Book Review -- Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill

Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill by Maud Hart Lovelace


My rating: 4 of 5 stars








The Betsy Tacy series has had such a nostalgic effect on me, I am secretly wishing I was 9 years old again and lived at the turn of the century (the 20th century, that is).

Our Mother/Daughter book group meets Tuesday for our third meeting – and our book choice was the 3rd of the Betsy Tacy series – Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill.

I loved this one more than the other two. The first two in the series were essentially nothing more than a series of vignettes linked together as chapters. Over the Big Hill was actually a STORY about these precious friends. Betsy, Tacy and Tib have finally turned 10 – don’t you remember how monumental it was to have TWO numbers in your age? They hone their performing abilities, they try to marry themselves off to the future King of Spain, they save a friend from the bullies at school, they quarrel with their sisters and finally, they have a huge “American Royal” celebration.

I so appreciated the moral message Maud Hart Lovelace portrays in this novel – love and protect your friends, family and country – and don’t judge others. I hope my daughter picked up on these ideals! Ms. Lovelace so accurately portrays the frayed feelings little girls/sisters can get when they are at odds with each other. Although I don’t have sisters, I’ve had enough fights with girlfriends, and have now witnessed my daughter’s fallouts with her siblings, that their anxiousness was instantly recognizable and felt.

My daughter said, “I loved it! It was my favorite Bety-Tacy book. It was really funny when they fell in love with the Prince of Spain. And I liked that they all dressed up as Princesses and Queens.”

Sounds like a stamp of approval to me!

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