Dawn and the Big Sleepover is the 44th book in The Baby-Sitters Club series by Ann M. Martin.
Back Cover Summary[]
A bunch of kids at Stoneybrook Elementary have pen pals at a school in New Mexico. The Baby-sitters love hearing the letters that Charlotte, Becca, and the Pike children get from their new friends.
Then the bad news reaches Stoneybrook: their pen pals' school has been destroyed by a fire. Dawn is so upset that she organizes a fund-raiser for them. And as a reward to all the kids who help out, she is going to throw a gigantic sleepover!
A hundred kids, thirty pizzas — will Dawn survive her biggest baby-sitting job ever?
Summary[]
Pen Pals[]
- Vanessa has Rachel Redriver
- Adam has Conrad White
- Nicky has Joey Evans
- Margo has Wendy Jackson
- Jordan has Sam
- Charlotte has Theresa Bradley
- Haley has Nancy Green
Subplot[]
Characters[]
Dawn's Family
BSC Members
Kids
- Jordan, Adam, Byron, Vanessa, Nicky, Margo, and Claire Pike
- Charlotte Johanssen
- Matt and Haley Braddock
- Valerie Namm - one of Charlotte's friends
- Rob Hines, Charlene - kids who takes donates to the Zuni school and goes to the party
- Arnold Twins (mentioned)
- David Michael Thomas
- Linny Papadakis
- Betsy Sobak (mentioned)
- Gabbie and Myriah Perkins (mentioned)
- Jamie Newton (mentioned)
- Jackie, Shea, and Archie Rodowsky
- Maria Kilbourne (mentioned)
- Corrie Addison
- Buddy, Suzi, and Marnie Barrett
- Becca Ramsey
Pre-Teens
- Keisha (mentioned)
Teenagers
- Peter - teenager who has a dinosaur show for kids name Goober
- Justin Forbes
- Alan Gray
- Pete Black
Adults
- Ms. Besser
- Mrs. Braddock (mentioned)
- Dr. Johanssen
- Mr. Benjamin Taylor
- Mr. Blake
- Ms. Downey - SMS secretary that drives the BSC to the elementary school for the assembly
- Ms. Reynolds
- Mrs. Perkins (mentioned)
- Mrs. and Mr. Rodowsky
- Mrs. Delaney
- Watson Brewer
- Kathy Kilbourne (mentioned)
- Caroline Kuhn (mentioned)
- Mrs. Addison
- Mrs. Barrett
- Mr. Selden and three more SES teachers - chaperones at the sleepover
- Various cafeteria workers
- Mr. Morton - Pizza express owner
Locations[]
- Spier/Schafer House
- Stoneybrook Middle School
- Stoneybrook Elementary School
- Kishi House
- Pike House
- Rodowsky House
- Braddock House
Pop Culture and Real-Life References[]
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- Nintendo
- Julia Child
- Judy Blume and her book Tiger Eyes
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
- Make Way for Ducklings
- The Wizard of Oz
- I Dream of Jeanie
- Raffi
- One Morning in Maine
Continuity and Inconsistencies[]
Continuity
- This is one of the books where Charlotte Johanssen is mentioned to be in fourth grade, where she's supposed to be.
- Jordan Pike plays the piano, which is first brought up in Dawn and the Impossible Three.
- Mallory remembers when her dad lost his job and everyone in the family did odd jobs to help out in Poor Mallory!.
- On page 55, Dawn recalls Charlotte's act from Little Miss Stoneybrook ...and Dawn.
- On page 105 Dawn remembers when Alan put M&Ms in his eyes and a little orphan Annie joke from Logan Likes Mary Anne!.
Inconsistencies
- When Mr. Taylor calls the baby-sitters’ names over the P.A. system to inform teachers that they’ll be excused early for the assembly at the elementary-school, he uses Jessi’s full first name (Jessica). But he says “Kristy” instead of “Kristin” and “Stacey” instead of “Anastasia.” Kristy and Stacey are most likely enrolled at SMS under their full names.
- At the end of the sleepover Dawn narrates that "the Barretts were the last parents to come and the last to leave." It should be Mrs. Barrett was the first to come and the last to leave since she is divorced and a single mom.
- Dawn says that she had never met Ms. Besser, but she comes to pick Jeff up and talk to Ms. Besser when he got in trouble at school in Claudia and the New Girl.
- Dawn says "a letter that came to Mary Anne’s house" (the letter from Haley’s pen pal to Madam Leveaux). Since Dawn and Mary Anne live together, it should say "a letter that came to our house" or "a letter that came to my house."
- It says that Margo hadn’t gotten a pen pal, but it said she had earlier in the chapter.
- Stacey’s father is said to be a businessman, but in other books he’s a lawyer.
Ann M. Martin's Dear Reader Letter[]
Dear Reader,
When I was growing up, my friends and I had sleepovers all the time. We never had one quite as elaborate as the one Dawn has in Dawn and the Big Sleepover. But they were always lots of fun. Most of our sleepovers were held at my best friend Beth’s house because she had a big rec room. Some of our favorite activities were playing Twister, Categories, and Battleship; making taffy (this was rarely successful); and, of course, eating junk food.
But our favorite activity was watching Alfred Hitchcock’s movie The Birds. Remember that I grew up in the days before VCRs, so we couldn’t just bring a movie to a sleepover. We had to wait until The Birds was going to be on television, and then plan our sleepover around it. Another event we often tried to plan a sleepover around was New Year’s Eve. We would try to stay up all night, but we rarely made it past three or four in the morning. I haven’t been to a sleepover in years, but every time I hear of one I remember the fun parties my friends and I used to have.
Trivia[]
- Dawn and Mary Anne's homeroom teacher is Mr. Blake.
- Ray Stuckey is the "class clown" in Mary Anne and Dawn's homeroom.
- Pete Black is friends with Alan Gray in this book.
- Keisha visits Jessi in this book.
- Charlotte's pen pal's first name is Charlotte's middle name.
- This is the only book to have a burnt orange cover.
- Jordan taught his pen pal pig latin.
- Dawn wishes that she could participate in the program.
- The Johanssens don't have any family in Stoneybrook.
- Ms. Berner is Dawn's math teacher.
- The Prezzioso's are mentioned in chapter 8.
- To raise money:
- the Pikes and their friends hosted a carnival
- the Rodowskys had a yard sale
- Mary Anne's printing looks like Dawn's on page 101.
- Permission slips were eventually handed out.
- Buddy Barrett sleepwalks in this book.
- Dawn doesn't really like pancakes.
- Claudia is the one that found the principal's address and they sent the money to him.