I adored the Betsy books when I was a kid, and I recently re-read the three listed here. I smiled the whole way through (which probably made fellow ferry passengers think I was insane). There's just something so comforting about these books for me--the wholesome 1940s values, the neighborhood really being like one big family, the general goodwill and lack of anything bad every happening. I still adore the Betsy books, but they're never going to be popular again--kids today aren't going to have the slightest clue what they're about. I mean, finding a woman and two kids stranded on a highway in a blizzard is one thing--but taking them home to live with your family for a week until help can arrive? The childless family that puts in a pool, and invites all the neighborhood kids over to swim in it? The 1940s must have been such a pleasant time to be a kid... ( )

Betsy and her friends, Billy, Ellen and the rest, have a busy and delightful summer during the 1950s. From selling "Razburyaid"--that is, lemon, prune, and rasberry-jam-ade--to forming a "shwimming" club, their adventures and misadventures are delightful to follow and just as sweet as they are predictable.

--Catherine ( )