Betsy-Tacy
   HOME





Betsy-Tacy
The ''Betsy-Tacy ''books are a series of semi-autobiographical novels by American novelist and short-story writer Maud Hart Lovelace (1892-1980), which were originally published between 1940 and 1955 by the Thomas Y. Crowell Co. The books are now published by HarperCollins. The first four books were illustrated by Lois Lenski and the remainder by Vera Neville. The series follows the adventures of heroine Betsy Ray, who is based closely on the author, and her friends and family. The first book, ''Betsy-Tacy (novel), Betsy-Tacy'', begins in 1897 on the eve of Betsy's fifth birthday, and the last book, ''Betsy's Wedding (novel), Betsy's Wedding'', ends in 1917 as the United States prepares to enter the First World War. History The series was inspired by the bedtime stories which Lovelace told to her daughter Merian about her own childhood. The popularity of Betsy-Tacy (novel), ''Betsy-Tacy'''', ''published in 1940, led her to write three more books, ''Betsy-Tacy and Tib'' (194 ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Maud Hart Lovelace
Maud Hart Lovelace (April 25, 1892 – March 11, 1980) was an American writer best known for the Betsy-Tacy series. Early life Maud Palmer Hart was born in Mankato, Minnesota to Tom Hart, a shoe store owner, and his wife, Stella (née Palmer). Maud was the middle child; her sisters were Kathleen (the basis for Julia in the Betsy-Tacy books) and Helen (the basis for Margaret). Maud reportedly started writing as soon as she could hold a pencil. She wrote in her high school's essay contest during her junior and senior years. She was baptized in a Baptist church but joined the Episcopal church as a teenager. She went on to the University of Minnesota but took a leave of absence to go to California to recover at her maternal grandmother's home from an appendectomy. It was while in California that she made her first short story sale – to the '' Los Angeles Times Magazine''. She returned to the university and worked for the ''Minnesota Daily'', but did not graduate. While spend ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Betsy-Tacy (novel)
''Betsy-Tacy'' (1940) is the first volume in the ''Betsy-Tacy'' series by Maud Hart Lovelace. The book is mostly about the adventures of five-year-old Betsy Ray and her new best friend, Tacy Kelly. It takes place in fictional Deep Valley, Minnesota, based on Mankato, Minnesota, the author's home town. This first book is set in roughly 1898-1899. The book, along with the entire ''Betsy-Tacy'' and ''Deep Valley'' series, was republished in 2000 by HarperTrophy with a new cover art illustrated by Michael Koelsch. Plot The adventures between the two friends range from the real life (such as going to school for the first time, making a playhouse out of a piano box, and dressing up to go calling) to the extraordinarily fanciful (such as being taken for a ride in the milkman's magic wagon by his talking horse, and flying away on a cloud while enjoying a picnic). The fanciful adventures are provided by Betsy's active imagination and her love of telling stories. The book deals with the ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Betsy-Tacy And Tib
''Betsy-Tacy and Tib'' (1941) is the second volume in the Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace. The book, along with the entire ''Betsy-Tacy'' and ''Deep Valley'' series, was republished in 2000 by HarperTrophy with a new cover art illustrated by Michael Koelsch. Plot Betsy, Tacy, and Tib are three eight-year-old girls who live in Deep Valley, Minnesota. At a carnival, they are mesmerized by the Flying Lady. When they learn that her act used a see-saw, they put on a show for their neighbors, recreating the act with a see-saw they assemble themselves. The three girls and Tib's brother Freddie build a playhouse in Tib's basement, using her family's store of firewood. Tib's father convinces them to demolish the playhouse by reenacting the fable of The Three Little Pigs with the little girls as the pigs and Freddie as the wolf. When Betsy's mother allows Betsy, Tacy, and Tib to stay at the house by themselves, they amuse themselves by cooking a dish Betsy calls Everything. They ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Betsy And Tacy Go Over The Big Hill
''Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill'' (1942) is the third volume in the Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace. The book, along with the entire ''Betsy-Tacy'' and ''Deep Valley'' series, was republished in 2000 by HarperTrophy with a new cover art illustrated by Michael Koelsch. Plot overview While the first two volumes are something like collections of vignettes about Betsy, Tacy, and Tib, this one has a story through the whole volume. The girls are competing with Betsy's and Tacy's older sisters about having a Queen of Summer. When they go out to collect votes, they find themselves making friends with a surprising little girl their own age in the Little Syria section of Deep Valley, Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so .... Trivia Betsy and Tacy first s ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Heaven To Betsy
''Heaven to Betsy'' (1945) is the fifth volume in the Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace. ''Heaven to Betsy'', describing Betsy's first year in high school, is written for an older age group than the earlier ''Betsy-Tacy'' books. Background The events of the novel span Betsy and Tacy's freshman, or ninth-grade, year of school. A major character is added to the series' cast when Betsy meets Joe Willard, an orphan An orphan is a child whose parents have died, are unknown, or have permanently abandoned them. It can also refer to a child who has lost only one parent, as the Hebrew language, Hebrew translation, for example, is "fatherless". In some languages ... working for his aunt and uncle in their store at Butternut Center. The story differs from the first four books, by expanding the Betsy-Tacy-Tib circle to "The Crowd," a group of boys and girls that frequently meet at Betsy's house. Although Joe Willard was based on Maud Hart Lovelace's husband, Delos Lovelace, ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Betsy And Tacy Go Downtown
''Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown'' (1943) is the fourth volume in the Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace. The book, along with the entire ''Betsy-Tacy'' and ''Deep Valley'' series, was republished in 2000 by HarperTrophy with a new cover art illustrated by Michael Koelsch. Plot In this volume in the series, horseless carriages arrive in Deep Valley for the first time when Mr. Poppy, the owner of the Opera House, buys an automobile. Betsy's friend Tib is his first passenger — along with his wife — due simply to her having the boldness to ask for a ride. Although the girls' classmate Winona Root is initially jealous of Tib over this experience, she soon gets over it and invites Betsy, Tacy, and Tib to their first real theatrical experience, a dramatized version of ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' at the Opera House. Betsy befriends the lonely Mrs. Poppy, who welcomes the chance to share the little girls' affection after having lost her only daughter in the years before moving to ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Betsy Was A Junior
''Betsy Was a Junior'' (1947) is the seventh volume in the Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace. The story spans the title character's junior, or eleventh grade, year in high school. The book, along with the entire ''Betsy-Tacy'' and ''Deep Valley'' series, was republished in 2000 by HarperTrophy with a new cover art illustrated by Michael Koelsch. Plot summary The novel begins with the return of Betsy's childhood friend Thelma (Tib) Muller, who had been living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin since her parents were independent and they wanted to return to their old life, and the departure of Betsy's older sister, Julia, for college at the University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint .... Julia's desire to bypass college and begin a musical career cause her to ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Betsy And Joe
''Betsy and Joe'' (1948) is the eighth volume in the Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace. This installment spans the title characters' senior, or twelfth grade, year in high school. The book, along with the entire ''Betsy-Tacy'' and ''Deep Valley'' series, was republished in 2000 by HarperTrophy with a new cover art illustrated by Michael Koelsch. Plot summary ''Betsy and Joe'' details the events of Betsy Ray's senior year (1909-1910) at Deep Valley High School in Deep Valley, Minnesota. Betsy had first met Joe Willard in the fifth book of the series, ''Heaven to Betsy'', at Willard's Emporium, a store in the country owned by Joe's uncle. The two of them did not become close friends initially, as they competed in school for top marks in English class and in the annual high school essay competition. Joe's parents had died earlier, causing him to have to spend his time working to support himself and making him, in Betsy's opinion, proud. At the end of the previous book, ''Be ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Betsy's Wedding (novel)
''Betsy's Wedding'' (1955) is the tenth and final book in the ''Betsy-Tacy'' series written by Maud Hart Lovelace. Set in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the book tells the story of the early married life of the main character, Betsy Ray, and her high-school sweetheart, Joe. The characters of Tacy Kelly and Tib Muller also recur in this novel, as they did in all the novels covering the high-school years. The book, along with the entire ''Betsy-Tacy'' and ''Deep Valley'' series, was republished in 2000 by HarperTrophy HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the " Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster. HarperCollins is ... with a new cover art illustrated by Michael Koelsch. Plot summary Betsy returns to New York from her European trip, where Joe Willard is waiting for her. He wants to buy her an engagement ring at Tiffany's, but the more pr ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]