Wednesday, November 2, 2011

"If you're going to be a writer..."

A (grown-up) Betsy illustration by Vera Neville. Source HERE.
"But if you're going to be a writer," he went on, "you've got to read. Good books. Great books. The classics. And fortunately ... that's what I'm driving at ... Deep Valley has a new Carnegie Library, almost ready to open. White marble building, sunny, spick and span, just full of books."- Mr. Ray to his daughter Betsy


If you've followed my blog for any amount of time, you can probably guess how thrilled I was to come across this quote in BETSY AND TACY GO DOWNTOWN (the fourth book from one of my favorite series, by Maud Hart Lovelace) about libraries (one of my favorite places) and "good" books (obviously one of my favorite pastimes).


Illustration by Lois Lenski of Betsy at the Library,
from BETSY AND TACY GO DOWNTOWN.





If you'd like to read about and see pictures of the real life Carnegie Library in Mankato (Deep Valley), click here to go to the Betsy-Tacy Encyclopedia Blog.


You can also stop by and read my past post about the Betsy Tacy books HERE, in "Chapter Books My Daughter Loved".
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4 comments:

  1. SarahWednesday, November 02, 2011

    These are some of my very favorite books, too, and even merely seeing those illustrations brings back a flood of wonderful memories of my Deep Valley friends.

    I read them first (checked out from the library) as a child, and again as a teenager. I reread them, again, when I purchased my own copies as a young wife (I cried when Betsy and Joe received the groceries as a gift), and I look forward to reading them over and over with my daughter (Elizabeth) and the daughter I'm expecting to arrive, God willing, in February.

    It's a coincidence, but we're going to end up with an Elizabeth and Anastasia of our own-- we're already calling the baby Tacy, even though big sister is usually Lizzie if shortened at all.

    Thank you for continually promoting good books!

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  2. WendyLady@GoodBooksWednesday, November 02, 2011

    Sarah - loved hearing about your enduring relationship with the Betsy/Tacy books! I, too, loved these books as an adult - I'm not sure who liked them more, me or my daughter!!!

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  3. AudreyThursday, November 03, 2011

    Thank you so much for the shout-out! I look forward to perusing your blog. What a great idea! I am a big proponent of "the good, the true, and the beautiful"!

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  4. WendyLady@GoodBooksThursday, November 03, 2011

    Thank you, Audrey. Maud Hart Lovelace contributed so much and I love anything that brings her work to the notice of families (especially girls) who love reading. Your "Enclyclopedia" is great! :)

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