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situationnormal's review against another edition
5.0
The portrait collection is the best. Such a bittersweet little collection of vignettes. I love Claudia's family because although her parents are "strict" they so obviously love her and are so supportive. The scene of Janine describing when Claudia was born was so sweet, too. I miss Mimi.
lberestecki's review
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
finesilkflower's review
4.0
The Portrait Collection is a series of the Baby-sitters Club girls' school-assigned "autobiographies," which take the form of 2- to 3-chapter short stories about their childhoods. I'll summarize and review each story individually.
Age 6: Claudia is excited about her circus-themed birthday party, but she has a July birthday, and none of the kids from her class remember to come except Kristy and Mary Anne. She’s too sad to continue the party, but a few hours later Mimi brings her to the Spiers’, where her family and friends have gathered an impromptu party of everyone who happens to be in the neighborhood.
This story gives a nice sense of community, of what the core three baby-sitters' lives and families were like as a kids, and of Claudia's special relationship with Mimi. (It even references the butterfly portrait story--if you're looking for that one, see [b:The Baby-Sitters Remember|2004357|The Baby-Sitters Remember (The Baby-Sitters Club Super Special, #11)|Ann M. Martin|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1216362102s/2004357.jpg|2008257].) Claudia's lion tamer aspirations fit in nicely with her personality--I know artsy/wild kids like Claudia and dressing as a lion tamer is exactly what they would have done as a six-year-old.
Age 7: Claudia is afraid of the tooth fairy and hides in the closet after her parents encourage her to put her first lost tooth under her pillow. She sees her mother come in and exchange the tooth for a coin, and she makes the leap that Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny don’t exist either. I’m not sure that would actually happen, but fine. This is the weakest and least in-character of the stories (why does this story need to be Claudia’s? Just because she's surely the most strident atheist?)
Age 9: Claudia’s parents enroll her in an alternative learning academy in Stamford. Isolated from her friends, Claudia gradually loses interest in everything she once enjoyed and begins sleeping all the time. Her parents get scared and let her return to SES and her friends, whereupon her situational depression disappears.
The description of how it feels to just be sad and disinterested in life is the most vivid and accessible I’ve ready in a children’s book or perhaps anywhere. And the details of the touchy-feely school which sneak in around the edges are spot-on (without denigrating the school. If only she had made friends there, and/or found a way to keep her outside friendships despite attending a different school, it seems like she totally would have done awesome there.) The story is sad and glum, but it’s also the best one in the book.
Age 11: Claudia goes on vacation with Kristy’s family. She enjoys looking after David Michael with and without Kristy’s help. When David Michael gets lost once when Kristy is in charge, and Kristy freaks out, Claudia sees her bold carefree friend for the first time as a girl with a lot of responsibility on her shoulders. While this is more of a Kristy character study than a Claudia one, I like seeing what the two of them were like as kid-friends, and it's certainly interesting to see Kristy's family from the outside. It's also marginally baby-sitting-related, which is nice.
Grade: Claudia gets a B-: A+ for content and design (she added illustrations and frontmatter and stuff), but points off for spelling and grammar. We don't see those errors, of course; the book is written like any other. I guess in these autobiographies, we are getting the idealized version of what the narrators want to convey. That said, the fact that about 20% of the autobiography grade is apparently spelling and grammar is depressing/accurate/exactly what's wrong with the school system and why Claudia can't get motivated. I remember the moment in eighth grade--when I was still in normal school--when I realized that the writing assignments I'd poured my heart into always got poor grades because I'd get caught up with the content and either forget the rules or I'd actually break them on purpose because I cared about expressing things in a certain way. Meanwhile, the bullshit that I pulled out of my ass and organized in a dull five-paragraph format would get stellar grades. So I decided to just write bullshit from then on. And look: I've been doing it ever since. School's the worst.
Read as a kid: Yes. Quite possibly this is one of the last new BSC books I ever purchased, but I still read it several times. I liked the alternative school story even before I ever went to such a school.
Age 6: Claudia is excited about her circus-themed birthday party, but she has a July birthday, and none of the kids from her class remember to come except Kristy and Mary Anne. She’s too sad to continue the party, but a few hours later Mimi brings her to the Spiers’, where her family and friends have gathered an impromptu party of everyone who happens to be in the neighborhood.
This story gives a nice sense of community, of what the core three baby-sitters' lives and families were like as a kids, and of Claudia's special relationship with Mimi. (It even references the butterfly portrait story--if you're looking for that one, see [b:The Baby-Sitters Remember|2004357|The Baby-Sitters Remember (The Baby-Sitters Club Super Special, #11)|Ann M. Martin|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1216362102s/2004357.jpg|2008257].) Claudia's lion tamer aspirations fit in nicely with her personality--I know artsy/wild kids like Claudia and dressing as a lion tamer is exactly what they would have done as a six-year-old.
Age 7: Claudia is afraid of the tooth fairy and hides in the closet after her parents encourage her to put her first lost tooth under her pillow. She sees her mother come in and exchange the tooth for a coin, and she makes the leap that Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny don’t exist either. I’m not sure that would actually happen, but fine. This is the weakest and least in-character of the stories (why does this story need to be Claudia’s? Just because she's surely the most strident atheist?)
Age 9: Claudia’s parents enroll her in an alternative learning academy in Stamford. Isolated from her friends, Claudia gradually loses interest in everything she once enjoyed and begins sleeping all the time. Her parents get scared and let her return to SES and her friends, whereupon her situational depression disappears.
The description of how it feels to just be sad and disinterested in life is the most vivid and accessible I’ve ready in a children’s book or perhaps anywhere. And the details of the touchy-feely school which sneak in around the edges are spot-on (without denigrating the school. If only she had made friends there, and/or found a way to keep her outside friendships despite attending a different school, it seems like she totally would have done awesome there.) The story is sad and glum, but it’s also the best one in the book.
Age 11: Claudia goes on vacation with Kristy’s family. She enjoys looking after David Michael with and without Kristy’s help. When David Michael gets lost once when Kristy is in charge, and Kristy freaks out, Claudia sees her bold carefree friend for the first time as a girl with a lot of responsibility on her shoulders. While this is more of a Kristy character study than a Claudia one, I like seeing what the two of them were like as kid-friends, and it's certainly interesting to see Kristy's family from the outside. It's also marginally baby-sitting-related, which is nice.
Grade: Claudia gets a B-: A+ for content and design (she added illustrations and frontmatter and stuff), but points off for spelling and grammar. We don't see those errors, of course; the book is written like any other. I guess in these autobiographies, we are getting the idealized version of what the narrators want to convey. That said, the fact that about 20% of the autobiography grade is apparently spelling and grammar is depressing/accurate/exactly what's wrong with the school system and why Claudia can't get motivated. I remember the moment in eighth grade--when I was still in normal school--when I realized that the writing assignments I'd poured my heart into always got poor grades because I'd get caught up with the content and either forget the rules or I'd actually break them on purpose because I cared about expressing things in a certain way. Meanwhile, the bullshit that I pulled out of my ass and organized in a dull five-paragraph format would get stellar grades. So I decided to just write bullshit from then on. And look: I've been doing it ever since. School's the worst.
Read as a kid: Yes. Quite possibly this is one of the last new BSC books I ever purchased, but I still read it several times. I liked the alternative school story even before I ever went to such a school.
td1's review
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
sammah's review
4.0
This is by far one of my favorite books in the Portrait Collection! I think because we actually learned a few new things about Claudia there note-worthy, like her stint at the alternative school and her bout with depression (even though it's never actually called that by name). I also really appreciated the story of her spending time with Kristy! That was unexpected and nice to see, even during my adult re-read!
xtinamorse's review
Read my recap at A Year with the BSC via Stoneybrook Forever: https://www.livethemovies.com/bsc-blog/portrait-collection-claudias-book
megdurazo's review
5.0
the portrait collections is a book focused on each girl's memories of their young childhood as part of an autobiography project for their class. i don't remember much of these books, but the pictures in this book are so familiar to me, so i must have read it more than once as a kid. it's fun to learn more about the girls when they were young but wow claudia had a wild time, including a sixth birthday party that nobody showed up to and a pretty serious depressive episode in fourth grade when she transferred to an alternative school for a while. giving this one five stars because claudia never disappoints.
however--mrs. kishi is the town librarian which RULES, but also means that there's no way in the world she would discourage claudia from reading nancy drew books. no way. unless she's a bad librarian, which i refuse to accept. ann m. martin ('s ghostwriter) just maybe doesn't know a lot of librarians. {end rant}
however--mrs. kishi is the town librarian which RULES, but also means that there's no way in the world she would discourage claudia from reading nancy drew books. no way. unless she's a bad librarian, which i refuse to accept. ann m. martin ('s ghostwriter) just maybe doesn't know a lot of librarians. {end rant}
ssshira's review
5.0
in this second PORTRAIT COLLECTION book by [a:Nola Thacker|133114|Nola Thacker|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-6a03a5c12233c941481992b82eea8d23.png], claudia tells her life story:
-at four: she, mary anne, and kristy destroy wet cement that workers have laid on her driveway. when mimi catches them she has the guy smooth the cement over and lets them press their hands into it. because mimi is understanding af even when she shouldn't be.
-at six: claud has a circus-themed birthday party. she invites her whole class but only right at the end of the last school day, so maybe they stuffed the invites in their backpacks and forgot about them, or maybe they're all at camp or something -- nobody shows up. claud is understandably really upset, so the kishis, spiers, and thomases surprise her by re-throwing the party and have a wonderful time
-second grade: the truth about the tooth fairy: claud thinks that she steals teeth from kids' mouths. she catches her mom taking the tooth and has a revelation that if the tooth fairy isn't real, maybe santa and the easter bunny aren't real either.
-fourth grade: goes to a private school for underperforming kids. scholastically she does better but she gets really depressed: withdraws from her friendships with kristy and mary anne, sleeps all the time, etc.
-at eleven: goes to the beach with the thomases. when she and kristy are babysitting a 4.5 year old david michael, they let him go get a hot dog by himself and lose him. they find him but, REALLY? he is 4.5 and you're letting him walk off to buy a hot dog?
notes:
-this is the same month that [b:Stacey vs. the BSC|794905|Stacey vs. the BSC (The Baby-Sitters Club, #83)|Ann M. Martin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387700062s/794905.jpg|1958895] came out, but this one must take place first because there is no reference to stacey not being in the bsc, a fight, or anything.
-no reference to jessi's race or skin color or anything. we already know she's black anyway, so do they REALLY need to remind us, with their classic, "mal and jessi are similar and different: they both like horses but mal is white and jessi is black."
-she gets a B- on her autobiography project for spelling and grammar errors. REALLY? what a jerk teacher! she did so well and tried so hard!
-the portrayal of pre-adolescent depression is pretty spot on.
claudia outfits:
-"Looking back at me from the mirror wasn't a butterfly: just Claudia Kishi, with long black hair and brown eyes and an enormous shirt and patchwork vest over striped leggings. I looked down at my high-tops and back at the earrings I was wearing. I'd made them myself out of leftover bits of broken jewelry that my friends and family had given me: patchwork earrings."
kindergarten class photo outfit:
-"In that picture, my hair was in pigtails and I was wearing double ribbons on each pigtail -- four colors in all -- to match the flowered blouse I was wearing with my purple Oshkosh overalls. I think I had purple sneakers, too."
sixth bday party outfit:
-"Even though it was summer, I was wearing black tights and my tall black rainboots and my red jacket with the brass buttons. I had a T-shirt with a lion's head painted on the front and I wore that under the jacket."
other outfits:
mary anne (claud's 6th bday party):
-"Mary Anne was wearing a pink flowered dress with pink tights and flat black patent leather shoes. Her hair was fixed in pigtails and tied with pink bows."
kristy (claud's 6th bday party):
-"Kristy was wearing navy blue shorts with a matching camp shirt, white socks, and her best sneakers."
snacks in claudia's room:
-fruit roll-up in the pocket of her good winter coat
-hershey's hugs in the pocket of her good winter coat
-at four: she, mary anne, and kristy destroy wet cement that workers have laid on her driveway. when mimi catches them she has the guy smooth the cement over and lets them press their hands into it. because mimi is understanding af even when she shouldn't be.
-at six: claud has a circus-themed birthday party. she invites her whole class but only right at the end of the last school day, so maybe they stuffed the invites in their backpacks and forgot about them, or maybe they're all at camp or something -- nobody shows up. claud is understandably really upset, so the kishis, spiers, and thomases surprise her by re-throwing the party and have a wonderful time
-second grade: the truth about the tooth fairy: claud thinks that she steals teeth from kids' mouths. she catches her mom taking the tooth and has a revelation that if the tooth fairy isn't real, maybe santa and the easter bunny aren't real either.
-fourth grade: goes to a private school for underperforming kids. scholastically she does better but she gets really depressed: withdraws from her friendships with kristy and mary anne, sleeps all the time, etc.
-at eleven: goes to the beach with the thomases. when she and kristy are babysitting a 4.5 year old david michael, they let him go get a hot dog by himself and lose him. they find him but, REALLY? he is 4.5 and you're letting him walk off to buy a hot dog?
notes:
-this is the same month that [b:Stacey vs. the BSC|794905|Stacey vs. the BSC (The Baby-Sitters Club, #83)|Ann M. Martin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387700062s/794905.jpg|1958895] came out, but this one must take place first because there is no reference to stacey not being in the bsc, a fight, or anything.
-no reference to jessi's race or skin color or anything. we already know she's black anyway, so do they REALLY need to remind us, with their classic, "mal and jessi are similar and different: they both like horses but mal is white and jessi is black."
-she gets a B- on her autobiography project for spelling and grammar errors. REALLY? what a jerk teacher! she did so well and tried so hard!
-the portrayal of pre-adolescent depression is pretty spot on.
claudia outfits:
-"Looking back at me from the mirror wasn't a butterfly: just Claudia Kishi, with long black hair and brown eyes and an enormous shirt and patchwork vest over striped leggings. I looked down at my high-tops and back at the earrings I was wearing. I'd made them myself out of leftover bits of broken jewelry that my friends and family had given me: patchwork earrings."
kindergarten class photo outfit:
-"In that picture, my hair was in pigtails and I was wearing double ribbons on each pigtail -- four colors in all -- to match the flowered blouse I was wearing with my purple Oshkosh overalls. I think I had purple sneakers, too."
sixth bday party outfit:
-"Even though it was summer, I was wearing black tights and my tall black rainboots and my red jacket with the brass buttons. I had a T-shirt with a lion's head painted on the front and I wore that under the jacket."
other outfits:
mary anne (claud's 6th bday party):
-"Mary Anne was wearing a pink flowered dress with pink tights and flat black patent leather shoes. Her hair was fixed in pigtails and tied with pink bows."
kristy (claud's 6th bday party):
-"Kristy was wearing navy blue shorts with a matching camp shirt, white socks, and her best sneakers."
snacks in claudia's room:
-fruit roll-up in the pocket of her good winter coat
-hershey's hugs in the pocket of her good winter coat
leighannsherwin's review
4.0
I decided to read these portrait books in the order of their offices in BSC instead of order of publication. Kristy, then Claudia, Mary Anne etc. So after going through Kristy's early days it's time to see how Claudia's childhood was. Since I listened to Claudia and the Sad Goodbye yesterday seeing Mimi back was both happy and kind of sad. No surprise that Janine remembers the day her little sister came home. I always pictured Janine has having a photographic memory. So she details the earliest days of her sister's life. Reading these as an adult I see the relationship between the two sisters as similar to the one I had and have with my own brother. We're opposite in every way and at times can't really get along especially as kids, but when you definitely don't want to mess with either of us as we're always there for each other. Anyway she reflects on her fear of the tooth fairy which was cute and kind of funny, her almost disaster of a circus birthday party that turned into one of her best parties ever. Her, Mary Anne and Kristy making an art project out of the new sidewalk when Mimi had her back turned the mention in her dedication was very touching. Things got a bit more serious when Claudia was transferred to a new school. While I understood she was miserable there I still wish she could've somehow stayed there or done a few extra classes or something, but that would mean revising the whole series I guess. It ends with Claudia and Kristy going on a Sea City like trip to the beach and nearly losing David Michael who in typical little boy fashion just lost track of time. It was nice to go back in time and to see both Mimi and a much younger Louie again. I'm enjoying these autobiographies.
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