Marge in Charge and the Missing Orangutan by Isla Fisher, Églantine Ceulemans
Published by HarperCollins on February 26th 2019
ISBN: 0062662244
Pages: 144
Goodreads

Marge in Charge and the Missing Orangutan is a collection of three stories of Marge, a babysitter as whimsical as Mary Poppins, but more childish. She cares children named Jemima and Jakey. Throughout the stories 7-year-old Jemima takes on the role of responsible adult and problem thinker rather than Marge. Themes of problem solving and teamwork are present during the three stories. A lot of the things Marge does are for comedic effect like filling in for the orangutan who has the day off through acting like an orangutan in their cage.

Marge in Charge and the Missing Orangutan has simple black and white illustrations that are interspersed throughout the chapters. They provide detail that may not be mentioned in the text to better understand the setting. There are little mice in the illustrations that could be used as a “I Spy” game to make reading these aloud more interactive.

Narration from the perspective of a seven year old makes the Marge in Charge stories easy to understand for younger students. Jemima provides simple explanations for vocabulary words. This would make a good first novel as it is simple and split into stories.

Reviewed by Kathleen Powers, Winslow Public Library, Winslow, ME