Other editions of book UNDERSTOOD BETSY

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Understood Betsy is a 1916 novel for children by Dorothy Canfield Fisher. The story tells of Elizabeth Ann, a 9-year-old orphan who goes from a sheltered existence with her father's aunt Harriet and cousin Frances in the city, to living on a Vermont farm with her mother's family, the Putneys, whose child-rearing practices had always seemed suspect to Harriet and her daughter. In her new rural life, Elizabeth Ann comes to be nicknamed "Betsy," and to find that many activities that Frances had always thought too demanding for a little girl are considered, by the Putney family, routine activities for a child: walking to school alone, cooking, and having household duties to perform… (wikipedia.org)

Understood Betsy (version 2) CHAPTER I AUNT HARRIET HAS A COUGH When this story begins, Elizabeth Ann, who is the heroine of it, was a little girl of nine, who lived with her Great-aunt Harriet in a medium-sized city in a medium-sized State in the middle of this country; and that's all you need to know about the place, for it's not the important thing in the story; and anyhow you know all about it because it was probably very much like the place you live in yourself. Elizabeth Ann's Great-aunt Harriet was a widow who was not very rich or very poor, and she had one daughter, Frances, who gave piano lessons to little girls. They kept a "girl" whose name was Grace and who had asthma dreadfully and wasn't very much of a "girl" at all, being nearer fifty than forty. Aunt Harriet, who was very tender-hearted, kept her chiefly because she couldn't get any other place on account of her coughing so you could hear her all over the house. So now you know the names of all the household. And this is how they looked: Aunt Harriet was very small and thin and old, Grace was very small and thin and middle-aged, Aunt Frances (for Elizabeth Ann called her "Aunt," although she was really, of course, a first-cousin-once-removed) was small and thin and if the light wasn't too strong might be called young, and Elizabeth Ann was very small and thin and little. And yet they all had plenty to eat. I wonder what was the matter with them?

Designed for school districts, educators, and students seeking to maximize performance on standardized tests, Webster's paperbacks take advantage of the fact that classics are frequently assigned readings in English courses. By using a running thesaurus at the bottom of each page, this edition of Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield was edited for students who are actively building their vocabularies in anticipation of taking PSAT¿, SAT¿, AP¿ (Advanced Placement¿), GRE¿, LSAT¿, GMAT¿ or similar examinations.PSAT¿ is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination Board and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation neither of which sponsors or endorses this book; SAT¿ is a registered trademark of the College Board which neither sponsors nor endorses this book; GRE¿, AP¿ and Advanced Placement¿ are registered trademarks of the Educational Testing Service which neither sponsors nor endorses this book, GMAT¿ is a registered trademark of the Graduate Management Admissions Council which is neither affiliated with this book nor endorses this book, LSAT¿ is a registered trademark of the Law School Admissions Council which neither sponsors nor endorses this product. All rights reserved.

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A true character development novel with lots of wisdom in it, Understood Betsy, by Dorothy Canfield Fisher, has a lot to offer to the youngest readers and to older kids as well.The novel is the story of Elizabeth Ann, a nine-year-old orphan living with his deceased father's aunt, Harriet and Elizabeth Ann' cousin, Frances. She lives a sheltered life, with her foster family spoiling and protecting her from everything too hard to do or too difficult to comprehend, but then the little girl must leave this cushioned existence and move to her mother's relatives to a farm in Vermont at least for a while, because Aunt Harriet must visit her ailing sister somewhere in the West.Her new life is full of chores she has never done before and she discovers a lot about the world and about herself during the process of learning. She learns how to tend to animals, how to make maple syrup and butter, but in fact she learns much more than that: she finds out about herself, her boundaries and her talents. Just when she has come to feel comfortable in her new environment, Elizabeth Ann's life is to take an unexpected turn again: cousin Frances comes to take Elizabeth Ann back to her home to live with them again.Most part of the novel represents the period Elizabeth Ann spends in Vermont – a period of explorations, experiences and lots of fun. From a child living in an overprotective environment and doing nothing at all, the girl becomes an active and responsible girl, able to do a lot by herself and having her own opinion about things. The novel features the main character's passage from complete dependence to independence – a long and not always easy process that is presented in a sweet, well-structured, entertaining and educative manner.

Originally published in 1916, Dorothy Canfield Fisher was a women's rights activist, educator, wife and mother. Many of her stories contain autobiographical elements, including Understood Betsy, the story of the orphan Elizabeth Ann who lives with Great Aunt Harriet and Aunt Francis. Although kind, the aunts worry and fuss about little things all the time. At the age of 9, when her aunts can no longer care for her, Elizabeth Ann must leave to go and live with distant relatives on a farm in Vermont. Soon enough she starts making friends, enjoying school and adapting well to her new family. This book remains a classic of child rearing and an inspirational listen.

While Dorothy Canfield Fisher is known more for her social activism and the support of women’s rights, sex equity as well as education, her children’s novel, Understood Betsy, will surely appeal to adults as well thanks to its educational model it introduces. The story follows a young orphan named Elizabeth Ann. She is just 9 years old and she lives with her aunt Harriet as well as with her older cousin Frances. They live sheltered and relatively safe in the city, even though Elizabeth Ann doesn’t feel loved in her foster family. Things are about to change when she moves on to a Vermont farm to live with her mother’s family instead. ‘The Putney’s have always been frowned upon due to their different child-rearing methods. Aunt Harriet has always looked down on the Putney’s and Elizabeth doesn’t know what to expect. However, she finds that she is well received in the rural community, and that’s where she also gains her nickname Betsy. Betsy then starts to engage in all sorts of activities that her former tutor aunt Harriet had always considered too harsh and demanding. Despite what her aunt told her, Betsy finds that she enjoys these activities quite a lot and that she is able to improve her skills as well as learn to read and write quite rapidly. She also manages to learn to make butter, to cook as well as to tend to the animals. The story ends when Betsy decides to stay with her new family despite her cousin Frances who is about to get married and plans to “save” her younger cousin. Dorothy Canfield Fisher manages to build a sincere portrait of a child in Understood Betsy, as well as argue for the child-rearing method that seeks to focus on the independence and relative freedom education of children.