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4.24 AVERAGE
4.24 AVERAGE
This is like totally some kind of Montessori school propaganda, those bastards!!
But it's also really sweet, it's kind of like Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm or Anne of Green Gables or something, but it's all about how to be self-sufficient and be educated at your own level and have self-confidence and stuff.
Plus applesauce.
But it's also really sweet, it's kind of like Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm or Anne of Green Gables or something, but it's all about how to be self-sufficient and be educated at your own level and have self-confidence and stuff.
Plus applesauce.
I inherited the Anne books and Understood Betsy from my mom. And like my mom, I read and re-read and still to this day re-read this book. This book, the Anne books and the Earth Children's series are the books I never get tired of reading and have become an intimate part of my life, like a tattoo, like family. I love this book for the simple life lessons, the sweetness and simplicity of the time and the locale and the unexpected pluckiness and inner strength of our young heroine Elizabeth Ann, who becomes a grounded and wise beyond her years Betsy by story's end. Note: Mom's book may have actually been Grandma Vera's book first; all I know is the cover was plain and the publishing date was before 1941 but I inherited and first read the book in 1968.
We have been reading this book all term as a read-aloud. I have never heard of this book before but absolutely loved it. I loved all the lessons, the slow and steady show of what long-term love is. It's just a beautiful children's book. I found myself unable to finish reading aloud the end of chapter 8 because I was moved to tears. I would recommend it to everyone, and I asked Grayson if he would recommend it and said, "Oh yeah! It was good."
I was also excited to see it takes place in Vermont.
I would love to get a hardback copy, I loved it so much.
I was also excited to see it takes place in Vermont.
I would love to get a hardback copy, I loved it so much.
Sophie and I enjoyed reading this book aloud together, although we did end up listening to the last few chapters on Librivox all at once on a road trip.
Loved this book and I don't know how I missed up growing up! Warm story,..a little like Anne of Green Gables, but Betsy would be Anne's opposite. Great child rearing philosophy hidden within the narrative.
Originally published in 1916, Dorothy Canfield Fisher was a women's rights activist, educator, wife and mother. She eventually earned a doctorate from Columbia; something almost unheard of for a woman at that time. Many of her stories were considered autobiographical in some sense including UNDERSTOOD BETSY.
This heartfelt narrative was a wonderfully gentle story about an orphaned girl who, initially, was sent to live with three single women until she was nine years old. As she grew older, she was unaware that their peculiarities and worries had enveloped her life. These three ladies affected her personality deeply and Elizabeth Ann was sheltered to the extreme. When a case of scarlet fever was found amongst them, she was sent to live with the *dreaded* relatives at Putney Farm in Vermont. From then on out, the story bloomed. Watch as her formal name, Elizabeth Ann, melted into Betsy.
Aunt Abigail, Uncle Henry, Cousin Ann, their dog Shep and even the farm itself only added to the innocent charm of the story. Uncle Henry was a jewel. No more, no less. Aunt Abigail had such easy manners and common-sense humor; I loved her poking fun of herself. Their adult daughter, Cousin Ann, was the sobering one of the bunch. (Watch when she takes her father to task for wanting to play checkers instead of repairing a harness.) And Shep? Well, I ask you, what would life be like living in the country without a dog?
I absolutely fell in love with this story. It was simply 'plain speaking'. The author was the narrator of the story using herself in the first person tense but relating to the reader what occurred in third person and, oddly, it worked. She put emphasis on certain words: SOMEbody, forEVER, and DIDn't to let you feel the impact of what Betsy was thinking. Mrs. Fisher's background in education peeked through the pages on more than one occasion but it blended so nicely that I never felt it was preachy.
"Then Aunt Abigail let her run the curiously shaped wooden butter-worker back and forth over the butter, squeezing out the water, and then pile it up again with her wooden paddle into a mound of gold. She weighed out the salt needed on the scales, and was very much surprised to find that there really is such a thing as an ounce. She had never met it before outside the pages of her arithmetic book and she didn't know it lived anywhere else."
This wink at the past was probably the most wholesome and heartwarming piece of fiction I have read in an very long time. It brought to the forefront all of the things we now take for granted. Something as simple as lighting a match and building a fire. The making of a lead pencil. And popping popcorn.
Go ahead. There is no excuse for you not to read it. It is *FREE* at http://www.gutenberg.org/files/5347/5347-h/5347-h.htm.
This heartfelt narrative was a wonderfully gentle story about an orphaned girl who, initially, was sent to live with three single women until she was nine years old. As she grew older, she was unaware that their peculiarities and worries had enveloped her life. These three ladies affected her personality deeply and Elizabeth Ann was sheltered to the extreme. When a case of scarlet fever was found amongst them, she was sent to live with the *dreaded* relatives at Putney Farm in Vermont. From then on out, the story bloomed. Watch as her formal name, Elizabeth Ann, melted into Betsy.
Aunt Abigail, Uncle Henry, Cousin Ann, their dog Shep and even the farm itself only added to the innocent charm of the story. Uncle Henry was a jewel. No more, no less. Aunt Abigail had such easy manners and common-sense humor; I loved her poking fun of herself. Their adult daughter, Cousin Ann, was the sobering one of the bunch. (Watch when she takes her father to task for wanting to play checkers instead of repairing a harness.) And Shep? Well, I ask you, what would life be like living in the country without a dog?
I absolutely fell in love with this story. It was simply 'plain speaking'. The author was the narrator of the story using herself in the first person tense but relating to the reader what occurred in third person and, oddly, it worked. She put emphasis on certain words: SOMEbody, forEVER, and DIDn't to let you feel the impact of what Betsy was thinking. Mrs. Fisher's background in education peeked through the pages on more than one occasion but it blended so nicely that I never felt it was preachy.
"Then Aunt Abigail let her run the curiously shaped wooden butter-worker back and forth over the butter, squeezing out the water, and then pile it up again with her wooden paddle into a mound of gold. She weighed out the salt needed on the scales, and was very much surprised to find that there really is such a thing as an ounce. She had never met it before outside the pages of her arithmetic book and she didn't know it lived anywhere else."
This wink at the past was probably the most wholesome and heartwarming piece of fiction I have read in an very long time. It brought to the forefront all of the things we now take for granted. Something as simple as lighting a match and building a fire. The making of a lead pencil. And popping popcorn.
Go ahead. There is no excuse for you not to read it. It is *FREE* at http://www.gutenberg.org/files/5347/5347-h/5347-h.htm.
Quite possibly the most perfect read-aloud children's book. I'm not managing expectations very well with this review, but honestly, I can't find any fault in it. Amazing.
This book is so sweet and so well written. I recommend it for children and adults. Betsy learns so much and becomes a better person and I felt a real connection to her and the Putney cousins. Such a great read!
A beautiful story for all ages. Cautionary tale for overprotective parents. :)
I can't believe it's been twenty years since I read this book! I had forgotten how absolutely perfect and precious it is in every way. Every page was a delight and I wish this book went on for forever.