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Baby-Sitters Little Sister #68
Karen's Angel
Asked to find a treetop angel for Christmas and experiencing difficulties with financing the one she chooses, Karen is further upset when the angel breaks and she is unable to replace it in time for the holiday. Original.
102 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
7 people are currently reading
204 people want to read
About the author
Ann M. Martin
1,123 books3,085 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 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 12, 2021
Weirdly religious for a BSC book?
Yes, I knowwwwww it's called Karen's Angel but I still found the overtly biblical stuff a bit off from regular BSC. The last Little Sister Christmas-y title I read also had a lot of catholic church stuff in it; I'm curious if it was the same ghost writer.
Overall, not a very memorable plot and Karen was whiny through the whole pageant. I did like seeing Christmas at the big house.
Yes, I knowwwwww it's called Karen's Angel but I still found the overtly biblical stuff a bit off from regular BSC. The last Little Sister Christmas-y title I read also had a lot of catholic church stuff in it; I'm curious if it was the same ghost writer.
Overall, not a very memorable plot and Karen was whiny through the whole pageant. I did like seeing Christmas at the big house.
December 16, 2025
This book really bothered me.
So, this is Karen and Andrew’s “first Christmas” living at the Big House (yeah, okay) and they see that everyone has a specific task to do for decorating. Naturally, Karen and Andrew want a job, too, so Watson tells them that they can be in charge of putting an angel at the top of the tree. When they ask to buy one Watson agrees, and he takes them to a store.
Okay, so the summary says it breaks and that’s the main conflict of this book. I assumed that was going to mean that it broke once they got home or something, which is still not a big deal because they’re kids. So imagine my surprise when it turns out that Watson is making Karen and Andrew buy the angel themselves! Um, they are SEVEN and FOUR. Did every other kid in the big house have to buy their own stocking or ornament or whatever else they are hanging up? This is ridiculous.
So, turns out they don’t have enough money and Andrew accidentally breaks the angel in the store, and the shopkeeper demands restitution by Christmas Eve (for some reason). The rest of the book, naturally, is Karen and Andrew freaking out that they won’t have enough money by Christmas Eve.
When Karen finally confesses to Watson he goes and pays for the broken angel, but then tells Karen and Andrew they have to pay him back. Seriously?! He’s a millionaire, as we are told in every single BSC book. The angel was like $19! I think you can spare that, sir.
It’s supposed to be a happy ending but seriously, I felt so bad for Karen and Andrew throughout this entire book.
So, this is Karen and Andrew’s “first Christmas” living at the Big House (yeah, okay) and they see that everyone has a specific task to do for decorating. Naturally, Karen and Andrew want a job, too, so Watson tells them that they can be in charge of putting an angel at the top of the tree. When they ask to buy one Watson agrees, and he takes them to a store.
Okay, so the summary says it breaks and that’s the main conflict of this book. I assumed that was going to mean that it broke once they got home or something, which is still not a big deal because they’re kids. So imagine my surprise when it turns out that Watson is making Karen and Andrew buy the angel themselves! Um, they are SEVEN and FOUR. Did every other kid in the big house have to buy their own stocking or ornament or whatever else they are hanging up? This is ridiculous.
So, turns out they don’t have enough money and Andrew accidentally breaks the angel in the store, and the shopkeeper demands restitution by Christmas Eve (for some reason). The rest of the book, naturally, is Karen and Andrew freaking out that they won’t have enough money by Christmas Eve.
When Karen finally confesses to Watson he goes and pays for the broken angel, but then tells Karen and Andrew they have to pay him back. Seriously?! He’s a millionaire, as we are told in every single BSC book. The angel was like $19! I think you can spare that, sir.
It’s supposed to be a happy ending but seriously, I felt so bad for Karen and Andrew throughout this entire book.
December 13, 2025
Another super cute story from Karen. She's at the big house for Christmas and the neighbors put on a Christmas play and she wants to be the angel. She and Andrew are also responsible for finding a tree topping angel. She loves angels so this is all great but they break the angel, she's assigned the part of Mary, etc. It all works out and the brattiness wasn't awful!
December 22, 2023
Karen's love for angels leads to a tough lesson on taking responsibility for one's actions.
I like Hannie's Christmas pageant, and I especially like how it highlights how kids other than Karen can take the lead in neighbourhood stuff.
I like Hannie's Christmas pageant, and I especially like how it highlights how kids other than Karen can take the lead in neighbourhood stuff.
November 7, 2025
Okay this got me a little excited for the holidays, even though they're still a month and a half away and I am not ready for that. Also I LOVE the ending with the angel on the tree. Ah, the magic of the holiday!
September 8, 2021
An 'angelic' Christmas special story in the Little Sister series
August 31, 2023
This one was my favourite.
November 18, 2023
It's supposed to be a Christmas book yet on page 22 Sam says there is no such thing as angels. Make up your mind
May 10, 2011
Would you believe me if I say this is the fourth book in a row I've read where Karen hasn't for the most part behaved like a spoilt entitled brat? I didn't think so. It's true though!
She's definitely taking after Kristy though: As soon as she has a problem, hide it, try to deal with it herself, and for goodness sake keep the adults out of it, even though they could help you. Bravo Karen. Fine shoes to fill.
She's definitely taking after Kristy though: As soon as she has a problem, hide it, try to deal with it herself, and for goodness sake keep the adults out of it, even though they could help you. Bravo Karen. Fine shoes to fill.
May 5, 2021
Loved these books as a child
October 26, 2014
An adorable children's Christmas story. The only flaw I find is Karen's spoken language; it's artificial e.g. 'No we did not buy it...', I'm probably nit-picking there but it really bugged me.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews