Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “Understood Betsy” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

Understood Betsy

Dorothy Canfield Fisher,

Dorothy Canfield (Pseudonym)

4.15 · Rating details · 11,341 ratings · 690 reviews

For all of her nine years, fragile Elizabeth Ann has heard her Aunt Frances refer in whispers to her "horrid Putney cousins." But when her aunt can no longer care for her, Elizabeth Ann must leave her sheltered life to live in the wilds of Vermont with those distant relatives.

In the beginning, Elizabeth Ann is shocked by country living--pets are allowed to sleep in the ...more

Get A Copy

Paperback, 176 pages

Published 1996 by Sonlight Curriculum (first published 1916)

More Details... Edit Details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about Understood Betsy, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Favorite books from my childhood

4,018 books — 7,074 voters

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken

Forgotten Kids Books of Quality

879 books — 299 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

Showing 1-30

Average rating 4.15 ·

Rating details

· 11,341 ratings · 690 reviews

More filters

Sort order

Start your review of Understood Betsy

Jan 21, 2018 Hilary rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: orphan-stories, education, top-twelve-favourites-of-all-time, child-rearing, female-author-or-illustrator

Well this book has just taken the last free place on my top-ten-favourite-books-of-all-time shelf. If it wasn't for goodreads I would never have discovered this book as it's one of those well known in US and Canada but unknown here in England.

This was wonderful, from the first page we were hooked, the story so well told, the characters so real (in fact we know an Aunt Frances and a Elizabeth Ann - before her transformation) and the story had so much humour, and kept us guessing right up to the Well this book has just taken the last free place on my top-ten-favourite-books-of-all-time shelf. If it wasn't for goodreads I would never have discovered this book as it's one of those well known in US and Canada but unknown here in England.

This was wonderful, from the first page we were hooked, the story so well told, the characters so real (in fact we know an Aunt Frances and a Elizabeth Ann - before her transformation) and the story had so much humour, and kept us guessing right up to the end as to what the outcome would be.

Elizabeth Ann, an orphan, lives with Great Aunt Harriet and Aunt Francis who are extreme worriers and fussers, they are timid and see danger everywhere and transfer all their worries to Elizabeth Ann. Elizabeth Ann lives up to all she is told, she is told she has a poor appetite so lives up to that, she is told she is scared of dogs so becomes so. One day her Great Aunt becomes ill so she is sent to live with those 'Horrid Putney cousins' who live on a farm and provide just the no-nonsense antidote Elizabeth Ann needs.

This book was a wonderful study of child rearing, it would have been so easy to write a book about some mean people looking after an orphan followed by some nice people, but the irony was that Great Aunt Harriet and Aunt Francis were so kind and loving but doing just as much damage as someone being unkind.

The school was wonderful, great common sense teaching, if only teachers were allowed to teach according to capability today. The school scenes were wonderful, this is exactly what I would want a school to be.

I was surprised how parts of this book were so hard to read aloud, the sad and the happy, very emotional, very hard to keep a steady voice. It would be interesting to know if this story was in any way autobiographical, it seemed too real to be complete fiction. I know it's easy to romanticize about living in the past and forget about the hard parts, the lack of antibiotics or medical assistance in childbirth but this time and place seems like the ideal place to be in my opinion.

Highly recommended, wonderful story. ...more

flag 74 likes · Like · see review

Feb 20, 2013 Matthew Mitchell rated it it was amazing

I am such a big softie.

This morning, Isaac and I just finished reading Understood Betsy together (again).

You might guess from the cover that manly men like Isaac and I wouldn't care for this book. You'd be wrong. Understood Betsy is a book about an overprotected girl who unhappily goes to live with some extended family who actually understand what a little girl needs to thrive.

Betsy learns how to do things for herself, how to make friends (and be a true one), how to be a productive member of a ...more

flag 53 likes · Like · see review

Feb 04, 2016 Linda rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Fans of L. M. Montgomery, Frances Hogsdon Burnett or Laura Ingalls Wilder

Shelves: heartwarming, early-1900-s-period-of-history, deliciously-entertaining, childrens-books-that-adults-can-rea, my-all-time-favorites, a-slice-of-life, armchair-traveler, favorite-books-for-children, friendship, older-publications

Originally published in 1916, Dorothy Canfield Fisher was a women's rights activist, educator, wife and mother. She eventually earned a doctorate from Columbia; something almost unheard of for a woman at that time. Many of her stories were considered autobiographical in some sense including UNDERSTOOD BETSY.

This heartfelt narrative was a wonderfully gentle story about an orphaned girl who, initially, was sent to live with three single women until she was nine years old. As she grew older, she Originally published in 1916, Dorothy Canfield Fisher was a women's rights activist, educator, wife and mother. She eventually earned a doctorate from Columbia; something almost unheard of for a woman at that time. Many of her stories were considered autobiographical in some sense including UNDERSTOOD BETSY.

This heartfelt narrative was a wonderfully gentle story about an orphaned girl who, initially, was sent to live with three single women until she was nine years old. As she grew older, she was unaware that their peculiarities and worries had enveloped her life. These three ladies affected her personality deeply and Elizabeth Ann was sheltered to the extreme. When a case of scarlet fever was found amongst them, she was sent to live with the *dreaded* relatives at Putney Farm in Vermont. From then on out, the story bloomed. Watch as her formal name, Elizabeth Ann, melted into Betsy.

Aunt Abigail, Uncle Henry, Cousin Ann, their dog Shep and even the farm itself only added to the innocent charm of the story. Uncle Henry was a jewel. No more, no less. Aunt Abigail had such easy manners and common-sense humor; I loved her poking fun of herself. Their adult daughter, Cousin Ann, was the sobering one of the bunch. (Watch when she takes her father to task for wanting to play checkers instead of repairing a harness.) And Shep? Well, I ask you, what would life be like living in the country without a dog?

I absolutely fell in love with this story. It was simply 'plain speaking'. The author was the narrator of the story using herself in the first person tense but relating to the reader what occurred in third person and, oddly, it worked. She put emphasis on certain words: SOMEbody, forEVER, and DIDn't to let you feel the impact of what Betsy was thinking. Mrs. Fisher's background in education peeked through the pages on more than one occasion but it blended so nicely that I never felt it was preachy.

"Then Aunt Abigail let her run the curiously shaped wooden butter-worker back and forth over the butter, squeezing out the water, and then pile it up again with her wooden paddle into a mound of gold. She weighed out the salt needed on the scales, and was very much surprised to find that there really is such a thing as an ounce. She had never met it before outside the pages of her arithmetic book and she didn't know it lived anywhere else."

This wink at the past was probably the most wholesome and heartwarming piece of fiction I have read in an very long time. It brought to the forefront all of the things we now take for granted. Something as simple as lighting a match and building a fire. The making of a lead pencil. And popping popcorn.

Go ahead. There is no excuse for you not to read it. It is *FREE* at http://www.gutenberg.org/files/5347/5.... ...more

flag 25 likes · Like · see review

Mar 14, 2007 Jenne rated it really liked it

This is like totally some kind of Montessori school propaganda, those bastards!!
But it's also really sweet, it's kind of like Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm or Anne of Green Gables or something, but it's all about how to be self-sufficient and be educated at your own level and have self-confidence and stuff.
Plus applesauce.

flag 20 likes · Like · see review

Oct 20, 2013 Sara rated it it was amazing

Such an interesting little read. This book felt like Little House On The Prairie meets Anne of Green Gables meets Betsy and Tacy to me. Timeless values that illustrate the resourcefulness, genuine intelligence and innate goodness of children (yes, the author is a big fan of Montessori) against a rustic rural backdrop. I cried for pages during the establishment of the sewing society and laughed joyfully over Betsy's treatment of the calf when Aunt Frances comes to the farm. I found myself half ...more

flag 19 likes · Like · see review

Sep 27, 2011 etherealfire rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I inherited the Anne books and Understood Betsy from my mom. And like my mom, I read and re-read and still to this day re-read this book. This book, the Anne books and the Earth Children's series are the books I never get tired of reading and have become an intimate part of my life, like a tattoo, like family. I love this book for the simple life lessons, the sweetness and simplicity of the time and the locale and the unexpected pluckiness and inner strength of our young heroine Elizabeth Ann, ...more

flag 19 likes · Like · see review

Mar 01, 2017 Sandy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, author-female, audiobook, fiction-juvenile, source-gutenberg, source-librivox, 1900-1919, lit-bday-february, 2017-read

This superb story is sure to be loved by children and adults alike, with its clear message of the value of tolerance, understanding, affection, trust and the importance of nurturing responsibility and self-confidence in young people.

I listened to a delightful Librivox recording by volunteer (and professional) reader, Lee Ann Howlett, and also discovered a wonderful illustrated edition of the book at Project Gutenberg.

This story is truly a joy! I plan to read other works by this talented author. ...more

flag 15 likes · Like · see review

May 28, 2016 Josiah rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Had the Newbery Medal existed in 1917, Understood Betsy surely would have won it. I can't imagine there was any stronger candidate than Dorothy Canfield Fisher's novel about public and personal education and the importance of developing the habit of learning while young, when one's psyche and worldview are moldable enough to adopt new form. Until age nine, orphaned Elizabeth Ann is so overprotected and micromanaged by her Aunt Frances that she's prevented from defining her own life to any extent ...more

flag 13 likes · Like · see review

Sep 16, 2011 Melora rated it it was amazing

What can I say about such an old favorite? A book which my mother read to me when I was little, and many years later I read to my children, and which I just finished reading to my mother, knowing it would offer a small measure of comfort and cheer as she is dying. I can easily see the book's faults the passionate didacticism, the stock characters, the romanticism of country life but those have become part of the book's charm for me. Reading Understood Betsy now, having homeschooled my ...more

flag 13 likes · Like · see review

Mar 05, 2020 Yibbie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: children-s-books, favorites

I loved this book as a child and was delighted to find that it is just as wonderful for an adult. I remember loving it for the blossoming resourcefulness of Betsy. As an adult, it reminded me of the wonderful feelings of first discovery and dawning independence. But oh, it does it in such a homey loving way that Im sure any child would hardly know they are being encouraged to stand on their own two feet. Its just a beautiful story.
I would recommend this little story to everyone I know.
...more

flag 12 likes · Like · see review

Jun 03, 2017 Ivonne Rovira rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: fans of Anne of Green Gables

Recommended to Ivonne by: L.J. Rinaldi

Shelves: children-literature, children-classics

Even beyond its literary value, teachers will appreciate Understood Betsy, first released in 1917, as one of the first books to introduce the Montessori Method of education to America. That said, author Dorothy Canfield Fisher spins a pretty interesting yarn for fans of Daddy-Long-Legs, The Railway Children, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, or Anne of Green Gables.

Nine-year-old orphan Elizabeth Ann the titular Betsy, of course lives with her widowed Great-Aunt Harriet and Harriets middle-aged ...more

flag 11 likes · Like · see review

Aug 26, 2014 Anna rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2014, ao-year-2, read-aloud, 2018

It was better the second (or is that the third?) time through, and really seemed to engage my 7yo son as well!

flag 10 likes · Like · see review

Jan 29, 2010 Shannon rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Aimee Guest, Mikkee Hall,

Recommended to Shannon by: Anna Truss

Shelves: youngadult

After my ten year old read this book, she said to me, "Mom, this might be my favorite book EVER." This is high praise from a child who averages more than three books weekly, so I decided to see why she loved it. After finishing the book this morning, I asked her exactly what she loved about it and was told, "Oh... I love the way Betsy transforms from a weak girl to a strong one and the way she helps the little boy in the book and well, everything about it."

I have to agree with my daughter that After my ten year old read this book, she said to me, "Mom, this might be my favorite book EVER." This is high praise from a child who averages more than three books weekly, so I decided to see why she loved it. After finishing the book this morning, I asked her exactly what she loved about it and was told, "Oh... I love the way Betsy transforms from a weak girl to a strong one and the way she helps the little boy in the book and well, everything about it."

I have to agree with my daughter that Betsy's transformation was the star of this story, followed closely by the wonderful writing. Dorothy Canfield Fisher is my favorite type of chidren's author - the kind that writes for children without writing down to them. The writing throughout this book is engaging, lighthearted and draws the reader in at every turn. Fisher clearly knows and understands children. The scenes where Betsy begins to understand that history is not just facts on a page, but actually happened to people in her family, is the best illustration I've ever read of how our brains eventually make the leap from learning as abstract concept to real, applicable fact.

And this great writing allows Betsy to shine. When we meet Betsy (Elizabeth Ann), she is a nine year old who is bright, but timid. Her pampered upbringing has taught her to be fearful and made her believe she is incapable of caring for herself. By the end of the book, Betsy is a ten year old who has grown into her own skin, knows her mind and understands herself and others. Seeing Betsy take her new found skills and sew clothing for others or pull someone out of a tight situation reminds the reader WHY we learn in the first place - in order to use our gifts to bless others.

Unlike many coming of age stories, Betsy's story doesn't just apply to children. Betsy learns to think for herself and do things for herself and is transformed. Her story reminded me how empowering it is to try things and succeed - or fail. It reminded me that the trying is the important part and encouraged me to continue help my children try to do new things and to try new things myself.

If you're in the mood for an old-fashioned good book, this is the perfect read. I read this book more slowly than the slim volume lead me to expect, but that was because I wanted more time with Betsy. I wanted to give her time between chapters to grow and settle in my mind. Read this book when you have time to savor it. Have your daughter read it. Enjoy Betsy together and see if she helps you understand yourself and others better. ...more

flag 9 likes · Like · see review

Oct 01, 2016 Rebekah Morris rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: five-fall-favorites-2016

4.5 stars
A delightful story from my childhood! I just love watching Elizabeth Ann change to Betsy, and the ending! I laughed, and smiled my through this wonderful story. The characters are so well written that each one feels real and living even if they aren't in the story more than a few sentences. The setting is perfect without too much to distract or too little to leave you floating around.

There are several euphemisms that I didn't know of before, and one use of the Lord's name when they ...more

flag 9 likes · Like · see review

May 08, 2019 Julie Durnell rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: childrens

A nostalgic delightful tale of growing up and maturing after being cossetted by an aunt then thrown into an unknown family of relatives on a farm in Vermont-well done!

flag 9 likes · Like · see review

Feb 05, 2018 Luisa Knight rated it it was amazing

Shelves: family-read-aloud, children, childrens-classics, honey-for-a-childs-heart

The girls were "full of excitement, looking over their shoulders at nothing and pressing their hands over their mouths to keep back the giggles. There was, of course, no reason on earth why they should giggle, which is, of course, the reason why they did. If you've ever been a little girl you know about that."

This is a great family read-aloud! Fun stories for the children and for the adults, hilarious interpretations of childhood and the mixed up ways of a condescendingly doting aunt.

The writing ...more

flag 9 likes · Like · see review

Mar 15, 2015 Duane rated it really liked it

Shelves: rated-books, reviewed-books, american-classics, childrens, 2015-book-challenge

Published in 1916. This is a charming little children's story that was quite popular in the early 20th century. It's the story of nine year old Elizabeth Ann (Betsy), orphaned and living with her aunt in the city. It's a medium size city in a medium size state in the middle of the US. (sounds like where I live). Because of her sisters illness, Betsy's aunt has to go out west to be her nurse and Betsy has to travel to Vermont to stay with her distant cousins, the Putney's, who live on a farm. ...more

flag 8 likes · Like · see review

Nov 08, 2010 Elizabeth rated it it was ok

I always wanted to read this when I was younger, since it had my name in the title, but I just couldn't get interested. Now, with Kindle + public domain, all things are possible!

I'm not sure what Ms. Fisher was wanting to do with this book, but it really isn't so much a kids' story as an extended scenario on how adults should behave towards children. All Betsy's inner feelings are documented so very densely, but she always seems to be reacting and discovering based on what some adult around her ...more

flag 7 likes · Like · see review

Mar 10, 2009 Nickie rated it really liked it

Shelves: children-s-books-are-for-adults-too

Imagine you are nine years old, raised by an overly protective Aunt to the point that you have never accomplished anything on your own in your life. Then one day you are sent to the "horrible cousins" in Vermont. Immediately, without criticism, you are made to see that you can change, do things and think things for yourself. Betsy, as a nine year old discovers an amazing world of ability and excitement for living, learning, playing, eating, and actually having and being a friend.

Plus Betsy ...more

flag 7 likes · Like · see review

Aug 19, 2007 Kitty rated it it was amazing

A book written for 8-10 year old girls, but one I still enjoy rereading as an adult. I love the descriptions of Vermont and Vermonters, so much that on a vacation to Vermont, I made my family take a detour through Dorothy Canfield's hometown so I could find the farmhouse that she uses as a setting for Understood Betsy. The point she makes that children should be allowed to make their own decisions and learn to think for themselves wasn't lost on me - I only hope that I can do as good a job with ...more

flag 7 likes · Like · see review

Dec 27, 2014 Cynthia Egbert rated it it was amazing

Shelves: library

I loved this book more deeply than I can express, I will be posting some quotes below that will give you an idea. But I love the author and what she was trying to accomplish just as much. Here is her thoughts on choosing books for our children, "There is no set rule of thumb for this or that child which can be followed by parents as a cook follows a recipe, beating her eggs and thinking about something else. To help your children to the right reading, right for them, requires everythingnot only I loved this book more deeply than I can express, I will be posting some quotes below that will give you an idea. But I love the author and what she was trying to accomplish just as much. Here is her thoughts on choosing books for our children, "There is no set rule of thumb for this or that child which can be followed by parents as a cook follows a recipe, beating her eggs and thinking about something else. To help your children to the right reading, right for them, requires everything…not only tact, self-abnegation, patience, imagination, but also utilization of every resource you can find". This woman takes reading as seriously as I do! Also, I have her to thank as one of the original "Book of the Month" panelists, she chose the books that came in my grandma's mailbox all of those years ago and sat on the shelf looking pretty until I discovered them years later and found so many things I love including what may be my favorite book…well…almost! Thanks Mrs. Fisher for being a strong woman and for your choices. You are the perfect choice for me to read as you broke new ground for women.

Now…back to the book. She wrote this book to incorporate, in a delightful story, the concepts and methods of her friend Maria Montessor. Learning that causes me to understand why I loved it so very much. This book illustrates all that needs to happen in a child's life and I love it with all of my heart. Some quotes to give you a taste.

"It is possible that what stirred inside her head at that moment was her brain, waking up. She was nine years old, and she was in the third-A grade at school, but that was the first time she had ever had a whole thought of her very own. At home, Aunt Frances had always known exactly what she was doing, and had helped her over the hard places before she even knew they were there; and at school her teachers had been carefully trained to think faster than the scholars. Somebody had always been explaining things to Elizabeth Ann so carefully that she had never found out a single thing for herself before. This was a very small discovery, but it was her own. Elizabeth Ann was as excited about it as a mother bird over the first egg that hatches."

"She weighed out the salt needed on the scales, and was very much surprised to find that there really is such a thing as an ounce. She had never met it before outside the pages of her arithmetic book and she didn't know it lived anywhere else."

"Elizabeth Ann listened to this statement with a very queer, startled expression on her face, as though she hadn't understood the words. Now for a moment she stood staring up in Aunt Abigail's face, and yet not seeing her at all because she was thinking so hard. She was thinking! 'Why! There were real people living when the Declaration of Independence was signed - real people, not just history people - old women teaching little girls how to do things - right in this very room, on this very floor - and the Declaration of Independence just signed.' To tell the honest truth, although she had passed a very good examination in the little book on American history they had studied in school, Elizabeth Ann had never to that moment had any notion the there ever had been really and truly any Declaration of Independence at all. It had been like the ounce, living only inside her schoolbooks for little girls to be examined about."

"She felt as though she were being pulled from limb to limb. 'Why - why,' said Elizabeth Ann, 'I don't know what I am at all. If I'm second-grade arithmetic and seventh-grade reading and third-grade spelling, what grade AM I?' The teacher laughed, 'You aren't any grade at all, no matter where you are in school. You're just yourself, aren't you? What difference does it make what grade you're in?'"

"I declare! Sometimes it seems to me that every time a new piece of machinery comes into the door some of our wits fly out at the window!"

"She had said her 'Now I lay me' every night since she could remember, but she had never prayed 'til she lay there with her face on the rock, saying over and over, 'Oh God, please, please, PLEASE make Mr. Pond adopt 'Lias.'"
...more

flag 6 likes · Like · see review

Aug 14, 2008 Melissa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: z2016-readalouds-to-the-kids

This is one of my family's favorite read-alouds of all time. We've read it twice before; now it's 7yo Beanie's turn to hear it (she was two years old last time around), but Rose is listening in, along with anyone who happens to pass through the room and be grabbed by the story. Which is to say: anyone who happens to pass through the room.

Updated December 2016: Read it this time to Huck and Rilla. Every bit as delicious as the times before.

flag 6 likes · Like · see review

Feb 19, 2020 Ellen Hamilton rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This was a very wholesome and loveable book. I will admit that I was surprised by the Putney cousins. I had expected this to be a typical city-girl-goes-to-country-cousins-with-hardworking-papa-loving-mama-and-many-children-to play with. Rather the family was made up of an old aunt and uncle with a younger cousin who was the hardy kind. I think it's difference made it rather nice, and I like that there are no long speeches or anything of that kind. It's just simple hard work, eat well, have good ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Sep 23, 2018 Liz F. rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 3-5-stars, favorites, school-reading-list-2018-2019

I loved this book!!!!! I can't believe I haven't read it before!! It's such a sweet book! :D

What I liked...

-The message of family love in this book was so strong and so sweet with Betsy, Molly, and the Putney cousins!

-The characters! Cousin Ann was very strong and hard-hearted at first, but I grew to love her character as the story went on! Aunt Abigail was so sweet and I loved that she taught Betsy how to do everything! Uncle Henry was nice to, even though he didn't talk a lot! ;)

-I loved ...more

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Aug 26, 2015 Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: people who are still kids inside, or who have kids

Shelves: life-affirming-cosy, children, absolute-favourites

I first bought this book when I was about 10, the first book I chose for myself at a bookstore. It was magical to me; I read so many stories of little girls who were sent to the country/the mountains/the seaside "for their health" that it took me several years to realise it was never going to happen to me--the doctor was never going to look grave, shake his head, and tell my mother that I was "run down" and that I needed to take a long sea voyage "if she's going to have a chance."

In this case, ...more

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Oct 03, 2019 Shanshan rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-school

My son and I both enjoyed this book. Lots of good lessons throughout. Especially about being brave and stopping to think instead of panicking. We have been working on that a lot lately so it was a good tie-in.

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Jul 23, 2016 J. Boo rated it it was amazing

Shelves: project-gutenberg, to-inflict-upon-daughter

My friends here that read turn-of-the-last-century girl's lit have all read Understood Betsy and rated it highly... and they're right! And exceptionally relevant and up-to-date feels this tale of a young girl who at the start of the story is deficient in life skills and pushed towards anxiety by helicoptering oversharing aunts.

Some great asides:

"[Betsy] weighed out the salt needed on the scales, and was very much surprised to find that there really is such a thing as an ounce. She had never met ...more

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Nov 21, 2017 Ava rated it really liked it · review of another edition

It's really one of those four-point-fivers, but what can you do?

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

May 16, 2013 Susannah rated it really liked it

Understood Betsy is one of those stories that serves as a better guide to my parenting and homeschooling than many how-to books on my shelf. Elizabeth Ann's (Betsy's) growth from fearful, self-conscious, over-protected child to confident, loving girl gives the reader a strong impression of what a wholesome upbringing really looks Iike. One of my favorite scenes has Betsy transitioning from a mass-schooling mindset to a small one-room schoolhouse, where she is nurtured and instructed as an ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Nov 24, 2013 Trace rated it it was amazing

Shelves: classics, family-read-alouds, 2014-booklist

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book...loved the beautiful theme of relationships... loved reading about Betsy's adventures towards self-reliance. Simply but beautifully written - I was caught off guard by the happy tears I shed at the ending...lovely book.

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
What's the Name o...: SOLVED. Juvenile - Little blonde girl goes to live with I think her spinster Aunts in the country [s]	4	26	Aug 30, 2018 08:21PM
Understood Betsy	1	8	May 18, 2015 01:11PM
What's the Name o...: YA Historical Fiction, Girl Sent to Rural New England [s]	3	145	Dec 07, 2012 08:49PM

Readers also enjoyed

See similar books…

Genres

Fiction

134 users

Classics

131 users

Childrens

108 users

Historical > Historical Fiction

80 users

See top shelves…

About Dorothy Canfield Fisher

Dorothy Canfield Fisher

49 followers

Also wrote under the name Dorothy Canfield.

Dorothy Canfield Fisher (February 17, 1879 November 9, 1958) was an educational reformer, social activist, and best-selling American author in the early decades of the twentieth century. She strongly supported women's rights, racial equality, and lifelong education. Eleanor Roosevelt named her one of the ten most influential women in the United States. ...more

Books by Dorothy Canfield Fisher

What Shall We Do Now? Over Five Hundred Games and Pastimes - A Book of Suggestions for Children's Games and Employments

More…

21 Debut Authors to Discover Now

Every new year ushers in a brand-new class of debut authors to discover. And the beginning of 2020 has plenty of fresh new voices to add to you...

Trivia About Understood Betsy

10 trivia questions

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from Understood Betsy

“What's the matter?" asked the teacher, seeing her bewildered face.

"Why—why," said Elizabeth Ann, "I don't know what I am at all. If I'm second-grade arithmetic and seventh-grade reading and third-grade spelling, what grade am I?"

The teacher laughed at the turn of her phrase. "you aren't any grade at all, no matter where you are in school. You're just yourself, aren't you? What difference does it make what grade you're in! And what's the use of your reading little baby things too easy for you just because you don't know your multiplication table?” — 5 likes

“I declare! Sometimes it seems to me that every time a new piece of machinery comes into the door some of our wits fly out the window!” — 2 likes

More quotes…

See a Problem?

Preview — Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher

Understood Betsy

Get A Copy

Friend Reviews

Reader Q&A

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

Readers also enjoyed

Genres

About Dorothy Canfield Fisher

Books by Dorothy Canfield Fisher

Related Articles

Trivia About Understood Betsy

Quotes from Understood Betsy

See a Problem?

Preview — Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher

Understood Betsy

Get A Copy

Friend Reviews

Reader Q&A

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topicDiscuss This Book

Readers also enjoyed

Genres

About Dorothy Canfield Fisher

Books by Dorothy Canfield Fisher

Related Articles

Trivia About Understood Betsy

Quotes from Understood Betsy

new topic
Discuss This Book