The Sinking of the Wiley Bean

by Margaret J. McMaster
Mansbridge Dunn Publishers
978-0-981-052557
50 pp.
Ages 7-9
2013

It's very difficult to find engaging reads for children, usually ages 5 to 7, who want to move out of picture books and onto the novels of the older kids.  Although large-format picture books can be just as challenging as lengthier reads, many children see moving up to "chapter books" as a rite of passage.  But too often, they select titles about which they've heard e.g., The Hobbit and Twilight (but totally age-inappropriate) or with recognizable elements e.g., movie, TV or game tie-ins (which can be of questionable quality). A more appropriate choice for a transition book between juvenile picture books and novel-length fiction would be the length of a short-story, with age-appropriate vocabulary and a linear plot.  Margaret J. McMaster's Babysitter Out of Control series would fit well on this bookshelf.

In this fifth book of the Babysitter Out of Control series, our young narrator Stewart is in Mongo Tongo with his care-giver, Mrs. Alice Chairbottom, and Colonel Alfred Peabody to organize the seniors' wedding.  While Mrs. Chairbottom spends endless time with the wedding co-ordinator, Colonel Peabody and Stewart go beachcombing, finding a frightening ship's figurehead which Stewart takes back to his room.  Shortly thereafter, Stewart begins having vivid nightmares of being aboard a ship during a terrible storm in which the ship breaks apart.  And, in his waking life, everything for Mrs. Chairbottom's wedding seems to be falling apart just as easily: the weather is stormy; the airport gets closed; the clothes she's selected for her husband-to-be and best man are unavailable; and her wedding cake is ruined during an earthquake.  Without giving too much more away, the story lines are resolved happily and the premise for the next volume of Babysitter Out of Control is established.

I do love the stories in the two Babysitter Out of Control books that I've read, as they have some intrigue, some humour, and some real-life issues. The Sinking of the Wiley Bean will keep the young readers engaged with the shipwreck scenario, Stewart's nightmares, and the ill-timed troubles impacting the wedding.  I don't know if they will be as concerned as I was wondering who Ronald is, a character who keeps driving Mrs. Chairbottom here and there. Without any reminders or explanations as to his relationship to the other characters in the story, Ronald is a black hole to me, not something you want in a book which should be able to stand alone.

Don't let the triviality of my unease, however, sway you from giving this story a try.  Mrs. Chairbottom is the babysitter with whom most young children would enjoy spending time, as Stewart obviously does, leading him into unusual situations and providing atypical adult responses to most circumstances.  Stewart's parents both trust Mrs. Chairbottom to care and nurture his young mind.  I think you can safely do the same.

What Happened in July

Written by Margaret J. McMaster
Mansbridge Dunn Publishers
978-0-981-052540
57 pp.
Ages 7-9
2012


What Happened in July, the fourth book in Margaret J. McMaster's Babysitter Out of Control! early reader series, has our young narrator, Stewart, again in the care of his babysitter, the elderly Mrs. Chairbottom, while his detective parents are working.

Behind one of the kitchen cupboards which Mrs. Chairbottom is having replaced, they find an old newspaper from July 1932. The cover page of the newspaper has four different words circled in red with several combinations of numbers and letters written beside them.  With the help of Mrs. Chairbottom's friend, Colonel Alfred Peabody, they discover the secret code that ultimately leads them to an old mystery of stolen diamonds.

Reminiscent of the Horrible Harry (by Suzy Kline) and Nate the Great (by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat) series of mysteries for young readers, What Happened in July presents a simple mystery that gives readers a chance to try out some new skills, here code-breaking.  While the nature of early readers generally precludes multi-layered plotting and characterizations, What Happened in July provides more than just a linear mystery plot i.e., discovering a mystery and directly finding the solution.  Because of the addition of the code-breaking and help needed to discover information not readily accessible, young readers will experience the more complicated plotting of a true mystery.

Books for early readers are at a severe disadvantage compared to picture books, longer fiction and nonfiction.  While picture books can use incredible graphics to support and add meaning to the sparse text, as can non-fiction, and middle-grade and YA literature has the opportunity and word count to extend all elements of the story to enhance its telling, early readers must rely on simple plots and easy vocabulary, perhaps with the occasional graphic, to convey a complete story.  For that reason, I feel that reading the first three books in the series would have enhanced my understanding of the characters' relationships and the history of Mrs. Chairbottom's babysitting of Stewart.  It must be difficult for authors such as Margaret J. McMaster to restrain themselves from elaborating on their plots and setting and characters to ensure that they don't lose their readership.  And too much of anything in an early chapter book is sure to turn off a new reader.  So, kudos to those authors such as Margaret J. McMaster who accept the challenge of penning a story for the youngest readers and can still tell a good solid story.

You can check out Margaret J. McMaster's blog here http://margaretmcmaster.blogspot.ca/ to see the other volumes in her Babysitter Out of Control series and her other children's book, Carried Away on Licorice Days (Mansbridge Dunn, 2008).