Isla Fisher (text), Eglantine Ceulemans (illus.), Marge in Charge, Allen & Unwin, August 2016, 176pp., $14.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781848125339
This first book by Isla Fisher is both hilarious good fun and well written. It contains 3 stories, each building on the relationship between new babysitter Marge and her charges Jemima and Jake. These stories are fast-paced, creatively crazy and describe events with energy and enthusiasm. The tales Marge weaves include some ‘big ideas’ that kids may or may not pick up on, but the same is true for the child characters in the book and Marge is just so much fun that it doesn’t matter.
Illustrations by Eglantine Ceulemans clue us in to the general goings on and her control over facial expressions perfectly capture the full range of emotions felt by the characters in these stories.
Marge makes being babysat the most fun thing there is. Imaginations go wild, limitations barely exist and yet, somehow, things get done with Marge in charge.
Reviewed by Katie Bingham
