I love all the Betsy-Tacy books. I always have and I always will. As a young girl growing up in Minnesota in the 1970's, I wanted nothing more in the world than to find a way to go back in time and change the immortal trio of Betsy, Tacy and Tib into a quartet.

As I grew older, I realized that Maud Hart Lovelace, with her warmth, generosity and writing talent, had given thousands of girls, and maybe some boys too, the opportunity of being that unseen, but very welcome and important fourth member. And when I was young, I believed the stories I was reading, because they felt so real and were filled with such love; were Maud Hart's life as she had actually lived it. With only the names having been changed to protect those truly innocent characters.

To my delight, after reading Ms Whalen's meticulously researched book I learned while much of the novels were based on real life and events, much had been changed and evolved to create a richer reading experience. Being as familiar as I was with the stories and the characters, I found the photos and stories; maps and memorabilia contained inside The Betsy-Tacy Companion as delightful and precious as if they were truly a part of my girlhood.

Like any greedy girl, I wish more information had been available to Ms Whalen, but I can whole-heartedly recommend this book to anyone who has enjoyed the Betsy-Tacy books and wishes to learn more about the family and the friends upon whom this series is lovingly based.

Thank you Ms Whalen, for letting me see the true faces and names of the characters I've loved for so long. And most of all; thank you Maud Hart Lovelace for sharing them with us. See you in Deep Valley!

P.S. I still want to change that immortal trio to a quartet. Maudie, Bick, Midge and Kathy. Has kind of a ring to it, don't you think?

I’m a big fan of Betsy, Tacy and Tib books from my childhood. The author did a tremendous amount of research for this book, relating the Betsy stories to Maud Hart Lovelace’s real life. Lots of pictures bring this book to life.

Well. I'm certainly not surprised that I LOVED this book. It was five hundred pages of details and visits about "old friends" of mine, about whom I read in the Betsy-Tacy books. Since the books so closely paralleled MHL's own life, author Sharla Scannell Whalen pointed out the similarities and differences and, deliciously, filled out "the rest of the story" I simply couldn't put this book down--I inhaled it over the weekend. The author is a true Betsy-Tacy fan--one of the very fortunate little girls whose library had a set of Betsy-Tacy books. I feel great pity for all the little girls whose library did not. (My own family library now has a full set, but I can't convince my sons to read them! sigh)
If I had to rate the "series" that I read obsessively as a little girl (Little House, Betsy-Tacy, Little Women, Nancy Drew, Anne of Green Gables) Betsy-Tacy would probably come very very close to tying Little House for first place. I reread this series at least once a year for years. I wanted to be more like Betsy--more outgoing, less afraid. I too used a small trunk as a writing desk (although I never had the courage to send a story or poem out to anyone)
The characters from Betsy-Tacy are almost as real to me as my own friends were. I find it interesting that of the above series, three were at least partially autobiographical, and all three of those had characters who set up permanent residence in my imagination and heart. So did Anne. While I loved Nancy Drew books, I rarely imagined Nancy as a friend.
Anyway. Loved this book. Any Betsy-Tacy fan ought to.

I really enjoyed reading this, but it is definitely only for the true fanatics. It could have used some better editing, as it is a bit repetitive.

The methodology is an interesting mix of fine scholarship and tween fangirling. The author assumes you read the Betsy-Tacy stories as a child, which got a bit old after a bit. Perhaps if I had ready them as a child I would have minded less. The author also assumes that you have either read them recently or have them to hand - both of which I would highly recommend while reading this. I'd also recommend bookmarking the list of characters and counterparts - I don't actually recall having trouble keeping all the people straight when I read the stories, but it was quite literally impossible for me while reading this. The author bounces back and forth, and there's an explanation in the beginning, but a) who remembers back that far when the book is this long; and b) I don't think it was adhered to anyway.

Similarly, the use of italics for certain types of quotations but not others: again, there's an explanation in the beginning, but a) who remembers back that far when the book is this long; and b) I don't think it was adhered to anyway.

ETA: the subtitle indicates that this is a biography. It's not - not in any traditional sense. It's a title-by-title analysis of the series, with Carney's House Party and Emily of Deep Valley thrown in for good measure.

I'm really glad I read it - very fortunate that my local library was able to ILL it for me because the prices of used copies are well beyond ridiculous. This story & quotation pretty much sum up the book with regard to whether or not you should read it: on page 98 there's a long paragraph dissecting Betsy's purchases of Christmas ornaments in the stories, and trying to ascertain chronology across the titles based on the ornament purchases. "If I have to explain why it is amusing to analyze such trivia, you shouldn't be reading this book."

The ultimate companion for us ultimate fans!

Never has a better biography been written. The author did some hardcore thorough research and boy did it pay off. I haven't even read it in quite a while but it does my heart good just thinking about it. Oh Sharla Whalen, if only I could be like you. I am forever thankful.

“Maud created a vivid powerful fictional scene from a few bright paint pots in her memory...Her privacy, to a certain extent, she forfeited by writing more than ten magically autobiographical books [which] will (hopefully) live forever on library shelves and in home ‘shrines.’” Whalen follows her research trail with “lovingly relentless interest...And sharing this curious enjoyment with Betsy from book to book makes us love her more and brings us close to the real person beneath the thin veneer of the character.” Whalen’s The Betsy-Tacy Companion is proof of Maud’s assertion “that nothing dies, that everything comes back in beauty.”

One of the profoundest surprises I discovered in The Companion was Maud’s deep faith. “The most important part of religion isn’t any church. It’s down in your own heart. Religion is in your thoughts, and in the way you act from day to day, in the way you treat other people. It’s honesty, and unselfishness, and kindness. Especially kindness.” (Heaven to Betsy)

Thoughts on Prayer
“I believe in praying as I believe in breathing.
An involuntary procedure, prayer runs along with the day,
following the convolutions of work and play, duties, problems, and delights…
It is my way to turn to God at any hour, with a small joy as well as with a sorrow,
with plans, hopes, thanks--even wishes.
Not that I expect Him to stay the course of the planets
while He grants my often misguided petitions.
But since He is love and is everything,
‘nearer than hands and feet,’
one may share everything with Him,
and there is a blessed release in doing so.
What He gives, I earnestly believe,
in response to such spontaneous prayers,
is strength, insight, appreciation, serenity,
but above all a continuing reassurance of His presence.
As for formal prayers, they differ naturally according to one’s faith.
But I love to say upon awaking the opening verses of the greater doxology.
They include the whole world and seep away pettiness
as the sun is sweeping away shadows,
focusing one’s thoughts on the glory of the unseen creator,
the One who gives us the gift of life.”

As an elementary teacher myself, I was amused to discover my namesake: “A young Swedish pill named Miss Erickson came to reach Latin at Deep Valley High...who was indeed just out of college (in excuse of Miss Erickson’s villainy).” I resonated with Maud’s educational philosophy. “Children cannot begin to write too young...they should keep diaries of everyday events, of their school days. Such early memories will provide invaluable assistance to them as adults, should they choose to pursue a career in writing…I think every educated person should speak at least three languages. It is absolutely necessary for artistic work in any line of writing, singing, professional work, and for business or traveling it is indispensable...it makes one so infinitely broader…It doesn’t pay to bow down to convention...I only paid for learning the useful lesson that to yield to the imbecilic demands of a degenerate society is moral cowardice and is properly punished by providence...This day is the one you have long looked forward to...Chances are all about you, and all you have to do is reach out and take them. Every day is a fresh beginning, every sunrise is but a new birth for you and the rest of us--the beginning of a new existence and a great chance to put to new and higher uses the knowledge you have gained...hearty wishes for continued success in your life work, whatever it may be...hang [your diploma] where you will see them daily, so that they will be constant reminders of your determination to make each day a new beginning of a newer, brighter, and truer life for yourselves and those about you.”

“The heroine of one of Maud’s short stories constructed a list of things she must do to transform herself...The list included:
‘Call yourself Claire instead of Clara.
Make your hair a “crowning glory.”
Be dainty.
Acquire a low laugh.
Shroud your past in mystery.
Keep your hands exquisitely manicured.
Learn some French phrases.
Exploit your femininity.
Persist.”

Thanks to Whalen’s comprehensive biography, I will forever aspire to transform myself into the best Betsy-Tacy Companion I can be.