some random herbs-where’s the internet when you need it in these days-. Then they say a spell over there. “Here are the witches. We’ll give them a wack. So they won’t hurt us and they’ll never come back.” ” Then they divide the leaves up and plan to barge right in and tell them they know what they’re up too-and this will make them stop-. SNORTS REALLY? Like they’ll be scared of *that*. They must not have read “The Witches” by Ronald Dahl. So, Karen marches over to the witch’s house. Hannie doesn’t want her to go through with it. When Mrs. Porter opens she’s surprised but lets them come inside when Karen says she wants to go to the meeting.
She stands up in front of all the witches and attempts to call them out, but grandmother is in the back of the room (mother’s mother-Mrs. Pickett-). She makes them apologize and then takes them home. Watson and Elizabeth say they can’t punish Karen because she thought she was doing something brave, but emphasizes there are no witches. Then they make her write a thank you note. (Sam and Charlie tease her heavily for this). She tries to play it off and says she knew it was a gardening meeting. She was just trying to give Mrs. Porter a laugh. But at the end of the book she says it might have been just a gardening meeting, but Mrs. Porter is *still* a witch and she’s the only one who knows it. And you know what I think she’s right!
My Thoughts:
This book amused me! A funny thing is when I read this a long time ago my mother must have liked the name “Morbidda Destiny” so much that she told me my father “acted like that character in that book”. And that’s what she started to call him. No lie! She *still* does from time to time.
This whole book should have been called “Karen’s Mistake” and not just the last chapter. And the mistake wasn’t even that Mrs. Porter wasn’t a witch. We’ll get to that. There were a lot of a mistakes. The first one was thinking a witch would be stupid enough to fly their broomsticks out in the open -even if it were night- for people to expose them. That would *NEVER* happen! I’d like to think witches would be smarter than that. Surely, they’d cast an invisibility spell. Did they have this in place when they transportetd Harry? Maybe if they had George’s ear wouldn’t have got hexed off? So, ok maybe Karen *did* see them. I’ll give her that one.
But then stealing herbs from a witch’s garden number one. Then you don’t even know what the herb IS. I know they didn’t really have the internet back then, but even if it was just dial-up, I’m sure Watson has a computer. He’s a BILLIONAIRE. And yes I know she didn’t have much time. Still, in a witch’s garden you just can’t take that chance. What if it wasn’t a protection herb but a dangerous herb they’d picked-against them-. Then they REALLY would have been sorry.
Then bursting up into a house when you *know* there’s a TON of witch’s is just SUICIDAL! I just keep thinking of “The Witches” where the boy tried that-calling them out- and he would up turned into a mouse. This was NOT A GOOD IDEA! Karen and Hannie could have ended up in a jar in the attic on MD’s shelves and no one would have ever heard from her again. Since her grandmother was one she certainly wouldn’t have told and exposed her whole community. She’d probably have made a clone to send back to Watson’s. Hmm!!!
But here’s something I figured out a long time ago! All these books “Karen’s Witch” “Mrs. Piggle Wiggle” “The Witch Down the Street”(a Care Bears book) and “The Haunted House” (a Sweet Valley Twins book) that try to get us to believe in the end it’s not a witch and it’s just “a little old lady that’s lonely” YEEEAH! 10x out of 10x the kid is right. IT’S A WITCH! They’re just trying to protect our innocence and get us to believe “there’s no such thing”. But if someone suspects it.. There’s probably a REASON. Just like in the SVT books, Andy really IS an alien. But that’s just my theory about these kinds of books. Even Karen knows what the deal is at the end of the book, which REALLY makes me question her sanity because I know she’s gonna continue to poke around until she *really* ends up finding something one day..
Rating: 7
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 25, 2015
I really liked reading this book. I think the students in my classroom would enjoy reading this book as well because of the suspense. Reading this book makes me want to continue to read the rest of the BSC books! Karen is convinced that her neighbor is a witch. When she and her friend Hannie decide to confront her they are forced with the truth.
August 13, 2010
And here began my long spiral downward into the depths of reading series books... some 100 books into the Baby Sitters Club later, I emerged, wondering what in the world junior high kids were supposed to read. Whoops.
June 3, 2016
I didn't read for fun until I read these. Then I started reading like crazy. I don't think I would like these books half as much now as I did then, so my rating is going to be based on my 7-9 year old self.
July 24, 2011
What young girl did not love the Baby-Sitters Club and Karen, the Baby-Sitters Little Sister?
July 29, 2020
So I've been reading my childhood favourites lately, even more so lately because it helps my mind turn off from the absolute madness around me. I truly can't watch TV, go on social media for long because it either raises my blood pressure with the stupidity of people and that it turns makes me anxious because there seem to be so many stupid crazy people out there. With a big chunk of pandemic back pay in my pocket I went a little wild bought a real kindle and tons of books that were hugely popular in the 80's and 90's. I've already started the original BSC on audio, and have referred to Karen Brewer as a future serial killer. I'm not sure about that but I'm sure she'll be involved in some criminal activity. She already is in this book at least. Stalking. Yes poor Mrs. Porter next door is really a witch called Mobidda Destiny and she flies around on a broom. Karen instead of playing and being a real kid instead watches her house and yard constantly peeking through hedges or staring at her house from her bedroom window. Seriously Watson discipline your child. Karen convinces herself that Mrs. Porter flew away on a broom one night and is planning a party for witches every where. Then she drags poor Hannie along with her. Poor Hannie it sucks having a crazy bully as a friend been there. To top it off she faces virtually no consequences for her actions. Great lesson for kids reading this. I can only imagine what my parents would've done if I acted like Karen. It was interesting to see life through Karen's eyes though, and the book had it's funny moments too and I was very entertained reading it. Of course just before I started reading I saw a Facebook post asking if Karen grew up to be a "Karen" the answer is probably yes, but I'm sticking with criminal for now.
August 27, 2025
If any character of The Baby-Sitters Club is worthy of their own spin-off series, it is Karen Brewer. You’ll find that Karen Brewer is a hotly contested topic among BSC fans - you either love her or hate her. I personally find her terribly entertaining - her hijinks know no bounds - and she definitely has the personality and imagination to carry her own series.
In the first book of Baby-Sitters Little Sister, Karen’s Witch, Karen finds herself obsessed with her next door neighbor, Ms. Porter, AKA Morbidda Destiny. Readers of the original BSC series will be quite familiar with Morb … erm, Ms. Porter, as she has a feature in the very first BSC book, Kristy’s Great Idea. Karen is convinced that Ms. Porter is a really and truly witch, and she sets out to prove it in this novel. With an imagination as big as Karen’s, it is not a stretch for her to spin the most innocuous of Ms. Porter’s words and actions into something spooky … and witchy!
The Baby-Sitters Little Sister series is perfect for readers just getting into chapter books and those who may still be too young for the actual Baby-Sitters Club series. Karen’s Witch is divided into short, digestible chapters, and Karen is such an animated and engaging narrator that there is no opportunity to grow bored or wearisome with her story. Young readers will feel like they are hearing their best friend tell the most outlandish tale when they pick up this frightfully fun novel. Check this one out during spooky season for even more atmospheric vibes!
In the first book of Baby-Sitters Little Sister, Karen’s Witch, Karen finds herself obsessed with her next door neighbor, Ms. Porter, AKA Morbidda Destiny. Readers of the original BSC series will be quite familiar with Morb … erm, Ms. Porter, as she has a feature in the very first BSC book, Kristy’s Great Idea. Karen is convinced that Ms. Porter is a really and truly witch, and she sets out to prove it in this novel. With an imagination as big as Karen’s, it is not a stretch for her to spin the most innocuous of Ms. Porter’s words and actions into something spooky … and witchy!
The Baby-Sitters Little Sister series is perfect for readers just getting into chapter books and those who may still be too young for the actual Baby-Sitters Club series. Karen’s Witch is divided into short, digestible chapters, and Karen is such an animated and engaging narrator that there is no opportunity to grow bored or wearisome with her story. Young readers will feel like they are hearing their best friend tell the most outlandish tale when they pick up this frightfully fun novel. Check this one out during spooky season for even more atmospheric vibes!
September 13, 2020
Okay, this was unexpectedly hilarious. I did not expect this to be a thoroughly enjoyable read. Whether Ann M. Martin intended this to be funny or not, I cannot say, but it was. It really was. Karen (and it was nice to see the name used for something other than putting someone down again) Brewer is going to her father's house (parents are divorced, dad married a second wife) and she thinks the neighbor is a witch. Mrs. Porter allegedly is a witch, and her real name is supposedly Morbidda Destiny. Karen isn't supposed to spy, but does, and even gets her best friend Hannie to help, and the result was unexpectedly hilarious. 5 stars.
UPDATE, 09-13-2020: I have never actually reread a book so quickly in the year, unless you count children's books when I was really little. I just had to read this with my fiancè and he thought it was as hilarious as I did. Upon rereading, I noticed I forgot to mention that Ann M. Martin got one thing wrong. She wrote in that male witches are always warlocks. That's actually false. Even a male can be a witch. It's just been popularized as being gender specific. It doesnt affect my rating, though. The falsehood actually comes from Karen's stepsister Kristy, so maybe the character just didn't know much about the subject? 🤷♂️ Still 5 stars.
UPDATE, 09-13-2020: I have never actually reread a book so quickly in the year, unless you count children's books when I was really little. I just had to read this with my fiancè and he thought it was as hilarious as I did. Upon rereading, I noticed I forgot to mention that Ann M. Martin got one thing wrong. She wrote in that male witches are always warlocks. That's actually false. Even a male can be a witch. It's just been popularized as being gender specific. It doesnt affect my rating, though. The falsehood actually comes from Karen's stepsister Kristy, so maybe the character just didn't know much about the subject? 🤷♂️ Still 5 stars.
May 11, 2024
Before I got into The Baby-sitters Club, I was OBSESSED with the Karen books. We were so alike: my parents were also divorced! I also had a younger brother, and a special teddy bear and blankie! (Lol I still do, all these years later.) I also skipped a year of school and had too much imagination! I loved Karen, so I loved these books.
This series starts out super ridiculous right out of the gate. No slice-of-life story about friends and whatnot for Karen, we go right into over the top witchy accusations and awkwardness. Karen is unhinged and I love it. But when I was young, I think I always thought the scene where Karen "sees" Morbidda Destiny fly on a broom out of her window took place in Karen's Ghost , which scared the hell out of me. But this book never scared me. So I don't know.
This series starts out super ridiculous right out of the gate. No slice-of-life story about friends and whatnot for Karen, we go right into over the top witchy accusations and awkwardness. Karen is unhinged and I love it. But when I was young, I think I always thought the scene where Karen "sees" Morbidda Destiny fly on a broom out of her window took place in Karen's Ghost , which scared the hell out of me. But this book never scared me. So I don't know.
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