September | 2009 | Book Chatter

Betsy-Tacy
Maud Hart Lovelace
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Pub. Date: June 1979
ISBN-13: 9780064400961
Age Range: 7 to 10
144pp
Series: Betsy-Tacy
Edition Description: Reissue

The blurb from the publisher:

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.

The Short of It:

Delightful, fun and incredibly charming!

The Rest of It:

My daughter is new to reading so we are always looking for books to read together so when Book Club Girl mentioned Betsy-Tacy I was like “Who in the world is Betsy Tacy?” Well, Betsy and Tacy are actually two girls who happen to be best friends. Do you remember when you were young and how you used to play until the street lights came on? How you would carve that old refrigerator box into a playhouse because video and computer games didn’t exist? Well, this book is all that and so much more!

Betsy-Tacy is the first book in the series and is made up of short stories about such things as picnics, paper dolls and the first day of school. There are hills to climb and family dinners to be had. This book is just charming. My daughter said that she is Tacy and that I am Betsy. We sit on the couch and look forward to the adventures that these girls share.

Even for me, an older reader, I find that it’s quite easy to slip back into childhood while reading these stories. After a long day a work, who wouldn’t want to slip back into childhood for a little bit of an escape? If you have never read a Betsy-Tacy book, I urge you to check them out. My daughter and I are really enjoying them but I think I am enjoying them a little bit more. Don’t tell!