As Betsy heads home from school, the snow begins to fall. By suppertime, Mother is anxiously awaiting Father who hasn’t yet returned. Betsy and her little sister Star go to bed well before he makes it back. Having abandoned his car on the highway, Father returns home on foot, but he’s not alone! With him are Mrs. Byrd and her two children, Susan and Neddie. The power and the phone lines are out leaving the Byrds no way to get word to their loved ones that they are safe. Neddie and Susan don’t mind much, they’re having a blast, snowed in with Betsy and Star. The children have all sorts of snowy day fun as Christmas approaches.
The “B” Is for Betsy
Snowbound with Betsy is also lacking in appropriate diversity. Although nothing is said outright, it seems like the only non-white characters are Clementine and Lillybell. The illustrations in the book are black and white line drawings, and it seems as though based on features and hair that Lillybell is African-American, yet her skin is the same color as Betsy’s. Not a huge deal, except if the only minority representation is servants, and then those servants are illustrated with white skin, it’s a bit odd. Again, there is no where that I noticed that the race of these characters is mentioned, but I’m inferring it from the text.
Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – None.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.
Have to admit that this was one. of my very favorite books… when I was in first grade. I read all the titles I could find. 40 years later, they are very dated, but still have a few good moments!
I was also a huge Betsy fan as a first grader. They are indeed dated, but I think if the reader is open to old-fashioned sweet books, these are really good picks for early advanced readers. Not only is the content safe, but there’s a simplicity of plot and story and even sentence structure that is very friendly to younger readers.
While my post mentioned the lack of diversity (something I see the Betsy series shunned for quite frequently) I think the dated aspects aren’t all negative. I do think there’s something to be said for a time when Father could just collect random strangers on the highway and bring them home to be your new BFFs and this was a plausible and not scary storyline!