So, over at Unshelved they believe reading should be, well, reading.

[conuly]

http://www.unshelved.com/2011-3-4/

On a semi-related topic, I recently (and randomly) found myself at Amazon's page for the BSC graphic novel.

There are two negative reviews, which are just lol-tastic:

"While graphic novels certainly have their value and place, I feel it cheapens this series--turning a classic series into little more than a comic book. Don't underestimate your child's intelligence--get her the originals."

"Don't get me wrong, I am sure this "book" is cute, but it is NOT the Babysitter's Club. It is a cartoon, and I am highly disgusted that after this many years they are publishing it as a "graphic novel" instead of giving us a reissue!"

To both these comments I have to say... are we talking about the same Baby-Sitters Club I grew up with? I don't see how you can "cheapen" a series churned out one-a-month by a set of ghostwriters, written on a permanent 4th grade level despite the fact that the characters were supposed to be in the 8th grade. Underestimating their intelligence? Dude. It's the Baby-Sitters Club. I read them as voraciously as the next girl, but let's not pretend they ever estimated our intelligence in the first place!

Comments

[dreamingpixels]

Oh man, Baby-Sitters Club. I tore through those faster than they came out, haha. I remember when I first discovered them, back in third grade - I asked the librarian at my elementary school if we had any Baby-Sitters Club books, and she handed me one of the Baby-Sitters Little Sister books, thinking it was more my reading level. Apparently she never got the memo that I'd been reading at a 7th grade level since kindergarten. :P I actually felt a little insulted that she gave me such an easy book!

[conuly]

:)

[dragonwolf]

As you said, let's not pretend they estimated our intelligence.

I read a couple of them, but mostly skipped over them entirely, preferring things like The Wizard of Oz and stuff from the Great Illustrated Classics company. That said, I think both comments seriously underestimate graphic novels and comic books as storytelling mediums.

[conuly]

That said, I think both comments seriously underestimate graphic novels and comic books as storytelling mediums.

Oh, I agree. I loathe comments like that, because they're just so smugly ignorant. It positively hurts, and you know they think they're the clever ones!

[delphi]

But don't you see, seeing the girls' ridiculous outfits just doesn't stimulate the brain in the way that spending three pages reading about mismatched banana earrings and sparkly silver flight suits does.

[conuly]

Hey, Claudia's descriptions make reading through another iteration of "Kristy looked like a tomboy, Mary Anne was dressed like a six year old" worthwhile. Claudia is at least *interesting*.

[delphi]

I almost want to say the flight suit was Stacey. That one made even six-year-old me raise an eyebrow.

[conuly]

Stacey gets on my nerves for being the sort of person I call New Yorker Than Thou. I know everybody thinks that here in NYC we think we're at the center of the universe, but that's not actually true, for a number of reasons. People who leave the city and keep talking and acting and dressing like they're still there are being damn provincial like tourists, and they're supposed to know better.

[erisiansaint]

Anyone who says 'just a comic book' never read comic books. Some of them are brilliantly crafted stories that would suffer by being in another medium. Sin City? 300? Neil Gaiman's Sandman? (Ok, granted, 2 of the 3 were made into rather good movies, but the comics were still better.)

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

My daughter learned to read from The Complete Elfquest, which we read over and over and over together. Neither of us ever read any of The Baby-Sitter's Club series because it was obviously commercially-packaged generic tripe.

I have to say, though, I heartily agree with giving children the full and uncut original versions of classic works, rather than trying to palm off butchered and bowdlerized 'adaptations' on them, whether on paper or onscreen. Heh, don't even get me started about The Lord of the Rings.