Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace (HarperCollins, 1940) is a sweet chapter book about five-year-old friends who are across-the-street neighbors. The girls are so inseparable that they are called by a single name: Betsy-Tacy. Betsy is a creative girl who tells stories and Tacy is a shy and quiet girl who nurtures Betsy’s imagination. In many chapters, Betsy’s stories turn into an imaginative game featuring the girls: they float on a feather over their street or have a party in the passing milk wagon. The blend of imagination and reality makes this book stand out as a read-aloud for a young child.
There is a content consideration: Tacy’s little sister dies. It is mentioned in passing, and the child’s understanding of this is the need to comfort each other. Betsy tells Tacy a story about heaven to comfort her. The story, while it could be distressing, is instead comforting and peaceful. Later, when Betsy becomes a new big sister, Tacy helps her come to terms with her concerns about what that means. The girls, even at their young age, are there for each other.
The book is a series of vignettes, and my eight-year-old daughter and I enjoyed reading the stories together. She was excited to find out that the next book features their new friend, Tib.
