More Betsy-Tacy!

Looky what came in the mail!!!!!

KT and I had ordered all of these from the Betsy-Tacy Society back in June, when we first found out they were being re-issued.  We ordered a couple of other things at the same time, like some adorable notecards and Emily of Deep Valley (scroll down).  I wasn't sure if we had really ordered them because we didn't have any record of the transaction, nor did we find a place on the site to check.  It's not like shopping at Amazon!  I was wondering if I would have re-order from Amazon, but they came, and the bonus is that we got a special CD of Letters from Maud!  I can't wait to look at it.

These books are lovely.  They feel wonderful in your hands and the covers are the original, delightful Vera Neville illustrations instead of the much tackier covers that they used in later editions.  There is one particular set of re-issues, which we have a few of, that I abhor.  They don't do justice to the charm of the story or the characters themselves.

A special addition to these books is, literally, the addition to the backs of the books.  They each come with a post-script which gives the reader the scoop on what was really happening in Maud Hart Lovelace's life at the same time.  There are photographs of her and her friends who come to life on the pages of the books. 

Another interesting note is that her whole romance with her husband is made up.  She didn't actually meet him until after The Great World, although his story in the book reflects his childhood.  But that marriage proposal at the beginning of Betsy's Wedding?  Oh, be still my heart.  That has to be one of the sweetest, most romantic things I've ever read.  Even more romantic that Darcy and Elizabeth.

If you missed my little giveaway....you have another opportunity!  You can stop by Kate's Book Blog for a chance at her giveaway.  She has several copies to give out. 

On a side note---I'm sorry I got to know Betsy so late in life.  In the books she lives in Deep Valley, MN, which is actually Mankato, MN.  I was there in 1997!  We went to a CCL convention in  Minneapolis and then took a little tour out west with some friends to visit all the Little House on the Prairie sites.  Did you know that the dugout on the banks of Plum Creek is just outside Mankato?  We were in Mankato for a little while, looking at a pioneer museum, and we waded in Plum Creek, but we didn't know we were missing Betsy and Tacy's homes!

O di immortales!