Understood Betsy

Understood Betsy
by Dorothy Canfield

Understood Betsy
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Book Summary Information

Author: Dorothy Canfield
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Format: Large Print
Published: 2008-02-05
ISBN: 8132000579
Number of pages: 260
Publisher: Tutis Digital Publishing Pvt. Ltd.

Summary of Understood Betsy

Dorothy Canfield Fisher's "Understood Betsy" is the story of a scrawny young 9-year-old orphan by the name of Elizabeth Ann who relocates from her city home to go and live with her cousins, the Putneys, on a farm in Vermont. In the country, Elizabeth begins to blossom as she is invigorated by her new surroundings, which bring new responsibilities and a growing sense of youthful independence. A delightful story of a young girl beginning to grow up, "Understood Betsy" will enchant readers both young and old.
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

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