During Easter season, Tacy’s family, the Kellys, suffer the loss of baby Beatrice, whom they call Bee. Maud Hart Lovelace describes the impact of this death on Tacy, and by extension Betsy, with sensitivity and clarity, striking a tone that is neither alarming nor patronizing. It would have been easy to leave such an event out of a book for grade school children, but Lovelace obviously thought its inclusion important.

Tacy describes Bee’s funeral to Betsy in stark terms. Surrounded by flowers and candles, Bee looked “awful pretty,” Tacy relates, but her mother was “awful sad” (p. 60, Harper Trophy, 1993). In an effort to comfort Tacy, Betsy shares her view of heaven as a beautiful place where Bee will have fun, play music without having to be taught how, and know many things about the world — even more than Betsy and Tacy know, although she will forever be younger. Tacy points out that Bee is still very far away. Betsy develops her story to include a means by which messages can be delivered directly to heaven by birds, who travel to and fro, and Tacy suggests that they leave the birds a colored Easter egg to deliver to Bee. They do so. It is indeed comforting.

While Bee’s exact age and cause of death is not specified in this book, infant mortality was quite high in the early 1900s due to poor sanitation, limited access to doctors, and rudimentary medical knowledge. The infant mortality rate in the U.S. has dropped from 165 deaths per 1,000 births to just over 5 per 1,000 in 2025. These rates fluctuate greatly across the globe; medical and sanitation conditions are far from the same worldwide. But in most developed countries, diseases like diptheria and pertussis have been largely contained.

The death of Baby Bee illustrates the depth of the Betsy-Tacy friendship, and the depth that children’s friendships can have. Each knows just how to comfort the other. They look to one another in times of sorrow and joy, and take seriously the other’s fears, needs, and imaginings. Lovelace’s inclusion of the episode, so unusual in an children’s book (especially of the time), makes clear her regard for her young readers, and her commitment to portray the Betsy-Tacy universe honestly and respectfully.

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Sources: https://www.pbs.org/fmc/timeline/dmortality.htm#:~:text=The%20infant%20mortality%20rate%20started,diphtheria%2C%20and%20pertussis%2C%20measles.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/infant-mortality-rate-by-country#infant-mortality-in-the-united-states