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Netflix just released a new sitcom on July 3^rd called The Baby-Sitters Club. The series quickly gained prominence on the streaming service and even sat at as high as third in the “Top 10 in the US” section roughly a week after the release.

The sitcom centers around five middle-school girls who launch their own babysitting business. Many were not born during this time, but this new Netflix series is not the only sitcom about a babysitters club. In fact, there was a sitcom released in 1990 called The Baby-Sitters Club! Unfortunately, that show only lasted for two months and had one season with 13 episodes. There was even a film based on The Baby-Sitters Club and it released in 1995. It starred Rachel Leigh Cook, Schuyler Fisk, and more.

The new sitcom edition currently has 10 episodes in its Season 1. What do both the film and TV series have in common? They are based on the book edition of The Baby-Sitters Club written by Ann M. Martin. The Netflix version of the show is quite popular today, but many of you may not know much about Ann M. Martin. So, who is she?

Well, she is a 64-year-old writer who has been in the writing game for quite a while. She specializes in composing children’s and YA fiction. The author had her very first book published all the way back in 1983, 37 years ago. She has written countless novels and other works since, none more notable than The Baby-Sitters club, hence the TV series.

The Baby-Sitters Club is a huge book series, and it has a staggering 131 parts to it, all of which were published from 1986-1999. However, other writers were involved in the writing process for this series too, though Martin did craft the first 35 books.

Aside from the regular book series, there are other parts to The Baby-Sitters Club. There are books that are a part of the Super Specials, Super Mysteries, and Friends Forever collections.

There is also a spin-off type book series by Ann M. Martin called Baby-Sitters Little Sister. There are an eye-opening 122 novels in this series as well! Those were also written from roughly 1988-2000. To top all of that off, the writer decided to make a prequel edition of The Baby-Sittesr Club, and that book was released much later actually, in 2010.

Martin has accomplished quite a bit in her lengthy writing career! She was in contention for the Newbery Medal in 2003, which is one of the most honorable awards for children’s literature. The author ended up receiving a Newbery Honor instead for one of her other works called Corner of the Universe.

To this day, the New Jersey native has been writing novels and her most recent novel series is called Missy Piggle-Wiggle. That series had its first book published in 2016 and the latest one was released in 2018. Martin’s most recently written novel was from this series.

Because The Baby-Sitters club is such a large and well-known book series, it only seems fitting that the person who created it in the first place gets some sort of role in the production of the TV series. With Martin, just that happened. In the Netflix edition of the show, the author is taking part as a producer! It only takes one idea, and for Ann M. Martin, her concept went from books to now on one of the largest streaming services in the world.