"B" is for Betsy

"B" is for Betsy
by Carolyn Haywood
(1939, 144 pages)

Children, parents, and grandparents will be touched by the simplicity and innocence of childhood which Carolyn Haywood brings to life through six-year-old Betsy. She has just arrived at school for the first day of first grade, and is feeling fearful:

"If I got up now and ran out the door," thought Betsy, "I could catch Mother. I could be out in the sunshine again with Mother and take hold of her hand. I could tell Mother that I don't want to go to school, that I know it is a terrible place, Old Ned said so." But Betsy knew that she couldn't do that.

How she gets through this first day and the rest of the school year is the subject of this charming story. Betsy's home and school life, her everyday problems and joys, are presented from her six-year-old point of view. Nothing "big" happens in this book, but children will connect with the commonplace yet meaningful experiences of Betsy's childhood. The author has provided the perfect illustrations for the story.

Maria Chapdelaine

by Louis Hemon
(1913, 132 pages)

Suggested for young adults (and adults). Kind of a "Little House in Quebec." Set in the early 1900's in sparsely populated Quebec, land of pioneers, loggers, trappers, farmers, and long, long winters. The talented Hemon visited this remote country, living and working with its people, and wrote the book in 1913.

The Chapdelaine family (fictional but loosely based on real people) conducts their family life in a warm bubble amidst the hostile environment of primitive Quebec. The depictions of the brutally cold climate and the courage and back-breaking physical labor necessary to survive in it are compelling. But the simplicity of the Chapdelaines and their friends, their relationships, and their faith in God, are what gives this book its beauty.

Hilda van Stockum

(1945, 236 pages)

We just read The Mitchells (also called The Mitchells: Five for Victory) by Hilda van Stockum. Reminded us very much of The Moffets books by Eleanor Estes. Both are set during WW2, describe lives of large families, father not present (Mr. Mitchell is in the Navy, Mr. Moffet is deceased). Eleanor Estes' style worked better for me - I love her humor, and the way she gets inside the heads of her young characters. But The Mitchells is well worth reading, especially for the smallest eager reader in our house, who doesn't find something new to read everyday, since she's already read everything she can get her hands on. We will certainly read the two sequels, Friendly Gables and Canadian Summer.

I read another van Stockum book a few years back that I didn't care for as much, called The Borrowed House. Another wartime book. It was not dull, but I couldn't recommend it to my younger kids because of a subplot that dealt with the marital problems of the parents of the main character, a young girl. I don't remember it clearly, but did remember that part of it struck me as not quite suitable for the 12 and under crowd.

You can read Amazon comments on that book here.

The Moffats

I've finished all the Moffats books and recommended them highly.

The author, Eleanor Estes, has a way of revealing the inner workings of a
child's mind with affection and humor, and the family she portrays over
the course of several years is loving and united. The family suffers
hardships (they are poor and fatherless), but its members are generally
content, and often joyful. If I'm making the books sound sentimental or tragic,
I'm giving the wrong impression - they're really fun and upbeat.

My favorite is Rufus M. The story takes place during World War II. If you
would like your children to learn what life was like back then, they will
get a feel for it from this book. The children plant Victory Gardens, add
yellow coloring to the oleomargarine, and knit washcloths for the
soldiers.

Here's an excerpt about Rufus and his washcloth. It's probably too long,
but does give an idea of what the book is like:

All the children cast the same number of stitches onto their needles, but this did not mean that all the washcloths were going to be the same size. Not at all. Some were big and some were small, although they all started out with the same number of stitches cast on.

Rufus's washcloth was one of the kind that grew wider and wider as it grew longer. He knit the way he wrote, with large loose generous stitches. And maybe it was because he was left-handed that many of his stitches had a way of turning upside down. Every now and then Jane cast off some stitches at the side for him so the washcloth would not become too wide. Also she added some stitches in the middle to fill in some of the biggest holes.

"Try and knit closer together," she urged Rufus. "This looks more like a fish net."

Rufus's [washcloth] was very dirty, especially the beginning of it that he had knit the first. The end that he had just finished was not quite so dirty because the string inside the ball was still fairly clean. Mama said she hoped she would be able to boil the dirt out of it and make it good and white for some soldier. Rufus watched her wash it and wash it. Finally it did get fairly white except for the first rows that Rufus had had to undo so many times in the beginning. These remained slightly gray. "But it's pure," said Mama, "because I boiled it."