October is "Convert a Betsy-Tacy fan" month!

Here are some success stories:

At the top is Becky, who has enthusiastically read the whole series since meeting me in February! Becky is one of my most successful converts. I started her with Heaven to Betsy but after a few chapters she revealed herself as a series purist and demanded Betsy-Tacy. Although we grew up in the same town, accessing the same library, Becky had never come across Maud Hart Lovelace prior to meeting me (such deprivation!), but is a fan of other classic series, such as the All of a Kind Family. I bet Becky is wondering what she will do once she has read Emily of Deep Valley. . .

Next is my friend and former colleague Tawen, a brilliant lawyer who is studying in Hong Kong this year. Although I know fantasy is her preferred genre (and suspect that like me, she does not normally read series out of order), I sent her Betsy and the Great World because I thought it suitable given that she is embarked on an adventurous year herself. Having moved to the US as a teen, she missed out on a lot of children's classics, so I am sure she will love Betsy-Tacy. And I like the idea that someone is reading Betsy-Tacy in Asia! Remember, it just took one person to make Anne of Green Gables a phenomenon in Japan (and WWII)!Below, on the left is Nicole, who signed up to participate with her teenage daughter. She reports that both loved Heaven to Betsy. Of course, the real test is whether they hunt down the rest of the series. Below, on the right is Carrie, who I chose carefully, not only because she was once the only other person in a group of friends who had heard of and read Summer of My German Soldier but also because she has a daughter about 8 - prime age to read Betsy-Tacy. No word yet from Carrie: she can run but she can't hide.