Almost all her characters were based on old friends.”Ī proto-feminist? Could be.

Kathleen, who studied singing, performed in many concerts and operas, and Helen, the youngest, became a librarian. Her sisters, Kathleen and Helen, appear (slightly disguised) in the books as Julia and Margaret.

Her father (like Betsy’s) owned a shoe store, but later became the treasurer of Blue Earth County. Her entry in Contemporary Authors Online states that, “Lovelace did live in a small yellow house on a street that ended at a big, green hill. It’s fun to compare and contrast what did and did not happen in Maud Hart Lovelace’s life that is reflected in the books. Mankato, Minnesota): The amusingly titled Carney’s House Party (1949), Emily of Deep Valley (1950), and Winona’s Pony Cart (1953). In 1940 the first of the ten-book Betsy-Tacy series appeared.” She also would set three additional books in the same location (called Deep Valley a.k.a. Joseph asked Lenski to prepare illustrations for the book, and Lenski then brought the book to her longtime friend, the editor Elizabeth Riley. She then became a client of the New York literary agent Nannine Joseph, who also represented the illustrator Lois Lenski. Then, “Lovelace submitted Betsy-Tacy to a publisher’s children’s book contest, but it failed to win. She would tell her own daughter stories of growing up there, later writing them down. No Tibs either, now that I think of it.Īccording to Anita Silvey’s 100 Best Books for Children, the books in this series ( Betsy-Tacy was the first of ten) were always based on Lovelace’s own childhood growing up in Mankato, Minnesota. And one day, they come home to a wonderful surprise–a new friend named Tib.”īy the way, I’ve been a Betsy all my life and in that time I have never EVER met a Tacy. They make a playhouse from a piano box, have a sand store, and dress up and go calling.

Betsy and Tacy have lots of fun together. And from the moment they meet at Betsy’s fifth birthday party, Betsy and Tacy become such good friends that everyone starts to think of them as one person–Betsy-Tacy. Sure enough, they do–a little girl named Tacy. So when a new family moves into the house across the street, Betsy hopes they will have a little girl she can play with. The description of this book from the publisher reads, “There are lots of children on Hill Street, but no little girls Betsy’s age.

Betsy and tacy books in order