Betsy-Tacy, Betsy-Tacy and Tib, Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill,and Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown are from the MODG First Grade Supplemental Reading List

The Betsy-Tacy books are wonderful classics for young children, and especially for young girls. The books tell the stories of everyday life of best friends Betsy and Tacy in small-town Minnesota at the turn of the 20th century. Betsy and Tacy have all sorts of adventures and get into all sorts of trouble, all within their small-town, simple life. Although some aspects of the setting will be unfamiliar to the modern child, the simple joys and disappointments of childhood will not. This provides an opportunity for the child to imagine children who are like him in most ways despite differences in environment. Young children will immediately relate to Betsy and Tacy’s excitement around wholesome everyday life events like birthday parties, imaginary worlds, picnic lunches, games with neighborhood friends, learning how to fly, and much more. Betsy and Tacy both have siblings and often they are a part of the fun since the girls frequently have to take care of them. Young children will see how Betsy and Tacy’s parents hold them to high standards and give them consequences (and real love) when they don’t live up to those standards. They will also relate to the girls’ experience of the “annoying big sisters” Julia and Katie and how even though they are often frustrating, they always come to your rescue when you need help. Read the Betsy-Tacy books aloud to your children and get ready to enter with them into the simple joys and struggles of childhood.

Recommended by Rebecca Quackenbush, MODG Communications Supervisor and mother of four young girls.

Buy The Betsy-Tacy Treasury from the MODG Bookstore