Understood Betsy
-
- USD 4.99
-
- USD 4.99
Descripción editorial
Nine-year-old Elizabeth Ann has been raised in the city by loving but overprotective aunts who speak in disapproving whispers of "those horrid Putney cousins." So imagine the child's shock when she's forced to move in with the dreaded country kin. They keep pets in the house! They eat in the kitchen and expect her to walk to school by herself! But little by little, as she helps with the chores around the farm and makes new friends, sickly, self-centered Elizabeth Ann is transformed into confident, independent Betsy.
Generations of readers have delighted in Betsy's adventures since the book's original publication in 1917. Author Dorothy Canfield Fisher introduced Americans to the Montessori Method, an educational approach that's reflected in her tale of childhood freedom and self-sufficiency. The New York Times Book Review praised Understood Betsy for being "as satisfying in its evocation of an earlier, simpler way of life as Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books, and psychologically more acute."
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.