Parenting of K-6 Children
Readers'
Reviews and Recommendations
of Parenting and Kids' Books
Readers' Reviews
The Betsy-Tacy Books, reviewed by Julie Chuba
The first 4 books--Betsy-Tacy, Betsy, Tacy and Tib, Betsy-Tacy Go Over the Big Hill, Betsy-Tacy Go Downtown--are suitable chapter stories for kids 5 and over. The books start simply, making them suitable for kids the same ages as the characters, and as the characters mature, so does the writing in the books. The stories celebrate the normal joys and struggles of childhood--making your first friend, going to the library for the first time, putting on plays, wondering what would happen if you put every ingredient in your kitchen into one dish (the girls make "Everything Pudding"), writing to a celebrity, (the King of Spain), etc. Boys usually like these stories, but lose interest when Betsy grows older and discovers dating and parties and boys!
The next 4 books--Heaven to Betsy, Betsy in Spite of Herself, Betsy Was a Junior, Betsy and Joe--chronicle Betsy's fun-filled high school years and are geared toward a slightly older reader (around 10 years old and over). Betsy wants to become a writer, and we see her struggles to accomplish that goal while in her adolescence, but she also wants to be pretty and popular--a feeling with which most young girls can identify! Crushes on boys, dances, parties, an exciting Christmas trip to Milwaukee, school, friendships, are all interwoven into these very self-affirming stories. Even though the books were set in the early 1900's, Betsy and her sisters are totally supported by their family in their aspirations. Betsy wants to be a writer, and her talent is encouraged by her parents who show pride in Betsy and who send her to college and to Europe, while her sister Julia yearns to be an opera singer out in the "Great World."
Betsy and the Great World and Betsy's Wedding follows Betsy's tour of pre-WWI Europe, her return, her wedding, and first 2 years of marriage. Her friendships with Tacy and Tib have still endured, and we see what it's like to be a young woman in the early part of this century.
I just loved these books as a kid--I liked the historical detail, the fun Betsy had with her friends and family, the lessons she learned. The books contain many references to literature, music, art, travel, and history, which awakened my own interests in these areas. The stories are all available in paperback from Harper Collins after being out of print for many years.
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