Marge in Charge

Gr 2–4—Marge is a small elderly woman with long rainbow hair and a colorful personality to match—she is often mistaken by children to be a youngster herself. When she is hired to care for Jemima and Jake Button, she proves that babysitters can be fun. The book is broken into three comedic episodes in which the kids break Mommy's rules while managing to accomplish some impossible feats, such as getting Jake to wash his hair and eat his broccoli. Marge claims to be a duchess related to the king of England and impresses the children with her stories. Young readers will enjoy following the escapades of Marge and her charges as they eat chocolate soup for dinner, watch Marge conduct an orchestra in the playground, and save a birthday party in the park, and will appreciate Marge's philosophy: "Why follow the rules when you can invent your own?" The abundant black-and-white line drawings add to the fun.