Betsy-Tacy facts for kids

The Betsy-Tacy books are a popular series of ten novels written by American author Maud Hart Lovelace (1892-1980). These books were first published between 1940 and 1955. Today, you can find them published by HarperCollins. The first four books in the series were illustrated by Lois Lenski, and the rest were illustrated by Vera Neville.

The series tells the story of a girl named Betsy Ray and her friends and family. Betsy's character is based closely on the author's own childhood. The first book, Betsy-Tacy, starts in 1897, just before Betsy's fifth birthday. The last book, Betsy's Wedding, finishes in 1917, as the United States gets ready to join World War I.

How the Betsy-Tacy Books Began

The Betsy-Tacy series started because Maud Hart Lovelace used to tell bedtime stories to her daughter, Merian. These stories were about Lovelace's own childhood.

The first book, Betsy-Tacy, was published in 1940 and became very popular. This led Lovelace to write three more books:

• Betsy-Tacy and Tib (1941)
• Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill (1942)
• Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown (1943)

Lovelace originally planned to stop the series after these four books. However, her husband and daughter found her old high school diaries. They convinced her to write more books about Betsy's high school years. This led to four more books, each covering one year of high school:

• Heaven to Betsy (1945)
• Betsy in Spite of Herself (1946)
• Betsy Was a Junior (1947)
• Betsy and Joe (1948)

Lovelace said these high school books were very true to her own life. She used her diaries and scrapbooks to make them feel real. In 1964, she wrote that "the family life, customs, jokes, traditions are all true."

The first eight books are set in a made-up town called Deep Valley, Minnesota. This town is based on Lovelace's real hometown, Mankato, Minnesota. After writing Betsy and Joe, Lovelace wrote two other books, Carney's House Party (1949) and Emily of Deep Valley (1950). These are called "Deep Valley Books" and feature Betsy Ray and other characters from the series.

Lovelace then returned to Betsy's story with the final books:

• Betsy and the Great World (1952)
• Betsy's Wedding (1955)

These books follow Betsy as she travels in Europe and starts her married life in Minneapolis. They are also based on Lovelace's own experiences. In 2000, when HarperTrophy reprinted the Betsy-Tacy and Deep Valley series, new cover artwork was created for all thirteen books.

All the Books in the Series

The Betsy-Tacy books are written so that they get a little harder to read as the characters grow older. This is similar to other series like Harry Potter or Little House books. The first books are for younger children, while the later ones are for ages 14 and up.

The Betsy-Tacy Series

• 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

• Carney's House Party (1949)
• Emily of Deep Valley (1950)
• Winona's Pony Cart (1953)

Characters and Where They Live

Even though the books are fiction, many of the characters are based on Maud Hart Lovelace's real family and friends. Some characters are exactly like one person, while others are a mix of several people.

• Betsy Warrington Ray is the main character. She is based on Maud Palmer Hart (Lovelace herself). Betsy is friendly, loves to have fun, and has a great imagination. In the early books, she often makes up and tells stories to her friends. A big part of her story is her journey to become a published author. She also learns to balance her writing with her social life.

• The Ray family is based on the Hart family.
  • Bob Ray, Betsy's father, is based on Thomas Hart, Maud's father. Like Thomas Hart, Bob Ray owned a shoe store. He also made special onion sandwiches for his family and friends on Sunday evenings.
  • Jule Ray, Betsy's mother, is based on Stella Hart, Maud's mother. She also had red hair, was lively, and could play two songs on the piano.
  • Betsy's older sister, Julia Ray, loved music and was based on Maud's older sister Kathleen Hart Bibb. Like Julia, Kathleen studied music in Europe and became an opera singer.
  • Her younger sister, Margaret Ray, was based on Maud's younger sister, Helen Hart.

• Anastacia "Tacy" Kelly is Betsy's best friend. She is based on Lovelace's real-life friend, Frances "Bick" Kenney. Tacy is shy, sensitive, and also loves to have fun. She comes from a big Irish family who live across the street from the Rays.

• Thelma "Tib" Muller is the third member of the Betsy, Tacy, and Tib trio. She is based on Marjorie "Midge" Gerlach. Tib is brave and capable. She is also small, has blonde hair, and learns to be very charming. Tib and her family move between Deep Valley and the German-American community in Milwaukee. She can speak two languages and understands different social customs.

• Joe Willard becomes Betsy's husband. He is based on Maud Hart Lovelace's husband, journalist and novelist Delos W. Lovelace. Maud and Delos met in 1917 when she was 25. However, Lovelace decided to include a character based on him earlier in the books, starting with Heaven to Betsy. She used his stories about his own boyhood to create Joe's high school experiences. Joe is an orphan who is ambitious, independent, and hardworking. Over the four high school books, his friendship with Betsy grows into a romance.

• The Crowd is Betsy's large group of friends. They are based on Maud Hart Lovelace's own friends. Some characters were based on one person, while others were a mix of several. For example, Carney (Marion Willard) and Cab (Jabez Lloyd) were based on lifelong friendships.

Mankato's Carnegie Library. Betsy visits its Deep Valley equivalent for the first time in Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown.

The places in the books are also very real. Lovelace did a lot of research and used her own memories. Most of the stories happen in and around the made-up town of Deep Valley, Minnesota. This town is based on the author's real hometown of Mankato, Minnesota. The Ray family and other characters live in houses that were like their real-life counterparts. Lovelace changed her childhood neighborhood on Center Street into the fictional Hill Street.

As Betsy gets older, she explores more of the town. Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown introduces the Carnegie Library and the shops and Opera House in downtown Deep Valley. The high school books also include the surrounding countryside. Lovelace used her own diaries, scrapbooks, old magazines, and letters from friends to make her stories detailed and accurate. She once wrote, "I could make it all up, but in these Betsy-Tacy stories, I love to work from real incidents."

Important Ideas in the Books

Lovelace explores several important ideas that develop throughout the series.

Growing Up and Changing

Lovelace shows Betsy becoming more independent and responsible as she gets older. Betsy herself notices how much she changes. For example, she remembers being very homesick during one visit (in Heaven to Betsy). Later, she enjoys a much longer visit with a different family (in Betsy and Joe). Betsy learns from her mistakes in each book. She makes new mistakes every year, but she doesn't repeat the same ones.

The Power of Friendship

Friendship is a very important theme in the series. Lovelace shows how long-lasting friendships can survive all the changes that happen as people grow up. The girls in the books don't often argue or compete with each other. In the later books, when the characters go to high school, they make new friends but still keep their special bonds with each other.

Understanding Other Cultures

The books were written during and after World War II. Lovelace included positive views of other cultures in the series. In Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill, the characters discover a neighborhood of Syrian immigrants and become friends with them. In Betsy In Spite of Herself, Betsy visits Tib in Milwaukee and learns about the culture of German immigrants. Lovelace shows that many German immigrants came to America to escape growing militarism in their home country. When Betsy visits Munich in Betsy and the Great World, she gains a deeper appreciation for German culture.

Being True to Yourself

Betsy learns about being true to herself throughout the high school books. For years, Betsy loved writing her stories. But then she almost gives up her dream when it conflicts with her new friendships. She later realizes that writing is a very important part of who she is (in Heaven to Betsy). In Betsy in Spite of Herself, she tries changing her behavior and looks. This experience helps her understand that pretending to be someone she's not makes her lose value in herself.