Free Downloads The Betsy-Tacy Treasury: The First Four Betsy-Tacy Books
The first four books in the beloved Betsy-Tacy series are ready to delight a new generation ofreaders—and to bring a grownup generation of readers back to the engrossingstories of their youth. Following the childhoods of Betsy Ray and her friendsin the late 1800s and early 1900s, this handsome anthology collects theoriginal Betsy-Tacy as well as Betsy, Tacy and Tib, Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill, and Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown. Forewords by Judy Blume,Esther Hautzig, and Johanna Hurwitz, andillustrations by Lois Lenski, will make readers ofall ages feel at home in the imaginative life of young Betsy Ray as she awakensto the challenges and triumphs of her home in quaint Mankato, Minnesota.
Paperback: 736 pages
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks; Original edition (November 8, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0062095870
ISBN-13: 978-0062095879
Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 1.2 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (110 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #18,078 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #38 in Books > Children's Books > Literature & Fiction > Historical Fiction > United States > 1900s #41 in Books > Literature & Fiction > United States > Classics #363 in Books > Children's Books > Classics
Age Range: 8 - 12 years
Grade Level: 3 - 7
It's not very well spelled out, but this book contains the first four books of the series: Betsy-Tacy, Betsy-Tacy and Tib, Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill, and Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown. It would be great to have all of these in the same volume, but it might get a little heavy if you are reading chapter a day to your munchkin. Of course, it's hard to go wrong with anything Betsy and Tacy.The first four books are appropriate for your 6-12 year old. The language is a little flowery for younger readers - my 6 yo was impatient for the action to get started so we had to wait another year. By then she was ready to listen to all four books. She loved the friendship between the girls as much as I did. The details of a turn of the (20th) century childhood struck a chord for my turn of the century (21st) child - especially reading in a tree with a pillow. Sadly, today's kids don't range on foot to the next town over anymore. Some details may spark some interesting discussions - the play Uncle Tom's Cabin comes to town. You may want to be prepared to summarize the plot. We ended up talking a little about slavery the second time we read these books.I warmly recommend the rest of the books. They only get better and better. Betsy is a great character, a girl with great friends that grows into a questioning teenager (still with great friends), an adventurous college student, and an employed adult. She has options, charts a course, and finds her way with a little help from her buddies. Isn't that what we'd all like for our daughters?UPDATE: I'm happy to see that this collection has received an updated cover and a better description that mentions there are four books collected in one volume!
I found these books as a little girl at the public library in the early 1970's, reading them in order from the first, easy to read book all the way through to Betsy's wedding. Each book matures with its character, and they are so beautifully done. Betsy, her friends, and her family and community are great role models for girls, and you come to feel like you are one of the friends as you read it. I remember being both gratified and terribly sad when I finished the last book, as I hated to leave everyone. I found them again for my own daughter, who is now in her mid-20s, a Brown University literature graduate, who still loves the books as much as I do. And if you need more encouragement to buy the series for your own daughter for the holidays, The New York Times today noted that Bette Midler, Anna Quindlen, and Nora Ephron are all fans!
These books are amazing. that's almost all there is to say. The characters are great, the plot is great. I can't believe it was all real. I daydream about being Betsy almost every day. If you are looking for a series to read, read these. It doesn't matter how old you are, they're for everyone.
The Betsy-Tacy Treasury is the first four of the Betsy-Tacy books: Betsy-Tacy, Betsy-Tacy and Tib, Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill, and Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown. Included in the book are great forwards by current authors that are also fans including Judy Blume, Ann M. Martin, and Johanna Hurwitz. There are also sections at the end with background about Maud Hart Lovelace, illustrator Lois Lenski, and each of the four books included. I loved all of this information and found it very interesting. Also interesting was the praise at the beginning of the book for Maud Hart Lovelace from such personalities as Anna Quindlen, Meg Cabot, Laura Lippman, Bette Midler, Nora Ephron, Lorna Landvick, etc. In particular, Anna Quindlen stated, "There are three authors whose body of work I have reread more than once in my adult life: Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, and Maud Hart Lovelace." This is praise indeed!Was this book truly worthy of all of this praise? I am more than happy to say a very emphatic "YES!" By the end of the first book, I had fallen in love with Betsy Ray and Tacy Kelly and their world in Deep Valley, Minnesota. Deep Valley is the Mankato of Lovelace's childhood around the turn of the nineteenth century. (For fellow Little House on the Prairie TV series fans, this is the same Mankato that characters from Walnut Grove visit to get trade goods.)Five-year old Betsy is excited when a new family with lots of children moves into the house across the street. One girl appears to be her age. After a slight misunderstanding, they soon become fast friends and the people of Hill Street and Deep Valley can't remember a time when Betsy-Tacy were not friends. Soon a new girl moves in to the chocolate house on the way to school, and Tib becomes their fast friend. Betsy wants to be a writer and is full of imaginative stories. Tacy is shy, but loyal and fun. Tib is very matter of fact and also very pretty. The books move through their lives. By book two they are eight, book three they are ten, and book four they are twelve.What did I like so much about this book? Although the adventures took place long before my childhood, the spirit of their life and adventures perfectly captures the spirit and joy of childhood that does not change through the ages. The wonder of the world and how one street and one city can seem so giant and faraway places like Milwaukee can be viewed with imaginative delight are just how a child views the world. Their adventures playing and making up stories reminded me of the fun I had as a child with my best friend Stephanie and sister Kristi doing very similar things. It was wonderful how Lovelace was able to capture her childhood and to remember what it was like to be a child and to have a fantastic imagination that can make climbing a hill the most exciting journey.What really brought these books to the next level to me was when in book one, tragedy strikes. Tacy's baby sister, Bee, dies from a childhood illness. Tacy and Betsy go for a walk and Tacy is very sad about her sister's death. Betsy tries to cheer her up and talks to her about Bee's adventures in heaven. "Of course she can see us. She's looking down right now. And I'll tell you what tickles Bee. She knows all about Heaven, and we don't. She's younger than we are, but she knows something that we don't. Isn't that funny? She's just a baby, and she knows more than we do."Betsy brings the death down to the level of a child's understanding, and is able to make Tacy think of all of the fun that Bee is having in heaven being a big girl and watching out for her family. I found it to be a very moving conversation and quite touching. Betsy and Tacy are the best kind of friends; the kind of friends that can help you out in a moment of crisis and be what you need them to be.I also really enjoyed how Betsy, Tacy, Tib befriend a little girl (Naifi) from "Little Syria" in Deep Valley in Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill. They defend her when she is picked on by some rather nasty boys. Tib's mother (Mrs. Muller) had some wise words to say about it, "I'm glad Tib stood up for that little Syrian girl. Foreign people should not be treated like that. America is made up of foreign people. Both of Tib's grandmothers came from the other side. Perhaps when they got off the boat they looked a little strange too."Overall, The Betsy-Tacy Treasury was a wonderful, delightful series of books that I am very happy to have finally read. They are great adventures of childhood wonder and also have beautiful illustrations. I will definitely be reading these stories to my daughter when she gets older and I'm already planning for making a future trip to Mankato to check out Big Valley. I also want to read the rest of their adventures as they grow into teenagers and beyond! My only complaint is that poor Tib is always left off of the title of the books.
As a child growing up, I was an avid reader. I began reading the "Betsy-Tacy" books when the school librarian introduced me to the series. This is a wonderful series showing the life of the main chracter, Betsy. I can remember devouring each of the books. Now that I am a teacher and a mother, I can't wait to find and purchase the books for my daughter and my classroom library. In today's society of technology and media, this is a wonderful collection of old fashioned, classic stories.
I love the books. For an adult it's a wonderful keepsake of the first four books of the series. However, for children this book is not sturdy enough. If a teacher or parent is reading to the children it will probably be fine. If I were to give these books to a child I would insist on separate books.The Maud Hart Lovelace books and the illustrations certainly rate five stars or more.o
The Betsy-Tacy Treasury: The First Four Betsy-Tacy Books Betsy-Tacy My Very First Library: My Very First Book of Colors, My Very First Book of Shapes, My Very First Book of Numbers, My Very First Books of Words The Kingfisher Treasury of Giant and Monster Stories (The Kingfisher Treasury of Stories) Who Was Betsy Ross? Betsy Ross: Designer of Our Flag (Childhood of Famous Americans) Betsy and the Emperor Night is Gone, Day is Still Coming: Stories and Poems by American Indian Teens and Young Adults (Betsy Franco Young Adult) Understood Betsy Betsy's Story, 1934 (Secrets of the Manor) Books for Kids : One Little Dragon (Bedtime Stories for Kids, Baby Books, Kids Books, Children's Books, Preschool Books, Toddler Books, Ages 3-5, Kids Picture Book) First Things First: Understand Why So Often Our First Things Aren't First Four-by-four Driving: Off-roader Driving The Four Agreements Companion Book: Using the Four Agreements to Master the Dream of Your Life (Toltec Wisdom) Divergent Series Four-Book Paperback Box Set: Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant, Four John Jenkins (1592-1678) four pieces in four parts for recorders or other instruments Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year Four Vol. 1 (Injustice: Gods Among Us Year Four) Flowers: Adult Colouring Books Europe Edition; Coloring Books for Adutls Flowers in al; Coloring Books for Adults Disney in al; Coloring Books for ... in al; Coloring books for Girls in al Grayscale Adult Coloring Books Gray Faces: Coloring Book for Grown-Ups Grayscale Coloring Books) (Photo Coloring Books) (Fantasy Coloring Books) Grayscale Animals) (Animal Coloring Books) (Volume 1) The Secret of the Ballet Book: (Kids Fantasy Books, Ballerina Fiction) (Kids Mystery, Girls Books Ages 9-12, Ballet Stories, Dance Books, Kids Books, Kids Fantasy Books Ages 9-12)
