Understood Betsy (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Kimberly Bulcken Root (Illustrator) "When this story begins, Elizabeth Ann, who is the heroine of it, was a little girl of nine, who lived with her Great-aunt Harriet in..." (more)
Key Phrases: recess time, Elizabeth Ann, Aunt Frances, Cousin Ann (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Anyone who fondly remembers how the fresh air of the moors puts a blush in the cheeks of sallow young Mary in The Secret Garden will love Dorothy Canfield Fisher's Understood Betsy just as much. First published in 1916, this engaging classic tells the tale of a thin, pale 9-year-old orphan named Elizabeth Ann who is whisked away from her city home and relocated to a Vermont farm where her cousins, the "dreaded Putneys," live. The Putneys are not as bad as her doting, high-strung Aunt Frances warns, however, and Elizabeth, who had been nurtured by her aunt like an overwatered sapling--positively blooms under their breezy, earthy care.

Elizabeth Ann's first victories are small ones--taking the reins from Uncle Harry, doing her own hair, making her own breakfast--but children will revel in the awakening independence and growing self-confidence of a girl who learns to think for herself... and even laugh. Along the way, "citified" readers of all ages will get a glimpse into the lives of people who are truly connected to the world around them--making butter ("We always bought ours," says Elizabeth Ann), experiencing the "rapt wonder that people in the past were really people," and understanding the difference between failing in school and failing at life. Fisher is a wise, personable storyteller, steeped in the Montessori principles of learning for its own sake, the value of process, and the importance of "indirect support" in child rearing. She also captures the tempestuous emotional life of a child as few authors can, crafting a story that children will find deeply satisfying. And in the end, readers will have grown as fond of the happier, stronger "Betsy" as the gentle, unassuming Putneys have.

Loving care was dolloped on this 1999 reissue of an old favorite--with sweet new pencil illustrations by Kimberly Bulcken Root, and an introduction and afterword by Eden Ross Lipson that offer a historical context for the book and its author. (Ages 8 to 12) --Karin Snelson

From Publishers Weekly

Fisher's beloved novel, first published in 1917, makes a smooth transition to audio in the latest from Chinaberry. Orphaned as a baby, nine-year-old Elizabeth Ann is taken in by her kindhearted great-aunt Harriet and cousin Frances, who aim to raise her in a loving, proper and cultured home in the early 1900s. Pale, thin, nervous Elizabeth Ann experiences a new kind of upheaval when Aunt Harriet becomes seriously ill. The situation requires that Elizabeth Ann be sent from her city home to "those horrid Putney cousins" (in Aunt Harriet's opinion) who live on a farm in Vermont. The change in scenery and attitude does Elizabeth Ann a world of good; in the country air where she is expected to do chores and where she can romp around and play with the animals, Elizabeth Ann becomes Betsy, a robust and happy girl. Her transformation is the heart of what remains a warm family tale, despite a few dated references. Reynolds gives a solid if sometimes precious-sounding performance, adopting a careful, pleasant storytelling tempo. Ages 6-11. (June)
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) (October 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805060731
• ISBN-13: 978-0805060737
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #393,492 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This was one of my 3 favorite books when I was a child --, January 10, 2001

By	M. C. Crammer (Decatur, GA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Understood Betsy (Hardscrabble Books) (Paperback)

I read it over and over.

Reading it as an adult I still enjoyed it, but I gained some insight as to why. This novel is about a young girl who feels that the world is a dangerous place and who goes around feeling vulnerable and apprehensive. The relatives who have cared for her have taught her to be frightened. self-doubting, and lacking in self-confidence. Betsy is saved by an illness in one of her aunts that requires her to go live elsewhere. The only option is to live with some other relatives who live in Vermont (in the country), and her aunts think this is not a good place for her to go but there is no choice. The Vermont relatives treat her like a normal and capable young girl who is expected to pull her share of the load.

From them, and through her experiences living in the country, Betsy discovers she is competent and that the world is not so dangerous. She experiences love that is not suffocating. She builds self-confidence and self-esteem and becomes a responsible, happy little girl who knows that whatever difficulties present themselves, she will be able to deal with them. I also loved the family she went to live with and wished I could live on a farm in Vermont, too, and make maple sugar in the snow!

This is a particularly wonderful book for girls because it is about discovering one's own competence and abilities. I would put it in the same category as "Brave Irene" by Steig, only this book is for the 8-12 year old range, I think.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent! A 9 year old girl learns to think for herself., January 19, 1999

By	[e-mail] (Seattle, Washington) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Understood Betsy (Library Binding)

In the beginning, as Peggy Parrish puts it, Elizabeth Ann was a wimp.

She was sent to her cousins, the Putneys, in the middle of her story. They began to teach her how to think for herself.

By the end of the story she could think about anything she wanted to without explaining it to anyone. This is a very well written story. It's a wonderful book relating to life at the turn of the century. It shows how schools, homes and lifestyles have changed over the years. This is one of the top ten books on my personal list.

I received this book as a Christmas present in 1997 when I was eight years old. I thought it was an excellent story because Betsy really improved in her new one-room school. Her teacher is really nice because she let Betsy read with the seventh graders, do second grade math and third grade spelling!

This story really makes you feel like you are Betsy's friend Ellen. I also like how she and the other girls in her one-room school joined together to make new clothes for the boy whose stepfather is an alcoholic. All the people are really caring in this book.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A True Classic, February 1, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Understood Betsy (Paperback)

The last word of _Understood Betsy_ is "Happiness" - and yet here I am, crying. A bit like the _Little House_ books, _Understood Betsy_ gives nitty gritty, realistic details of what daily life was like for a little girl living on a small farm in Vermont in 1906. Betsy herself is just as fascinated to hear about what life was like before she was born, when lead pencils were cast in a groove on a desk in the schoolhouse, as I was to read the descriptions of Betsy learning to manually mold and churn butter. Yet all this history is purely incidental to Betsy's story. One year with her no-nonsense country relatives transform Betsy from a fearful, sheltered nine-year old into a confident and responsible ten-year old. The gentle irony of the narrator's voice allows us to identify with Betsy's insecurity and self-pity, while realizing that her apprehensions are merely silly notions planted in her head by overprotective aunts. Though Betsy may at times feel abandoned and bewildered, she is surrounded by love, and has the common sense to snap out of her brooding whenever something interesting happens. I cried so much that watching me, you would have thought the book to be quite tragic; but the tears were tears of pride and happiness for Betsy. What a great book :-)