So many feels. I love revisiting these classic, über nostalgic reads... there’s something so simple, so real — and also so timeless. Are they perfect? Nah. But they have an innocence to them.
The stories are cute, and the characters are drawn from life so truly — I may not have had the exact same experiences as Betsy, Tacy, Tib or the others, but I can relate!

This contains the first four books in the Betsy-Tacy series: Betsy-Tacy, Betsy-Tacy and Tib, Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill, Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown. I think I may have read one of these as a child and found it disappointing (I was a big fan of Carolyn Haywood's Betsy, and Lovelace's Betsy couldn't compare), but the series improves as the girls get a bit older (they're 5 in the first book and 12 by the fourth). I believe there are ten books total in the series, following Betsy up through her wedding, and these first four were charming enough that I'll probably read the rest.

I'm never not in the mood to revisit this beloved series. There's such a sincerity and warmth in Maud's writing. You can tell that it was written with such care and fondness looking back on her earlier years. Maud's writing might come off as simple in your first encounter with it but there is a richness that is there that makes me never tire of rereading the series. Somehow she is able to have very slice of life style plots and humor while still imprinting meaningful messages in her book. But what makes these so special is that the meaningful lessons don't feel contrived or preachy like they do in so much modern literature. The later books in the series are my favorite but it wouldn't be complete without these first four books.

Nostalgia AF

The Betsy-Tacy Treasury lives up to its name: It’s a real five-star treasure. It contains the first four books in Maud Hart Lovelace’s series: Betsy-Tacy, Betsy-Tacy and Tib, Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill, and Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown. The books are charming and nostalgic, but never twee or maudlin. It’s no wonder that these books are still in print 80 years after Lovelace published the first book based on her own Mankato, Minn., childhood.

This omnibus relates the adventures of Betsy Ray and Anna Anastacia “Tacy” Kelly, who first meet when they’re five, and then the adventures of Betsy, Tacy and Thelma “Tib” Muller, the latter of which moves into Deep Valley, Minn., from Milwaukee a few years later. Set in the time just before and just after the turn of the 20th century, the stories are much more realistic than you’d expect in decades-old children’s books: There’s death, brushes with fatal diseases, and racist bullying; however, the three fast friends deal admirably with them all. The Betsy-Tacy Treasury will delight kids, of course, their parents and grandmothers will love the book, too. I should know! I’m 62! I also want to laud Lois Lenski’s wonderful, old-fashioned pen-and-ink illustrations.

This treasury is my new favorite. Sweet read aloud with my girls during the shelter in place. Great examples of encouraging friendship and loving family. We love Betsy, Tacy, and Tib!

I loved these books as a girl and I love reading them again to my daughter. The girls are so innocent and genuine in how the conduct themselves, that I hope they serve as role models for my daughter. The books in the series are fun to read in succession in this extended volume, because you can see how the girls’ maturity is mirrored in how the text becomes more complex in its expression. And the ending of the last book (with the Rip Van Winkle play) is so heartwarming and memorable)!

I gave this to my granddaughter Paige for her birthday, and then I decided I absolutely had to have a copy for myself. It's the first four Betsy-Tacy books, in one volume! When I was in elementary school, I had to wait for them to be returned to the school library, and hope I got to them first. (No such thing as requesting them on line, back then.) Now I was able to read all four in the right order, unlike 56 years ago, when I read whichever one came in. They're absolutely delightful, just like I remembered them!

There's a little history here...I read these years and years ago when I was in elementary school. I used to check them out of the library...at least the first two. I don't remember the others. But I used to read it over and over again. As the years went on, I always remembered the images this book gave me, but I had forgotten the titles. I only remembered that one of the girls was named Betsy. I thought the other was named Tracy, but I was wrong. I tried to remember the titles and have been searching for these books for almost 15 years. The memory of these stories stuck with me. So when I was reading the introduction of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, this series was mentioned. Something clicked and I immediately looked it up. I was so hopeful that this was the series but I couldn't know until I read it. And...it was!!! I was so incredibly surprised not only to find it, but to love it even more than when I was young. You know how sometimes reading a book from your childhood can almost ruin the book for you because the childhood magic is gone?? This still had it. I loved it!!! This volume held the first 4 books of the series, and many of them were me to me. But the first books- memories flooded me. I remember flying with Betsy and Tacy on a feather, the magazine paper dolls that I did too, and the mirror palace. It's amazing to see how just a few pages can influence a childhood. And now I get to not only enjoy this series again, I get to introduce it to my daughter and hopefully she will enjoy it like I did. Honestly, I cannot recommend this series enough!

My daughter and I read this aloud together and loved every chapter! Can't wait to start the next book in the series.

As heartwarming and charming as Laura Ingalls Wilder! An innocent and captivating story of small town Minnesota in the 20s. A childhood favorite of my Mom’s - and now I’m a fan too!

4.75 stars
I read these young reader chapter books when I was younger. You'll find those on my Read shelf with 3 star ratings mostly because I couldn't remember how I liked them when I stood up my gr profile. I love these stories so very much. Small-town early 20th century young friendship stories. So fun and sweet. I gasped as it dawned on me that I might most be like Tib - as she says the quiet part out lound and MHL would say "but Betsy and Tacy liked Tib anyway." Gosh - I feel seen.
This read confirmed my love for stories about (nontoxic) female friendship - like BSC and Sisterhood books. I want to read stories about adult female friendship that isn't toxic. Please sent recommendations!
2023 Reading Challenge:
On TBR 10+ Years
Reread
500+ Pages
23 in 23