This is a perfectly simple and easy book for young children. Nothing special, but a solid school-and-everyday-life story.I just have one problem with it, and that's chapter four, where they learn about How The Indians Lived.Now, before I go further, I think I'll address some of the usual complaints here. No, I don't believe the author intended to be inaccurate or offensive. No, I don't believe you're a bad person if this is a beloved book from your childhood and you read it with your kids in the same way that your grandmother used to read it to you when you were sick. Yes, I am aware that this book was written in a different time.However, we're not reading this book to children 60 years ago, we're reading it to children today. And even though the author probably didn't intend to say anything rude, she actually did.Now, I'll give credit where it's due. Carolyn Haywood was careful to have the students in her book learn that the Native Americans were not one monolithic group that all live the same way. We're told that they learn that "some lived" in this sort of home and others lived in that sort of home and others still lived in a third sort of home.This is all well and good. However, this emphasis on the past is the sort of thing that gives children the impression that the Native Americans all generously went away in the past and there aren't any left... or that there ARE some left, still living the way they did 500 years ago. If it were just this one book, that wouldn't matter, but virtually every time children see Native Americans in the media that's the message they get, and that's a problem. (I've even heard people relate anecdotes where somebody else told them they thought that "Indians" were just made up entirely!)Also of note is the fact that the children are explicitly taught that the appropriate term for a Native American woman is "squaw" and their babies are "papooses". This, we're told, is the "Indian word".Well, "squaw" is now (and possibly even then, my limited research is unclear on this) considered an offensive term in English, and papoose may or may not be. Personally, I find it unnecessarily dehumanizing to use a special term to refer to people of another race instead of just using the normal English word we use for everybody else. So what are you going to do about it? Well, that probably depends on how you're using this book. If you're using it in the classroom, I suggest you just stop. Among other things, you cannot assume that your students are all the same as you. Either you're miseducating them or, worse, you have a Native American student in your class who may not appreciate this sort of stereotyping and language, no matter how unintentional. This is a nice little book, but it's not really one of the classics of children's literature that every child must read. You might make the argument for Little House on the Prairie, but this book isn't nearly so interesting or useful.If you still want to read it - perhaps it's your favorite book from your own childhood, I can see that - and you're reading it aloud, you might just skip that chapter. It's not crucial to the story. Or you could skim over the relevant passages. Alternatively (and this would work if your child is reading the book to themselves) you might just give a warning before the fourth chapter that what you're saying is VERY old-fashioned and NOW we know it's inaccurate and impolite. This isn't ideal, but it's better than letting it stand uncommented upon.All that aside, as I said before, it's really only an okay book. There are plenty of others at the same level of quality or better that have drifted out of print, and I'm not sure why this series is so beloved as to still be in print decades after it was first written. Unless this is, as said before, a dear and cherished book from your own childhood, you might want to pass it by. It's nothing special.
B IS FOR BETSY is the first in a series of children's "chapter books" with stories of Betsy's adventures with attending school. First published in 1939, it is more about the times of my mother as opposed to my granddaughter. But actually, it seems to be a potentially educational and fun experience for use with my granddaughter as an example of how school used to be for her elderly relatives.Betsy first fears the start of first grade, but soon enjoys all the many experiences and friends that starting school provides for her. Her class grows frogs from tadpoles, created a circus for another class, and donated a Thanksgiving dinner to an elderly friend of the school. Betsy finds a new best friend and gets a new puppy.Short enough for a young child to keep interest, and the black and white pictures are great. Think this will be a good series to help start my three little granddaughters on the road to happy reading adventures.
Do You like book "B" Is For Betsy (2004)?
This is an adorable little book about a girl named Betsy and her experience beginning first grade. This book is a level 4.3 on the AR reading scale. It's surprising that a book about a little girl beginning first grade has a fourth grade reading level. I think my daughter would like it, but I am not too keen on the idea of her reading it for a few reasons. This book is set in a different era when kids could walk to school alone, ask strangers for help,accept rides in cars from other adults without permission, and so on. Betsy is very cute, but it may be a good idea to read this out loud with younger children so as to explain to them that while children used to be able to safely do these kinds of things, that is not he case anymore. Another plus is that there are many other Betsy books, so if your child enjoys this one, there are plenty more to read.
—Kasha
I have been looking for these books everywhere and I am so glad to have finally found them! While my friends in elementary school were always checking out the more "popular" books in the library, I found myself coming back to this series again and again. I'm pretty sure I read every book in the series at least twice! I'm a little perturbed to discover that they've been re-released with a more modern cover, because I actually prefer the vintage look. Brings back so many memories and should I stumble across these somewhere, I may just have to read them again!
—Andrea
Gosh, I loved these books as a kid. I had an imaginary Betsy friend. I was still reading the Betsy books into middle school where they were way below my reading level and completely uncool. However, reading the first in the Betsy series now years later to my daughter, I thought they were just okay. I didn't feel the excitement I knew I once had about Betsy. My first-grader, on the other hand loved it! It's the first successful chapter book we've read where she was demanding just one more chapter. She even wants a koala bear for Christmas, so she can have one just like Betsy. I was worried the book was old-fashioned, but I don't think my daughter even noticed. We will be reading "Betsy and Billy" next. Maybe the magic will return for me.
—Nina
