Absolutely delightful book from another era (published in 1939) about a little girl and her adventures as she begins school for the first time. My nine year old has read this book herself at least once but begged me to read it aloud to her so we could share the stories together. My five year old heard the last few chapters and begged to hear the first ones that she missed! We've managed to find the next book in the series on kindle to read next.

Short and sweet. An easy read.

It had been a long time since I revisited Betsy. I did not expect her to hold up well with time and I was right, she did not.
There's nothing really wrong with this book. Okay, there's one thing wrong with this book. The portrayal of Native Americans as studied by Betsy's class is not great. But you expect that sort of thing from books of this era, unfortunately.
If you can forgive the prejudices of another era, then, the real problem with Betsy is that there's nothing particularly great about her: no gem, no takeaway that makes her world worth spending an hour in. Sure, I can think of a few modern kids who would be willing, but if I'm honest not many. Kids will forgive dated books, in my experience, but not so much boring ones, and I'm not sure there's enough here to keep most modern kids interested. Best, then, to leave Betsy to my past. I'm hanging onto this 1939 edition, though. Not because it's worth anything, but just for posterity's sake.
[One note I will add: if there is a redeeming point to Betsy, it's her mother. I like the relationship with her and her mother. Feels nostalgic, but in kind of a good way. Hence its placement on that particular shelf.]
Featured on the No Extra Words podcast episode 112.

Loved this book as a child and loved reading it aloud to my three-year-old.