Karen Brewer

Book
2020
Graphic Novel

Full Name

Karen Brewer

Age

6 (until Karen's Birthday)
7 (onward)

Grade

2

First Appearance

Karen's Witch (LS)
Kristy's Great Idea (BSC)

Last Appearance

Karen's Cowboy (LS)
Graduation Day (BSC)

Portrayed By

Ashley Chase (TV series (1990))
Jessica Needham (Movie)
Sophia Reid-Gantzert (Netflix series)

Karen Brewer is the seven-year-old daughter of Watson Brewer and Lisa Engle. She is the older sister of Andrew Brewer and the stepdaughter of Elizabeth Thomas-Brewer and Seth Engle. Karen is a member of both the Engle Family and Brewer/Thomas Family. She is the narrator of the Baby-Sitters Little Sister series. Karen is a fearless, smart girl with a wild imagination that can sometimes get out of hand.

Appearance

Karen is described as having long blonde hair, blue eyes, and freckles, and she wears glasses (she has blue glasses for reading and pink glasses for everything else). She is frequently seen in her pink shirt with a unicorn on it.

Biography

General

Karen is the stepsister of Kristy Thomas, who is one of Karen's favorite people.

Karen was born on a warm spring day at 2:35 in the afternoon in Karen's Book. Lisa and Watson did not know Karen's gender until she was born, and they named her Karen because it means pure. Watson felt pure joy when he saw his daughter the first time.

Karen describes herself and her brother Andrew Brewer as "Two-Twos" (that she got from a book called "Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang") because they split their time between the "little house" (which is their mom's house) and the "big house" (which is their dad's house).

Karen and Andrew tend to have two of most things since they spend a lot of time at each of their parents' houses.

She is in the second grade in Ms. Colman's class at Stoneybrook Academy. She is a very smart girl and reads a lot. When she began kindergarten, she was put in the first grade during Christmas. However, later books describe the skip as being from first to second grade after about a week in the former.

When she was younger, Karen attended Little Friends Day School where her teacher was Ms. Herman.

The Baby-Sitters Club

In the book "Little Miss Stoneybrook ...and Dawn," Kristy helps Karen enter the Little Miss Stoneybrook pageant. The pageant is for girls ages five to eight. During the pageant, Karen wears the dress that she wore in her father and stepmother's wedding. For her talent, she sings "The Wheels on the Bus," but she added so many extra, made up verses to the song that the judges began looking at their watches because she took too much time.

For the interview part, Karen was asked "If your house was on fire and you could only rescue three things, what would they be, and why?" Karen had practiced the questions with Kristy and knew what she was supposed to say (nice answers like saying she would rescue her family), but instead, she said she would rescue her toys and her blanket. Karen did not win anything in the beauty pageant, so she was sad and cried.

She was in Kristy's group when the BSC took their clients to Sudsy's Carnival in Kristy and the Mother's Day Surprise.

In Starring the Baby-sitters Club!, she gets the part of Tinkerbell in SMSs production of Peter Pan. Mr. Cheney gave her the part when she begged and threw a tantrum about it.

Karen was the flower girl at both her parents' wedding, shown in Kristy's Big Day and Karen's Book.

Friends

Karen's two best friends are Hannie Papadakis and Nancy Dawes. The three of them call themselves the "Three Musketeers," after they had a really big fight. Hannie’s big brother, Linny, teases them about it.
Karen met Hannie on her first day of preschool, and she met Nancy after her parents' divorce once she moved into the "little house" with her mother and brother.
After the Kormans moved into the Delaneys' old house, Karen becomes close friends with Melody Korman.
Maria Kilbourne
Margo Pike by the end of Karen's Mermaid.
Ricky Torres - (pretend husband) She fell in love with Ricky Torres who sits next to her in class after he fell in love with her first because of this criteria:
- He both asked her to marry him.
- He also wore glasses.
She is also friends with classmates Natalie Springer and Bobby Gianelli (who used to be a bully).
Karen has a pen pal named Maxie Medvin who lives in New York City. She is also pen pals with Ms. Coleman's niece Caroline Bradley, who lives in Oregon.
In Karen's Swim Meet, she makes friends with a girl named Kristin, who is visiting her aunt for the summer.
In Karen's Big City Mystery, she becomes friends with Matt Dilley.
Jenny Webb on a vacation in Karen's Cowboy.
Keegan from Shadow Lake in Karen's Ski Trip and Karen's Fishing Trip.
Sandy in Karen's Island Adventure.
She is friendly enough with the girls in her class to invite them all to a sleepover.

Enemies

She used to be friends with Amanda Delaney, until the Delaney family moved away to another neighborhood. Hannie does not like Amanda.

Pets

Karen has a rat named Emily Junior who travels with her between her two houses.
Karen found a cat named Growly in her shed and adopted it in Karen's Kittens. Growly left once her kittens were grown and adopted out.
She and Andrew have goldfish named Crystal Light the Second and Goldfishie that live in a tank in the playroom at Watson's house. Karen used to have a goldfish named Crystal Light, but it passed away while she was at her mom's house.
Watson adopted a pony named Blueberry for Karen after visiting an estate sale. Since he can't live at the Brewers' house, Watson pays to board him at a nearby farm. In Karen's Pony Camp, Blueberry is sent to the camp where she stays.
Karen nurses an orphaned baby sparrow, whom she names Magic Tastee, back to health in Karen's Little Sister.

Toys

Karen has two stuffed cats named Moosie and Goosie (who look exactly the same). Goosie stays at the "little house," and Moosie stays at the "big house."
After her stepfather Seth Engle accepted a job in Chicago, Goosie moved with Karen to her dad's house for the duration.
She has a blanket named Tickly that she ripped in half so she could keep one piece at both her mother's and father's houses.

Likes

Roller-skating (BSLS #2)
Drawing
Leadership
Sewing
Mr. Ed (TV show) (LS#3)
Cherry Italian ice
Being the leader
Ms. Colman
The Wizard of Oz movie (#9)
Unicorns (LS#89)
Lemon Drop (music group) (LS#105)
Storytelling (preferably about Mrs. Porter/"Morbidda Destiny")
Being a "Two-Two" (sometimes)
Roald Dahl books
The Secret Garden (book in SS#8)
Doing new things (LS#76)
An audience (LS#29)
Knitting (LS#69)
Ricky Torres

Dislikes

Being grounded
Being punished
Cartoons
House rules
Her favorite jeans being missing (left at Mommy's house)
Having a mullet (#8)
Her favorite TV show, Mr. Ed, not being on (LS#3)
Having the chicken pox
Being bored
Getting into fights
Being a "Two-Two" (sometimes)
Turnips (#32)
Being sick (#24)

Trivia

Karen takes her spelling seriously.
She is protective of her little brother.
She believes her neighbor Mrs. Porter (or Morbidda Destiny) is a witch.
She thinks that the attic in the Brewers' house is haunted by the ghost of Ben Brewer.
Karen has to wear earplugs when she goes swimming.
She likes to help out in the kitchen.
She loves to make up games. She likes to play Let's All Come In, and her favorite character in the game is Mrs. Mysterious (who dresses in black). Karen's favorite game is Going Camping.
Karen attended Camp Mohawk one summer and even attended a circus camp with her friends.
Karen can sometimes be bossy and loves to be the leader.
Karen's "best enemies" are Pamela Harding and her friends Jannie Gilbert and Leslie Morris.
Her pediatrician is Dr. Dellenkamp.
In Karen's Twin, she mentioned that she wanted to have a job and kids when she is older.
She likes to hang out by the stream (Mary Anne and the Playground Fight).
She plays on a basketball team in Claudia and the Little Liar.
She owns a pair of Ariel pajamas, as stated in Kristy and the Haunted Mansion
Karen is part of Camp BSC in Mary Anne and Camp BSC.
She is part of the green fair in Dawn Saves the Planet.
In Claudia and the Great Search, Kristy mentions that Karen was making up stories when she was two.
She started preschool at three years old in Claudia and the Great Search.
Karen has been the hospital twice: when she broke her wrist while roller-skating (Karen's Roller Skates) and when she got her spleen removed after falling from her tree house (Karen's Accident).
She also had the chicken pox at the same time as Emily Michelle during Halloween.

Graphic Novels

Karen appears in the graphic novel versions of Kristy's Great Idea, Kristy's Big Day, and Claudia and Mean Janine. In the books she doesn’t appear in (minus Dawn and the Impossible Three), Kristy would receive a call from Watson to sit for her and Andrew. She also appears in the three graphic novels currently published in the Baby-Sitters Little Sister series, Karen's Witch, Karen's Roller Skates, and Karen's Worst Day.

As revealed in the graphic novel version of Claudia and Mean Janine, Karen seems to have a hatred for Jenny Prezzioso.

Media Portrayals

TV Series (1990)

In this series she is played by actress Ashley Chase. She is in four of the thirteen episodes.

Movie

Actress Jessica Needham portrays Karen in this version. She is only seen briefly.

The Baby-Sitters Club (web series)

She is played by Sophia Reid-Gantzert. Karen is in six of the ten episodes in this series. She is given the middle name Amaryllis in one episode. She went through a creepy phase. Karen still thinks Mrs. Porter, renamed Aunt Esme in this adaption, is a witch and gets it confirmed in Kristy's Big Day (episode).