Betsy-Tacy audiobook

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.

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.

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.

So sweet.

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.

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.

"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!

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. .

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.

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.

I needed it. A warm story, that made me smile.[I envy Tacy that she had Betsy. I hadn't...]

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

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".

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.

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.

Delightful from beginning to end! I vaguely remember reading this and the second in the series many years ago but truly enjoyed it all the more now. Meeting 5yr old Betsy and her meeting little Tacy, her BFF and then the book concluding with the introduction of the newest little girl in the neighborhood, Tib. Such a beautiful, sweet story about friendship, adventures, families, school days, and town storytelling.