So pure. I definitely could have read this with Ruby a few years ago, but she still enjoyed it. I’m guessing the next couple books in the series will be more interesting for her as the characters get older.

Every single detail is dear to me!

I am totally the wrong demographic for the Betsy-Tacy books, which are written for young girls. I read book 1 out of curiosity, as the series is mentioned by Meg Ryan's character in the film You've Got Mail. I found this look at young life a hundred years ago so engrossing that I couldn't stop until I'd read all ten of the main series, plus Winona's Pony Cart, set in the same fictional town. The biggest asset in the series is Lovelace's great characterizations of children (who become young adults by the last books) having rather ordinary adventures. The 60th Anniversary Edition of the series also includes some great material on the real-world people on whom Lovelace based her stories.

Maud Hart Lovelace is frank and short-sentenced. The storyline goes something like, “Once upon a time, there were two little girls who became best friends, even though one was lively and imaginative and one was terribly shy.” Lovelace is not interested in drawing riveting characters. She tells us who they are in stubby sentences in the first chapter of the book and then she moves on. But, like the Little House series, these are books about the way of life in a time. The early 1900s homes line a single crossroad that makes up the town. They all have orchards and chickens. The two best friends carry their dinners to the end of their street, where it meets a meadow and a bench, and there, they eat the meals prepared by their mothers every evening. Without saying much, Lovelace evokes the tenderness of that, the wobbling glasses of milk in little girl hands and the street with its barefooted children. The girls play pretend and long for sweets and run around in their Midwestern, summer lives. Major life events seem to waft through the book. Tacy’s baby brother dies. About one and a half pages later, Pa takes everyone on a wagon ride. Lovelace isn’t worried about continuity or really even fluidity. But the few details she gives are solid enough to construct the little town and its little delights. The abrupt transitions lend to the feeling of episodic recollection so peculiar to childhood. It’s a surprisingly wistful read. I’ll confess, though, I wasn’t sorry to move on to a book where something might happen.

I just reread this to one of the girls I nanny and it was so much fun! She loved it!

An absolute delight to read aloud with my 6yo and 4yo daughters.

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.

I’m reading this book for the first time as an adult. Somehow I didn’t end up reading this series as a kid, but if I had, I would have loved it! So reading as an adult, imagine my surprise when I was on the verge of tears, not once, not twice, but FIVE separate times over the brief duration of this book. It’s such a beautiful picture of true friendship between two little girls! It made me think of my own close friendships over the course of my life. This is what it looks like when you deeply love and enjoy spending time with your friend! Since Maud Hart Lovelace based this book on her childhood friendships, she totally gets it.

The writing was especially impressive. Lovelace kept the vocabulary simple enough that children could attempt to read it on their own without getting stuck on too many big words, but she also infused it with meaning and depth. It ends up being the perfect combination. Lovelace also remembers the specific ins and outs of little kids playing pretend games, and accurately depicts that, too. I loved getting to spend time in the cozy, warm safeness of the world she created. Definitely continuing on with the series!

I read some of these books as a kid so I thought I’d revisit this series, I didn’t realize the author was from MN! Obviously, this series is written for kids and then as the characters age, the writing becomes more complex. Not sure how long I will stick with this series, but something easy to read while there’s a blizzard outside.

A great read-aloud for both my girls. They want to continue the series.

Such a sweet book!! I really enjoyed how Betsy and Tacy are such great friends to one another and that they enjoy each other's company as they adventure around their town. My favorite parts were when the little girls dressed up as grown ups and went to call on their neighbors and when they sold bottles of sand! 5 stars!

This book was so cute! It was perfect to read aloud to my 4.5 year old daughter, as the girls are are five in this book. I loved the nature descriptions, and the family descriptions, and the whole atmosphere of the book.