This is Betsy

Emma

by Gunilla Wolde

Scenes from the daily life of pre-school age Betsy as she dresses herself, eats, plays, and gets ready for bed.

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books

24 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Barbro Gunilla Kristina Brorsson Wolde was a Swedish writer and illustrator. She wrote and illustrated several series of books for small children, including the picture books about Totte ("Tommy" in the English translations) and Emma ("Betsy"). The books about Totte and Emma have been translated into 14 languages.

Reviews

[Erica Pettersson Juntti]

Läst på meänkieli ”Emma Vastoinpäin”.

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dát lea vuosttaš girji go mun lean lohkan davvisápmegiela.

[Megan Kafka · Rating 5 out of 5]

I rate the book, This is Betsy by Gunilla Wolde as a 5-star picture book for very young readers ages two to four. This very simply written and illustrated book is a wonderful early reading book about some simple activities in a young girl’s life such as waking up, getting dressed, playing, taking a bath, and going to bed, and the emotions that she feels.

The book is small and easy for a young child to hold. Each page has about 3 lines of text in a larger font that is easy to see and not overwhelming. The simple illustrations take up the majority of each page and clearly show the activity in the text. The pictures are not fully colored and portions of the pictures are black and white with the other portions being in simple primary colors. The book shows Betsy putting on her pants the right way and then putting them on her head to be silly, putting on her shirt the right way, then putting her shirt on her legs to be silly. It shows her happy, sad, frustrated, helping with her baby brother, and then not being so happy with her baby brother. These are activities that all children do and emotions that everyone feels. We are not happy all the time and we may not do things right all the time, and that is okay. This helps children to see that it is okay to be silly or sad in addition to being happy and feeling proud when they do things right. It is easy to read and relatable for all young children.

If I were teaching younger students in the preschool or kindergarten range, I would use this book to help them to begin to understand that they are not alone in how they feel and that the emotions they have each day are a part of being human.

[NiklasArkmo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oj så bra!

[Frans Kempe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emma är ibland tvärtemot

[Tapani Aulu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sanna on aina välillä erilainen ja tekee kaiken päinvastoin. Ihan hauska idea, mutta ei vielä ihan uponnut poitsuun.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

I acytually bought this book because the Danish title made me think of my daugther. I think of all the ones I have read recently this is my least favourite.