Rereading this book, every word of which feels so familiar to me, was still a pleasure. Looking at Lois Lenski's illustrations - my favourites being the girls after they have cut off their hair - takes me straight back to my own childhood. If I ever have granddaughters, I expect that I will read it many more times! Even though the book is set in 1900, when the trio of best friends are 8 years old, so many of their childhood adventures have a timeless quality about them: building a 'play' house, making concoctions in the kitchen, exploring, fighting with their big sisters, and playacting. One of my favourite chapters features Betsy, Tacy and Tib trying to learn how to fly. When Betsy, last to attempt 'flying' off of a tree branch, chickens out and distracts the children by telling them a story, it is such a Betsy-ish thing to do. Those who are familiar with this beloved series, will recognise the beginning of Betsy's vivid imagination and storytelling prowess.

I remember loving this book as a kid - the cover is in tatters! I read it aloud to my kids at age 4 and 8 and they both loved it too - lots of giggles at the characters' shenanigans and interest in what was different about life in those days. Great revisit!

Whenever I re-read a Betsy-Tacy story the little girl that lives within me sits next to me and listens as I read. These simple, dear little books help me remember what it was like when I first began reading.

“I don’t want to be grown up yet. But I want to be just a little bit older.” Sobbing always.

I love reading these books with my daughter!

Betsy-Tacy and Tib by Maude Heart Lovelace is the second book in the Betsy-Tacy series. At the start Betsy and her friends are 8 and this captures their childhood hijinks.

I consider this series my all-time favorite and I’ve reread it so, so many times. I didn’t discover the books till I was in middle school and it’s so much fun seeing these earlier books especially through my daughter’s younger point of view.

This book features the classic tales of when the girls cut half their hair off to remember each other by, when they form the TCKC (The Christian Kindness Club) and have more fun than expected “punishing” each other for being bad. It’s when we first meet Aunt Dolly, initially in the mirror palace and then in person.

I adore these books so much and reading this book together is such a treat! Hopefully I’ll turn her into a life-long fan as well and then someday we can vacation to Mankato together to visit Betsy’s house!

5/5

"Betsy loved to think up things to do, and Tacy and Tib loved to do them."
This book was my introduction to the Betsy-Tacy series and I will always be grateful to my sister for introducing it to me. I especially like this one because the girls are so naughty in it. I never made Everything Pudding, but I did play Mirror Palace.

Update: It's always fun to discuss this one with the VSC, because we always laugh so much. It's impossible for me to to choose my favorite of The Tomes, but I agree with our discussion leader who suggested that BTT is the funniest one in the series.

Last read: 1-12-09

A worthy follow-up to n  Betsy~Tacyn, Maud Hart Lovelace's first book about two (eventually three) young girls growing up in late nineteenth and early twentieth-century Minnesota, Betsy-Tacy and Tib is a humorous and heartwarming celebration of childhood friendship, and only increased my appreciation of the characters, the author, and the series.

Picking up roughly two years after the first title, when Betsy Ray, Tacy Kelly and Tib Muller are eight years old, it follows the three best friends through many hilarious adventures. From the dubious culinary achievement of the "Everything Pudding," to the (inevitably) disastrous consequences of making hair lockets to remember each other by, the episodes chronicled here are guaranteed to win a smile and a chuckle from all but the most hardened reader.

As is only fitting in a novel truly meant for children, adults are a continuous a source of mystery and confusion. Often angry at the unexpected thing, as when the girls' parents are horrified that they have gone "begging" at Mrs. Ekstrom's, rather than the fact that they have muddied their dresses; they are sometimes surprisingly sensitive to the feelings of young people, as when Mr. Muller turns the disassembly of the play-house in the Muller basement into a game.

Lovelace's simple narrative, together with Lois Lenski's charming illustrations, is practically a pean to the happy days of childhood, although more serious subjects occasionally find their way into the story. I was particularly struck, while reading Betsy-Tacy and Tib, by the fact that the three friends are all of different ethnic and religious backgrounds - a reality highlighted in the chapter where they discuss God and "being good." I appreciated the ecumenical aspect of the story, and found myself wondering whether Lovelace, who originally saw these books published in the early 1940s, during the Second World War, made a deliberate choice to be inclusive, or whether it happened naturally.

Addendum: Some time ago, my friend Constance commented on my review of n  The Princess Briden, and mentioned that to be a "literal Libby" in her family was to be "just like Tib." You'll understand when you read the Betsy-Tacy books, she told me... And yes - now I do!

This was as much fun read with my daughter as first book. Now there is a new girl Tib and they all are 8 years old. What a cozy read and amazing illustrations. Love it.

Ah, the sweetness of that era. My favorite story in the book was when they cut half of each other's hair to put in a locket (way too much hair) so they would have something to remember each other by if one of them should die. Such innocence.

Still a delight, but the nostalgia factor is severely undercut by how much less of Betsy-Tacy and Tib I remember than I did of Betsy-Tacy. I do quite enjoy the way that Betsy and Tacy and Tib look upon Julia and Katie—B & T's respective sisters—with such dismay and scorn, and Julia and Katie share the feeling, when they're clearly basically similar kids, with just a few years' difference that feels like a wide gulf. (I'm afraid I have to admit that when I was slightly older than they are, I shamelessly piggybacked on my sister's slumber parties by inviting her friends' younger sisters. I regret it somewhat now—I should have let her have her moment—but we found it grand fun at the time.)

This is as far as I go in the series for now, but I'm glad to see that the early books in the series at least are still as relatable and wholesome as ever.

I really enjoy the fun reading style and lightheartedness of the stories! My favorite parts were when the girls tried learning to fly and when they made Everything Pudding!! Such great little books!

Second in what was to become quite a long series that the author did not intend after the first book, Betsy-Tacy. This one takes the girls up to age 9, so a few years have passed in between installments. Though the author stated that the kernel of many of these stories happened in real life, there are points where it felt like the author was trying a wee bit too hard to be "adorable" or amusing. But maybe I'm just jaded. I grew up in a small Midwestern town myself, and it wasn't all that idyllic...but then things were probably different fifty years before. If you want a good "clean" read for young girls of the characters' age (7-9) it's a good choice, I guess, though rather surface compared to some of the issues dealt with in such a masterly fashion in Vol 1. It would probably be a good choice to read aloud together.