The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids (or, simply, The Bailey School Kids) is a supernatural children's book series. The books in the series are co-authored by Marcia T. Jones and Debbie Dadey. John Steven Gurney is the original illustrator of the series (covers and interior illustrations) and originated the appearance of the characters. During the early 2000s, some of the books were reissued with cover illustrations by Nathan Hale.

In each story, the Bailey School kids encounter a relatively innocuous character (such as a school teacher, custodian, etc.) who may or may not be a mythical being (e.g. a vampire, werewolf, dragon, etc.). The reader is left guessing whether the innocuous character is said mythical being or not.

There are more than 80 books in the series, including Super Specials, Holiday Special Editions, the BSK "Jr" chapter books series, and the spin-off Bailey City Monsters series for grades 2-4. The first novel, Vampires Don't Wear Polka Dots, was published in 1990.^[1]

Main characters

• Howard "Howie": Howie is logical and intelligent. His dad works for FATS (Federal Aeronautics Technology Station). His parents are divorced.
• Melody: Melody is the bravest of the group in most situations. She is also very competitive with Eddie and tends to act protective of Liza.
• Elizabeth "Liza": Liza is very scared and sensitive. Usually, she does not want to resort to methods that will result in others being hurt, even if they are a monster. She always believes in fairy tales, and she cannot swim.
• Edward "Eddie": Eddie is the tough person in the group. He always makes fun of his friends when they say they have seen monsters and continuously attempts to prove them wrong, which leads him into many unfortunate or embarrassing situations.

Recurring characters

• Mrs. Jeepers: Mrs. Jeepers is the group's teacher, and some of them think she is a vampiress. Other teachers before her quit because of their class, but Mrs. Jeepers is the only one who can keep them under control due to their fear of her. Her family is from Transylvania, and she has a coffin-like box in her basement. Despite her bizarre family and unusual behavior, it is never revealed if she really is a vampiress; in general, she does her job as a teacher well. She appears in all the Super Special editions.
• Mr. Jenkins: Mr. Jenkins is the camp counselor of Camp Lone Wolf, and some think he is a werewolf. Like Mrs. Jeepers, it is never known if he really is a werewolf. He comes off as a mean and tough man but is sometimes shown to have a soft side, especially towards nature. He has two known cousins, one who dances hula and one who ran for president. He is a tall and hairy man who wears torn clothes and a dog collar, has pointy ears, and often demonstrates his characteristic howl.
• Dr. Victor: A brilliant scientist residing in Bailey City. Some people think he is, or may be related to, the original Dr. Victor Frankenstein, leading them to believe his companion, Frank, is really Frankenstein's monster. After his first appearance, he argues with Frank, prompting the two of them to separate, but they make up later on. It is believed that he was directly responsible for the creation of "Frankenstein's Bride."
• Carey: Carey is the popular, rich girl at Bailey Elementary. Although she comes off as a spoiled brat, she tends to care about what is going on around her, especially when it comes to Mrs. Jeepers being a "vampiress." Eddie likes to scare Carey by pulling pranks on her.

List of books

References

External links

• Marcia T. Jones Archived 2007-07-21 at the Wayback Machine
• Debbie Dadey
• John Steven Gurney