Marge and the Pirate Baby

Marge and the Pirate Baby by Isla Fisher (Allen and Unwin)

PB RRP $14.99 ISBN 9781848125933

Reviewed by Daniela Andrews

‘Did I tell you that our babysitter is only the size of about seven biscuit packets stacked on top of each other?’

Sweet little Marge, whose rainbow-coloured hair and flamboyant behaviour burst from the pages of Isla Fisher’s debut novel (Marge in Charge), is back for a new trio of babysitting adventures. The stories once again star Jemima Button and her little brother Jakeypants, but this time they include their troublesome baby cousin, Zara. (Marge dubs her the ‘pirate baby’ for her love of shiny things, for the way she takes people’s things without asking and because she drinks from bottles all day!)

Each story is narrated from the first-person perspective of Jemima. The first is about Zara’s antics around the house, the second takes place at the local swimming pool, and the third focuses on a family wedding. The stories feature a list of rules from Jemima and Jake’s parents … followed by a funny interpretation from Marge. For example, ‘No rude words’ becomes ‘No rude words, unless we are in battle at sea, or your parrot poops on your shoulder.’ Marge uses her quirky style to get the kids to do exactly what she wants … like tackle a ‘code brown’ nappy situation, or face their fears at the pool. She even naps on the job while the kids madly put the house back together before their parents come home. The children are happy to do whatever it takes to keep Marge’s antics a secret … or else their parents might never call her back. (‘We both love having Marge look after us, even if it means we have to look after her a bit sometimes, too.’)

The three stories average around 55 pages each and are illustrated with Eglantine Ceulemans’ complementary black and white caricatures. The font style throughout the book is playful and varied, featuring lots of breakout lists of ‘handwritten’ rules, song lyrics or thoughts.  The presentation, combined with the story itself, make the book well suited to the target age group of 7 to 9 year-olds.