(This is a review of the whole series, by the way.)

Maud Hart Lovelace was born in 1892 in Mankato, Minnesota, the town she later immortalized as Deep Valley in her beloved series of Betsy-Tacy books. These follow the adventures of childhood friends Betsy Ray and Tacy Kelly from the age of five, when they meet for the first time at Betsy's birthday party, through the school years to marriage and beyond.

The books are based largely on Lovelace's own life, and I think this is what gives them their special quality of affectionate nostalgia and deep sense of place. The characters and the setting have history behind them; every year Betsy's family celebrates her parents' wedding anniversary by visiting her mother's girlhood home, where they were married, and on the drive home, their parents share stories of their childhood and Deep Valley's history.

Besides that, they're just plain charming. Betsy, Tacy, and all of their friends and family are vivid characters, and following along as they grow up, it's easy to feel a part of the group, to the extent that I always feel distressed when, in Betsy and Joe, an old friend of Betsy's suddenly drops out of the group and is barely ever mentioned again. (I was very relieved when I finally found a copy of Carney's House Party and found out what happened to him.)

The illustrations are a large part of the books' charm as well: Lois Lenski's distinctive style in the first four books, and Vera Neville's graceful drawings in the others.