Now in paperback. Lauren Child’s spunky character returns and—as if things could get any livelier in Clarice Bean’s household—Uncle Ted is babysitting!

Who can Mom and Dad get to babysit the feisty Clarice, her pesky brother Minal Cricket, and the school’s guinea pig, Albert, who’s visiting for spring break? (Not to mention teenage brother Kurt, who abhors daylight; big sis Marcie, who chats on the phone all day; and Grandad, who tends to wander off.) Only Uncle Ted, firefighter and movie addict, can be persuaded. Will he survive the week?