Book Review: Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace, illustrated by Lois Lenski

Release Date: 1940; paperback reissued in 2000
Publisher: HarperCollins
Age Group: Children
Pages: 144

Source: My local library.

Summary:
Best Friends Forever
There are lots of children on Hill Street, but no little girls Betsy's age. So when a new family moves into the house across the street, Betsy hopes they will have a little girl she can play with. Sure enough, they do—a little girl named Tacy. And from the moment they meet at Betsy's fifth birthday party, Betsy and Tacy becomes such good friends that everyone starts to think of them as one person—Betsy-Tacy.
Betsy and Tacy have lots of fun together. They make a playhouse from a piano box, have a sand store, and dress up and go calling. And one day, they come home to a wonderful surprise—a new friend named Tib.
Ever since their first publication in the 1940's, the Betsy-Tacy stories have been loved by each generation of young readers. (From HarperCollins.com)
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I was in a reading slump in the last week of July; I started book after book, but none of them held my interest. A couple weekends ago, the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace came up in a conversation with one of my co-workers at the library, and I decided to try the first book in the series, Betsy-Tacy. This series has been on my reading list for nearly a year since I received review copies of reprints of Lovelace's Deep Valley books and fell in love with Lovelace's prose and the Betsy-Tacy universe.*

As soon as I picked up Betsy-Tacy, my reading slump un-slumped.

For children, it's an easy-to-read, yet artfully told story about two best friends who go on adventures and make up games in their own backyards.

For parents or people working with children, it's a great read-aloud option.

And for childless adults and young adults, it's a mini time travelling vacation to all the good things of childhood. Lovelace has a knack for switching from realistic description to make-believe and back again. Betsy and Tacy's friendship begins around Betsy's fifth birthday, and I had fun watching that friendship grow and reading about their cute--and sometimes hilarious--made-up games.

I also enjoyed the illustrations by Lois Lenski, who won a Newbery for Strawberry Girl in 1946. They go well with Lovelace's poetic imagery.** Here's one of my favorites from Betsy-Tacy:

Image source: a clock without hands

Beautiful.

I recommend Betsy-Tacy to beginning chapter book readers who like stories about unlikely friendships, as well as readers of all ages--especially historical fiction enthusiasts--who are looking for a quick, amusing, and heart-warming read. Lovelace's prose felt worn-in, classic, and infinitely re-readable. I'm already looking forward to reading the next Betsy-Tacy book, Betsy-Tacy and Tib.***
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*Emily of Deep Valley and Carney's House Party and Winona's Pony Cart
**If it were a contest, Maud Hart Lovelace would be in the running for Queen of Description.
***Which I will have to ILL, since--sadly--I can't find a public or university library in town that owns it.

"Interjections!"

I will probably be asked some questions about them at the final for my Communication, Language, and Grammar class.



I am so ready to be done with this semester.

The Music-Picking Post

I've been asked how I find the bands I feature on Musical Mondays. My answer begins with a brief history of the importance of music in my life.

I started playing piano young.

 Well, not this young. I was in first grade when I started taking lessons. I'm not sure how old I am in this picture--maybe one or two? The woman helping me "play" is my Aunt Charleen.

I took up this weird little harp thing next. (At age three.)

Not really. But I did start singing in a city-wide girls' choir and playing violin in my elementary school's orchestra in fourth grade. I started playing the trumpet in fifth grade, and in high school I played in marching band, symphonic band, and jazz band.

Yes, I said marching band. Someone snapped this horrible picture of me while we were warming up for a competition on a very windy day in October 2007. I was a senior in high school. (We weren't in our uniforms yet, and I'm not showing those to you today.)

I'm not in as many ensembles as I used to be--I currently only play in my university's jazz ensemble--but music still plays a big role in my life. And while I like playing it, I like the feeling of creative togetherness with other musicians more. I love being in perfect sync with other players--thinking in the same tempo, articulating notes the same way, increasing and decreasing in volume together--and I like to find that in the music I listen to.

So first, I look for good music, meaning an interesting use of voices and/or instruments. Delightful surprises like changes in tempo and dynamics don't hurt either. My piano teacher is Chinese, and when I mastered piano-basics she said, "Girl, you gotta the notes, now you need to play the music." She told me that over and over again (and she still calls me "Girl" when we run into each other at places like the grocery store), and it's true. Notes and lyrics aren't the same as music.

Second, I look for creative and clean lyrics. I'm a Christian, and I take Philippians 4:8--"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." (NIV)--to heart. I'm not completely against swear words that make creative sense, but I would prefer not to have certain words and rated-R situations set to music in my head all day. Similarly, many of the songs featured on Musical Monday come from Christian bands, but many do not. Good music comes from many different kinds of people, and I appreciate artists with a realistic yet--even if ever so slightly--optimistic mindset.

And now for the practical part about locating good music:

I recently discovered Pandora--free Internet radio--and it is a great site for discovering artists that sound similar to artists one already likes. Also, many musical artists, like Joy Williams, are on Myspace. She's an artist I like, and her Myspace page will illustrate these next few tips. I go to artists' Myspace pages to get acquainted with music before buying it; the listening is free. And if you do find a band you like, chances are the band lists their influences on their Myspace page. Joy Williams does, and her list contains artists I looked up and ended up liking. Some artists also Myspace-friend other artists, and it's worth clicking on the artists an artist you like has friended. (For example, Joy Williams is friends with Brooke Waggoner, Katie Herzig, and Butterfly Boucher--all artists I ended up liking and featuring on Musical Monday. Also, these artists had lists of artists they liked, which led me to even more good music.)

In addition to that, some artists are involved in more than one project, like Joy Williams, who is in a duo called The Civil Wars when she's not singing alone.

And since this is a book blog, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that authors sometimes post playlists to their books. If you like an author's book, you might like the music they use for inspiration, too. Finally, if you have friends who like the same movies/books/ice cream flavors as you do, chances are you'll like some of each other's music, too. Try having an iPod party, by which I mean listen to music that each of you like and swap band names, not musical files. I've found new music this way.

Questions? Comments? How do you find new music?