Marge in Charge and the Missing Orangutan

Isla Fisher's Marge in Charge and the Missing Orangutan is a set of three giggly stories for 6 year olds about the smallest, silliest babysitter you could wish for.

What happens

Jemima is seven and her little brother Jakey is four. Their babysitter Marge is so tiny she can stand up inside their play tent. She hides a head of rainbow hair under her hats, and she says she grew up in a palace.

In the first story, Jakey's wobbly tooth finally comes out. Then it goes missing. Marge tries everything to find it, including taking the bathroom pipes apart, and it goes about as well as you'd expect!

Next comes a train ride to the zoo. Jakey badly wants to drive the train, and a very strict conductor called Harold has other ideas. Then a cow wanders onto the tracks.

In the last story they finally reach the zoo, where Jakey only wants to see Oliver the Orangutan. Getting to him takes all day, via some tiger whispering, a mouthful of raw fish and a LOT of bird poo.

What makes it so funny is that Jemima tells it. She's the sensible one, and half the jokes come from her watching a grown-up behave worse than her four-year-old brother. Even she admits Marge sometimes needs babysitting herself.

Marge's tall tales are a treat too. A pet wombat found sunbathing in the queen's tiara. A parrot who ran off with a badger. Who wouldn't want a babysitter like that?

Each story is short, full of shouting and sound effects, so it's great for reading aloud or for a newly confident reader to try alone. (It's the American edition, so expect Mommy, candies and flashlights.)

If your reader loves it when grown-ups get things spectacularly wrong, they'll have a brilliant time with this one.

What to read next

If this one goes down well, try Marge and the Secret Tunnel. Jemima and Jakey find a hidden hole at the bottom of the garden, and Marge turns up on skis.