The Betsy-Tacy Treasury by Lovelace, Maud Hart, Lenski, Lois (1995) Hardcover

Betsy-Tacy #1

by Maud Hart Lovelace

Best Friends Forever There are lots of children on Hill Street, but no little girls Betsy's age. So when a new family moves into the house across the street, Betsy hopes they will have a little girl she can play with. Sure enough, they do—a little girl named Tacy. And from the moment they meet at Betsy's fifth birthday party, Betsy and Tacy becoms such good friends that everyone starts to think of them as one person—Betsy-Tacy. Betsy and Tacy have lots of fun together. They make a playhouse from a piano box, have a sand store, and dress up and go calling. And one day, they come home to a wonderful surprise—a new friend named Tib. Ever since their first publication in the 1940's, the Betsy-Tacy stories have been loved by each generation of young readers.

Genres: Classics, Childrens, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Juvenile

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1940

About the author

Maud Hart Lovelace was an American writer best known for the beloved Betsy-Tacy series, which has remained a cornerstone of American children’s literature for generations. Born and raised in Mankato, Minnesota, she began writing at an early age and showed literary promise while still in high school. She attended the University of Minnesota, where she worked for the Minnesota Daily, and sold her first short story while recuperating in California, marking the start of her professional career. Lovelace initially wrote historical novels for adults, including The Black Angels and the successful Early Candlelight, before turning to children’s fiction inspired by stories she told her daughter. Beginning in the late 1930s, she created the Betsy-Tacy books, drawing heavily on her own childhood and friendships. Set largely in the fictional town of Deep Valley, the series follows its heroine from early childhood into adulthood, with the books gradually increasing in complexity alongside their readers. Lovelace also wrote several related Deep Valley novels featuring the same community. Her work was praised for its warmth, authenticity, and vivid sense of place, securing her lasting influence in American literary culture.

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know I read some of the books in this series when I was in the eight to ten-year-old age range. In fact, I nearly had my very first literary argument over these books. As I recall, Leda B. saw me checking out one of the "Betsy" books in the school library, and sniffed, "I don't like them. Betsy is too goody-goody." Leda was a new girl who, in my opinion, needed to show more deference to a gal like me who'd spent her entire public school career (thus far) at Crestview Elementary. But, then again, she was also the only girl I knew who actually had a horse - a real, live honest-to-goodness horse, so I had to tread carefully there. Stand up for Betsy, and risk possible exclusion from future horsey rides, or suck it up, and remain silent? I suppose I mumbled something along the lines of "Well, I like them, anyway." If it hadn't been for the "horse thing," I might have let her have it. (I did eventually get that ride. It was boring.)

What was wrong with being a goody-goody? As a child who hated getting in trouble, I did whatever was necessary to keep the adults happy, and never once saw the inside of the principal's office. Did it make for a less thrilling childhood experience? Probably. But, it also led to a world of imagination, both between the pages and elsewhere, where kids ruled the world, and could do whatever they damned well pleased. (And, were obviously allowed to use swear words with no consequences.)

So, hats off to that goody-goody, Betsy, and her land of dress-up, floating on feathers, and magical tea parties. I'm going to read the entire series in order (Screw you, Leda!), and snuggle down into a more innocent time when children played with paper dolls cut from magazines, and got their kicks from using Easter egg dyes in unexpected ways.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

My all-time favorite series as a child. I read every book in the Betsy Tacy (and Tib!) series multiple times and fervently wished I lived on Hill St. with them at the turn of the 20th century. I am so obsessed with this series that I want to visit Mankato, MN and see all things Maud Hart Lovelace related. Maybe I can force my daughter to get interested in this series when she is old enough?? Then, I'll have an excuse to read them all over again.

Sacrilege that it is for me to say this, as a child of the 1970s, I preferred this series to the Little House books (even though I read all of them multiple times as well). I suppose I am just much more of a bourgeoise Edwardian than I am a pioneer gal.

[Darla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picking up this book about Betsy and Tacy is like jumping into a time machine and returning to my childhood. I loved getting lost in the books of authors like Lois Lenski and Laura Ingalls Wilder. This series begins when Betsy and Tacy are five and become across-the-street neighbors. They are timeless and I look forward to reading each and every one and watching these two little girls grow up. Includes photos and bio information on the author.

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Goodreads friends Ginny & Constance: I saw Betsy-Tacy among your favorites listed on your profile pages and borrowed this book from the library – even by chance got the original 1940 edition which was pretty cool.

How did I miss this series of Betsy-Tacy books when I was a child?! I would have really enjoyed them. The titles Heaven to Betsy and Betsy in Spite of Herself do sound familiar so maybe I did read those; I don’t remember.

This Betsy-Tacy book is so well-written, and the illustrations are wonderful too. It certainly describes a more innocent time (no worries about child kidnapping here!) and it shows a mostly idyllic childhood for these two girls, although the story does not shy away from life’s difficult parts either. I loved the depiction of the friendship. Captured so well how imaginative young children can make such good use in play of such items as old appliance, in their case piano, boxes. I grew up well after these girls and in a city, but I recognized the rhythms and the specifics of these girls’ play so well from my own childhood. Adored Betsy's storytelling!

Note for modern kids: Reading it for the first time in my fifties and in 2007, I did notice the sexist language, but it would be obvious to young readers that this story took place a long time ago, and I’m sure that many of my favorite books from my childhood have the same issue. And I’d happily still recommend all of them.

[Melody · Rating 5 out of 5]

9/2012 This book gets better every time I read it.

12/2009 I have loved this book so long I can't remember when first I read it. I certainly didn't have two numbers in my age. I've re-read it countless times, and every time I've read it as an adult, I marvel at Lovelace's skill. Told from the perspective of a five-year-old girl, it rings true on every possible level. Read from the perspective of a forty-five-year-old woman, it's poignant and heartbreaking and nostalgic and delightful. This is my first re-read since I made the journey back to Mankato (the real-life Deep Valley) and it's pretty wonderful to read about the houses in which I have stood, tears in my eyes.

I cannot recommend this book, and the books which follow it, enough.

[Hilary · Rating 5 out of 5]

We loved this story. Two young friends meet just as they are about to start school. Apart from the absence of cars and the fact that however rural your home might be 5 yr olds don't go off alone together these days, much of this book could have been in present time. Imaginative play, family life, happiness, sadness and the beauty of the passing seasons.

[Katie Ziegler (Life Between Words) · Rating 4 out of 5]

So sweet.

[Sherwood Smith]

There were a few books I skipped reading in my local library, and this was one. Most of the books I skipped were boys' sports, or monster books, but also I tended to skip anything illustrated by Lois Lenski. Illustrations were too integral to the story for me, and if I didn't like the cover art or the frontispiece, I often wouldn't read a book until talked into it.

Yep, I missed some good books that way; I still haven't read the "Limberlost" books, which I remember taking down, looking at, and hating the drawings so much back it would go on the shelves.

Betsy-Tacy was another that went back on the shelves, probably because in the first one, the characters are not quite five. While I didn't mind reading about kids younger than me, that was too young: they couldn't possibly have the adventures I craved.

I wish someone had given me those books at six or so, because I would have loved them. Though I would have sobbed my heart out when Baby Bee dies, as I did when Ginger died in Black Beauty, and I worried myself sick over the Five Little Peppers when sickness struck.

But old me can appreciate the imagination of this gentle book, the vivid details, the kindness, the faithful depiction of childhood logic when the kid isn't warped by PTSD. I loved stories about normal kids, when I was young--they were so alien, so comforting, though I'd soon crave adventure again. Or more correct, agency.

The Baby Bee chapter is so simply written, but in its way almost as lovely as "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" in Wind in the Willows.

Now I have to read the others, and skim my eye past the illos, which I still don't like, but at least I know why: the figures are out of proportion, like paper dolls, the faces squashed. Lenski was better with her folksy houses and settings.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Has it really been seventeen years since my first (and hitherto only) reading of this book? This time around I liked it better than I did back then. Back in 2000, I was eager to start a series so many of my book-friends loved, but I was impatient to find myself reading a book about 5 year-olds, and was a little underwhelmed. Rereading it now (after reading some of the later books in the series multiple times), I appreciate how beautifully layered the series is, with each successive book showing a broadening perspective as the girls grow up. And so, being ready now to appreciate this one on its own terms (and perhaps being older and wiser?) I found it just lovely.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Unexpectedly delightful" is a phrase that keeps popping into my head, as I sit here considering how best to describe Maud Hart Lovelace's Betsy-Tacy, the first in a long series of books about two (eventually three) young girls growing up in Minnesota in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Begun at an unfortunate time, when a dreadful head cold, and a feeling of being out of charity with the world made the author's somewhat expository style rather irksome for me, the story won me over by degrees, gently unfolding its tale of two young girls who face the joys and sorrows of being five-year-olds together.

When a new family move into the house across the street, Betsy Ray hopes that they will have a girl her age, and after an initial misunderstanding, she finds a best friend in Tacy (Anastacia) Kelly. The two are soon inseparable: they climb the Hill together, picnic together, go to school together, and play with paper dolls together. Their imaginary games, often fueled by Betsy's penchant for storytelling, are so well depicted, that the reader senses Lovelace's fond enjoyment, as well as her understanding of the centrality of such play in the life of the child.

But life, even for five-year-olds, is not all sweetness and light, and sorrow does touch the lives of Betsy-Tacy, just as change - inevitable and painful - makes itself felt. The death of Baby Bee, Tacy's infant sister, is handled by Lovelace with pitch-perfect sensitivity. The mystery and wonder of a young child's first encounter with death is effortlessly joined to the sorrow of loss. I found the scene on the early morning hillside, where Betsy and Tacy discuss Bee's death, deeply moving.

Lovelace's sensitivity to the feelings of the child, how the world appears to her, is demonstrated time and again throughout Betsy-Tacy. She understands that death is something terrible and yet matter-of-fact - in the way that so many things are terrible and matter-of-fact to the child who must experience them for the first time. Her depiction of Betsy's initial sorrow, at the birth of her younger sister Margaret, is a realistic portrayal of a child's natural ambiguity at having "her" place in the family usurped.

First published in 1940, and depicting an earlier time, Betsy-Tacy nevertheless has much to offer the contemporary reader, and seems as relevant in its depiction of young girls, as when it was first written. I find myself wishing that I had discovered these books as a child, but as one can only go forward, I'll content myself with having discovered them now. Thank you, Constance, Wendy, Melody, Lisa and Ginny!

[Ginny Messina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been an avid reader for as long as I can remember, and have many favorites from childhood, but none have ever meant as much to me as the happy and cozy Betsy-Tacy books.

My beloved aunt dug a dusty old copy of Betsy-Tacy out of her attic for me when I was 4 or 5 years old. From the very beginning, I wanted to climb inside this book and live there forever. Written in the 1940s, it is an autobiographical account of Maud Hart Lovelace's turn-of-the-century childhood in Mankato, MN--which becomes Deep Valley in the book. All of the main characters and most of the minor ones are based on people that Lovelace really knew. The stories of a childhood lived simply and happily are pure magic, as are the illustrations by Lois Lenski. Ms Lovelace went on to write nine more books in this series, following Betsy's life through her first year of marriage. A particularly nice aspect of the stories is that the reading level increases with each book.

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[Darryl Friesen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet and charming, and in some ways reminiscent of the friendship between Anne Shirley and Diana Berry. I’m looking forward to growing with these characters as the series progresses and becomes more complex and developed.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I had an innate love for the Betsy-Tacy books as so many of my friends do. I honestly do not remember encountering them in my childhood, so either we did not read them or they didn't "stick" even then, so I have none of the childhood warm-fuzzies that I do for some other series of yesteryear. Reading the first book now as an adult... I did like it, and appreciate it, but it didn't resonate with me the way many other books of similar style have done. It just felt a bit sparse and characters just weren't vivid enough for me. I found the parents especially vague and, as I think back, many of the other "family type" stories I have connected with have mother/father or other adult figures that really do make an impression. That said, it is also rather beautiful in its simplicity and so much of it is wonderful. I love the way the friendship developed and how we learn that first impressions are no always correct. I love that Tacy is always a little bit "shy" or more reserved, and that it's not a big deal or something "wrong" with her. I love Betsy's imagination and her stories. Their play takes me back to my girlhood when I would love to play paper dolls or dress-up like the grown-ups, that sort of thing. It's also a very gentle book, good for those children who do not want peril and the like. The chapter about the Easter eggs is surprisingly tragic Tacy's baby sister dies and does kind of come out of nowhere. If you have very sensitive children you may need to abridge this part, though it is handled in a very gentle and beautiful way. I will also say that, although my six-year-old son is not into the sort of imaginative play the girls do here, he still really enjoyed the book and wants to read the sequel. The edition I read has a very nice section at the end with a mini-biography of Lovelace and her friendship with the real-life "Tacy" as well as some photographs.

[Mela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I needed it. A warm story, that made me smile.

[I envy Tacy that she had Betsy. I hadn't...]

[J. Boo · Rating 5 out of 5]

First in a impressively long semi-autobiographical series about growing up in a small Minnesota town at the turn of the last century.

There are three qualities that are greatly to be admired in this series. The first is Lovelace's dedication to fidelity. She really did strive hard to get events right -- consulting her memory, her diaries, and her numerous friends and relations to make sure the details were correct. Something of a consequence is that, at least to me, events that she made up for the purpose of the plot (as opposed to adapted) can be noticed as being slightly "off". But most of the story really happened, or at least was close enough to having happened.

The second is that the writing itself changes -- this, the first book, which takes place when Betsy (Lovelace's alter ego) is 4 - 5, is simply written, and easily accessible to a young child either reading or being read to. But in subsequent books, as Betsy ages, so does the prose - vocabulary, sentence structure, and ideas become more complex.

The third is that Lovelace has a keen eye for what girls want, and gives it to them. She has a striking understanding of her audience, which I suppose comes from the same source that allows her to write with such fidelity -- she had a remarkable memory for both events that had happened and her emotional reaction to these events.

I had never heard of these books before Goodreads friends introduced them, so cheers to all those who have commented about Lovelace's oeuvre.

I have read this one, and I think the second, out loud to a mixed audience and even the boys liked it. (Though the later into the series you go, the girlier the books get.) My older daughter, as she has become older, has continued on with later books and is now somewhere midway through the series. Soon she'll be ready for the ones that have a bit more romance. I, myself, am not ready for her being ready for that.

There is a Betsy-Tacy society, https://www.betsy-tacysociety.org/ , that maintains Lovelace's (and her friend Tacy's) houses in Mankato. These are only open on Saturday or by special appointment, so I wasn't able to visit during my last Minnesota trip, as both Saturdays I was somewhere in the midst of a twenty-hour drive. But perhaps next time?

Update: finished team read with DD#2 (6). She did a paragraph, I did a paragraph. She was very enthusiastic about it, and wants to continue on with the series.

[Mary Noel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just reread this to one of the girls I nanny and it was so much fun! She loved it!

[Audrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful book that celebrates the innocence and imagination of childhood. This book is written for a very young audience and makes a perfect read-aloud. When I was little, all I wanted was a friend like Tacy. :) I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: growing up is okay, but nothing compares to the magic of childhood—when simple things can become most adventurous and exciting. This book is the first in a series of ten books about Betsy (plus two books about other characters in which she is mentioned). The reading level and plots DO increase as the books progress and the characters mature. So don’t give up on the series if you are an older reader and find this one boring. (Though I still think it is charming!) This is a series that no childhood should be without.

[Duane Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah! The world of little children. We forget what life was like when we were 4, 5, 6 years old, the wide-eyed wonder of the world, the power of our imagination, the love of our family, and the pure joy of the the friends we laughed and played with. If you have children and grandchildren then you experience it again through their lives. And you can experience through the words of a wonderful book like Betsy-Tacy. It's a timeless story that's just as beautiful to read today as it was when it was written.

[Allison Tebo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perhaps I would have liked this more when I was younger . . . perhaps. While this was a perfectly fine little book, it struck me as a little blah and stilted; not nearly as brilliant and honest as Elizabeth Enright or Jeanne Birdsall.

[Heather Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved reading this childhood favorite to my daughter.

There is an un-theologically sound explanation given by a five year old about heaven that a parent will want to explain to their child isn't meant to be instructive, otherwise I love this book.

[Terris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an adorable, old-fashioned book! Very sweet. I loved it!

[Ms. B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since I finished Betsy's Wedding last year, it was time to go back and reread the series from the beginning. I remember the first time I read this in 3rd grade. It was the first chapter book that I read and enjoyed.
In this one, Betsy turns 5 and becomes friends with Tacy who has moved in across the street. This book shares their first year together as friends. They play games, make up stories, go to school and support each other other through major events in both their families.
The reason for giving this book only 3 stars? Upon this most recent rereading; the book feels dated. I am no longer sure that young readers will be able to relate to this story of life in 1890s Minnesota.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an absolutely delightful story of two young girls becoming friends and their childhood antics. I adored it.

[Moonkiszt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Featured in grandma reads with sessions. . .AJW age 10

When grand-dau and I finished our latest read, she asked for an American Girl book - she has many of them in her collection at home, and so I know she has the motivation for finishing those. She asked about books I read as a child. . .and I immediately thought of Betsy and Tacy - Maud Hart Lovelace was right up there with Laura Ingalls in my childhood book wishes. Checked our library and there it was and we were up and reading. She's a few states away from me - far enough away to make visits just a-coupla-time-a-year thing so we zoom once or twice a week.

Once we did the few-chapters-in checkup on finishing commitments she was all in. "I'm a bigger girl than these two," she said, "but I like how they like each other and think up big stories and act them out, using lots of imagination. Like Anne!" (Our companion read is Anne of Green Gables, more challenging for her, but she's just as keen on it!) Today we finished reading about Betsy Ray and Tacy Kelly, with the latest new friend Tib Muller moving into their world. My reading buddy asked if this was a series, and whooped when she heard the next book is Betsy, Tacy & Tib! We will be starting that in our next session.

We found more of the author's history in writing these books and because I always want to give illustrators their credit (and who could overlook Lois Lenski? Not me!) we included her in our investigations - which brought up more bubbly conversation.

Reading out loud with someone you love (to each other in turn, using books that have been chosen together) is one of the most satisfying and joyful experiences there is. . .regardless of age or relation or format!

5 stars (drawn in Lois Lenski style) recommending the book and the opportunity it affords readers to experience how childhood is so very different, yet so very similar from the date it was written to the present.

[Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book reminded me of my own childhood --- when the next block was an unknown, when everyone in the neighborhood had a name and an attitude towards kids, when one played without toys and hid in tall grass and visited the woods. It was also a time when children could wander unaccompanied almost anywhere. When home furnishings were not arranged to accomodate TVs and home entertainment centers.

Well, having taken my walk down memory lane, I can talk about the book a bit. Mrs. Lovelace, it seems, had a gift for narrating the relationships of the young, for putting the world into their perspective, and for describing the porous border between the reality of imagination and the reality of home life. At the same time, she does not gloss over the challenges of reality. Therefore, even within the pages of this short book, the characters must deal with death (Tacy's sister, the Baby Bee), and the disruptions caused by birth (Betsy's sister Margaret).

Last, the book is essentially adult from the point of view of its asides --- for example, the description of the gentle manipulation of children by adults when Tacy's brother distracts Betsy and Tacey from disappointment; or how Betsy is farmed out during the time of Margaret's birth.

I think I will read more of this series.

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ahh! the innocence of youth! This is a really cute book about two little girls who become best friends. It takes place at the turn of the century which makes it especially charming. It's written in a very simple way which makes it perfect for younger children to enjoy. I read it to my two little girls ages 6 and 4 and they loved it so much that we have decided to read the next one, too, "Betsy-Tacy and Tib".

[Zoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember reading this with my mom as a child. The stories are so cute and I remember wanting to be just like the girls. I still sometimes thumb through the book and find new stories that I have forgotten. It is also interesting to reread since the innocent point of view of a child is captured perfectly.

[Kellyn Roth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfectly adorable. I love how they meet, and the first day of school, and dressing up like grownups. It's so sweet how close they are! What an incredible friendship! And it's based off a true story, which makes it even cooler.

~Kellyn Roth, Reveries Reviews

[Christina DeVane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Received this for my birthday and read it all that day!
Such a classic girl’s book that brings me back to my childhood like a warm drink on a cold day!
Betsy is 5-6 yrs old in this book, so great for beginning readers.

[Alisha Trenalone · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an absolutely idyllic childhood. It's a shame I didn't read this when I was five or six. I would have loved it. Even as an adult, it's really cute and sometimes very funny (and other times very touching).
Quick, pleasant read.