Betsy-Tacy: a
Classic Series
Many girls
who grow up loving books have heard of all the all the classics, Black Beauty,
The Secret Garden, The Little Princess, Anne of Green Gables, etc… but few have
heard of Betsy-Tacy, a series of stories about a little girl named Betsy Ray
and her best friend Tacy Kelly. Written around the 1940s by author Maud Hart
Lovelace, this series begins with a five year old Betsy meeting, and becoming
friends with the five year old Tacy, the series goes on through the years
ending with Betsy’s wedding. Although not as popular as other series for
younger girls such as Little Women or Anne of Green Gables, this series has
gained a rather large following over the years and remained in print ever since
the initial publishing in 1940.
There is even a Betsy-Tacy Society in Mankato
Minnesota where the books are said to be about and the author spent many of her
growing up years. A surprising number of people begin reading this series at an
older age, since it is not necessarily a series carried by local bookstores and
libraries, but upon learning about and reading the first few, often become
lifelong fans. There are three other books that are considered deep valley
books, but because the main character is not Betsy, they are often not
considered part of the series. These books are, Winona’s Pony Cart, Emily of
Deep Valley, and Carney’s House Party. Each book takes place in the same town
and with many of the same characters, but with a different feel and atmosphere
than those of the Betsy-Tacy books. I
would recommend the Betsy-Tacy books to anyone who had read and enjoyed Little
Women, Anne of Green Gables, and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.
My personal
favorite of the many books by Maud Hart Lovelace is Carney’s House Party, since
she is the character I feel to be the most relatable. Carney is a young lady in
the middle of her college education at the beginning of this story, and
although she is mentioned frequently in many of the Betsy-Tacy books, it is
only here in her own story that we the readers can get a real sense of what she
is thinking and feeling. Betsy is a charming girl with many thoughts and
opinions, but she is somewhat silly at times and I feel that her enthusiasm
often outweighs her sense in making a decision, which is not a character flaw
to be found in Carney.
There are ten
books in the Betsy-Tacy series and three other books that can be read either on
their own or as part of the series which I will list below:
The
Betsy-Tacy Books
Betsy-Tacy (1940)
Betsy-Tacy
and Tib (1941)
Betsy and
Tacy go over the Big Hill (1942)
Betsy and
Tacy go Downtown (1943)
Heaven to
Betsy (1945)
Betsy in
Spite of Herself (1946)
Betsy was a
Junior (1947)
Betsy and Joe
(1948)
Betsy and the
Great World (1952)
Betsy’s
Wedding (1955)
The Deep
Valley Books
Winona’s Pony
Cart (1953)
Carney’s
House Party (1949)
Emily of Deep
Valley (1950)
