RTW: Betsy-Tacy Cover Story
From YA Highway:
Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.
This week's question: What are your all-time favorite book covers?
The covers that immediately came to mind: the Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace. And it's not just love, I'm sorry to say.
In the Betsy-Tacy world, there has been a bit of cover controversy over the years. In the early 90s, the books were released with new artwork. Definitely not my favorite. With scrawny legs and pointy chins, these were not the Betsy, Tacy, and Tib of my imagination.
The cover art of Betsy and the Great World and Betsy's Wedding, the post-high school books, was from a different illustrator and therefore more tolerable:
A few years later, an improved set of covers arrived, and the Deep Valley books were published in addition to the Betsy-Tacy books. This is the set I have given my daughter, although I am still missing a couple.
And most recently, for the win, Harper Perennial Modern Classics has published lovely editions of all the Deep Valley books. The last six books of the Betsy-Tacy series are paired into three books, and on November 8, 2011, the first four will be available as the Betsy-Tacy Treasury. Three other Deep Valley books are available as well: Winona's Pony Cart, Carney's House Party, and my favorite, Emily of Deep Valley.
The covers have illustrations taken from the books themselves, marvelous classics from Lois Lenski (the first four books) and Vera Neville (the high school books). The Vera Neville illustrations are absolutely gorgeous. How I wanted to be just like Betsy in her high school years and float through life with intricate hairstyles, shirtwaists, and her Uncle Keith's trunk for a writing desk. My heart's in the high school, my heart is not here....
Even though I love the new editions, my favorites will always be the well-worn, much-loved, much-borrowed copies from local libraries -- Carnegie or otherwise. I am lucky to have several library discards in my collection, and when I'm feeling nostalgic I return to those tattered pages.
My favorite Betsy-Tacy book is Heaven to Betsy. What's yours?
Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.
This week's question: What are your all-time favorite book covers?
The covers that immediately came to mind: the Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace. And it's not just love, I'm sorry to say.
In the Betsy-Tacy world, there has been a bit of cover controversy over the years. In the early 90s, the books were released with new artwork. Definitely not my favorite. With scrawny legs and pointy chins, these were not the Betsy, Tacy, and Tib of my imagination.
 |
| Not my favorites |
The cover art of Betsy and the Great World and Betsy's Wedding, the post-high school books, was from a different illustrator and therefore more tolerable:
 |
| Good |
A few years later, an improved set of covers arrived, and the Deep Valley books were published in addition to the Betsy-Tacy books. This is the set I have given my daughter, although I am still missing a couple.
 |
| Better |
And most recently, for the win, Harper Perennial Modern Classics has published lovely editions of all the Deep Valley books. The last six books of the Betsy-Tacy series are paired into three books, and on November 8, 2011, the first four will be available as the Betsy-Tacy Treasury. Three other Deep Valley books are available as well: Winona's Pony Cart, Carney's House Party, and my favorite, Emily of Deep Valley.
 |
| Best |
The covers have illustrations taken from the books themselves, marvelous classics from Lois Lenski (the first four books) and Vera Neville (the high school books). The Vera Neville illustrations are absolutely gorgeous. How I wanted to be just like Betsy in her high school years and float through life with intricate hairstyles, shirtwaists, and her Uncle Keith's trunk for a writing desk. My heart's in the high school, my heart is not here....
Even though I love the new editions, my favorites will always be the well-worn, much-loved, much-borrowed copies from local libraries -- Carnegie or otherwise. I am lucky to have several library discards in my collection, and when I'm feeling nostalgic I return to those tattered pages.
 |
 |
My favorite Betsy-Tacy book is Heaven to Betsy. What's yours?