Betsy and Julia head to their Uncle Edward’s farm that summer for a lengthy, fun visit. They learn a lot about farm life and have a good time. But eventually, Betsy is more than ready to return home.

She is shocked and upset to find her mother in bed, cuddling a brand new baby sister. Obviously, she had not been aware of the pregnancy. Betsy sees no need for a family expansion. She scorns Julia’s obvious delight in the newborn. She knows she is no longer the baby in the family. She feels strange and uncertain inside — a complex human emotion that Lovelace excels time and time again at depicting (see also, for example, the post on Tacy’s Quarantine in the Betsy, Tacy and Tib section of this site).

Betsy takes refuge in the barn and her tears start to flow. Tacy soon arrives, somehow knowing that Betsy would be there, and takes Betsy in her arms and comforts her. She explains that new babies are not necessarily unusual and unwelcome; her own large family welcomes them regularly, and so no one can count on being the baby forever. Betsy notices the role reversal in this conversation: Tacy is the one doing most of the talking and comforting Betsy, just as Betsy had comforted Tacy when Baby Bee passed away (and is ordinarily the talkier one!). The irony and the sweetness of this moment is not lost on Betsy. She starts to feel much better.

In the late 1800s and very early 1900s, home births were the norm, often attended by midwives. This began to change in the 1910 decade, when hospital deliveries facilitated by doctors, with the use of drugs and anesthesia, began to became more common. Today, more than 98% of all U.S. births take place in hospitals. There is now a thriving movement that encourages a return to home births (in situations where a pregnancy is without known complications), and even a return to midwifery and nurse-midwifery, which has been on the rise since the 1970s with the advent of feminism and women’s desire to regain control of the childbirth process.

Betsy and Julia are nominally permitted to name the baby, but are unable to agree on a name. Mr. Ray’s suggestion of Margaret is acceptable to all. The inclusion of Julia and Betsy (and even Tacy) in the naming process is a wonderful way to bring siblings who might otherwise feel as “strange” as Betsy does into the inner circle of the situation. The modern tech-assisted ability to detect (and then reveal) gender during pregnancy can provide another opportunity for sibling involvement, permitting an earlier and fuller imagination and visualization of the reality of the new baby. Involving Betsy and Julia in the naming is a wonderful illustration of the family dynamic of the Rays, and of the sensitivity that Bob and Jule Ray display time and again toward their children throughout the series.

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On the history of home births, see: https://whyy.org/segments/how-did-birth-move-from-the-home-to-the-hospital-and-back-again/#:~:text=She%20says%20that%20around%201760,was%20not%20always%20safer%20childbirth.%E2%80%9D

On the history of midwifery, see: https://www.ohsu.edu/womens-health/brief-history-midwifery-america

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.

Eating outdoors is a favorite experience for Betsy and her friends throughout the series. The tradition begins in Betsy-Tacy when Betsy and Tacy bring their supper plates to their special bench on the hill, away from their families. They share what is on each of their plates, with Mrs. Kelly’s cake especially prized, so Tacy always divides her piece — carefully and evenly — with Betsy. Then they eat, watch the sun set, and tell stories, mostly Betsy’s, until it grows dark and cold and they are called home.

In time, Betsy and Tacy obtain permission to climb and explore the Big Hill, going futher and further each time. They chart their path tentatively at first, more confidently later. They look down upon the town’s rooftops. They discover “places which belonged to them” (p. 21, Harper Trophy paperback edition, 1993). They fantastize about living on the hill someday. Eating outdoors and climbing the hill represent the girls’s cherished, burgeoning, independence.

Picnics remain popular in the digital age. The third week of June is National Picnic Week in the United States. Luxury picnics, in which fancy feasts are catered, take the trend to another level. But it is certainly not common for five-year-old children to eat meals and explore the outdoors separate from their families. In general, children are not allowed to be as independent as they were in past decades, due to safety fears. Betsy and Tacy were likely within view of their parents’ eyes when they picnicked on their bench, especially in the beginning, but in time they began to drift away from supervision when playing on the hill.

When Betsy and Tacy grew older, they would climb a bigger hill, and pack picnic baskets to overflowing, to enjoy with their friends, “the Crowd.” But there is a stark and simple warmth in the image of these small girls carrying standard-sized supper plates and glasses of milk to their own hillside bench, sharing food, laughter, stories, and dreams with one another. A version of this easy, warm practice could certainly be duplicated among modern picnickers young and old.

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For a short history of picnics, see: https://nationaltoday.com/national-picnic-day/