The Betsy-Tacy Society

10/15/2026

Just a reminder that we're still selling tickets to most of the Sunday Night Lunch events, at least for a few more days. (We will likely cut off ticket sales for the October 24 and 25 SNLs this Sunday.) If you've been putting off buying your ticket – the time to act is now!

https://tinyurl.com/3cdy3p3v

The first Sunday Night Lunch happened last Sunday, and host Marcia reports that everyone had a simply lovely time. The group comprised old friends, Zoom friends meeting in person for the first time, and a complete newbie – exactly the kinds of connections this event was created for! Marcia served a tofu quiche, salad with home-grown tomatoes, molded Jello salad, unfrosted cake, and fudge – YUM. (We are contemplating an SNL cookbook to officially wrap up the festivities . . . 😋)

A few events have sold out already – don't miss your chance!

10/14/2026

A NOTE FROM JEN

There is so much going on in Betsy-Tacy Land, my head is spinning! I want to tell you about how successful the first Sunday Night Lunch was, and about all the upcoming events ("Betsy Was a Junior" discussion! FOUR Writers Lounges with special guest authors in November!) – but here's the thing I'm most excited about this very second:

I can share another link in our pipeline! Since September, we have welcomed *32* new BTT Club members! and many new YA and New Adult members as well! bringing our total of new young members to well over 45!!!

In fact, our total membership count just hit 1,125!!! We were in the high 200s when I first joined the Board, so I am MADLY CELEBRATING.

And encouraging people to purchase SNL tickets!

https://tinyurl.com/3cdy3p3v
. . and to sign up for the cool Writers Lounges!

https://shop.betsy-tacysociety.org/s/search?q=writers%20lounge
. . or the next book discussion!

https://tinyurl.com/43v7xfve
. . and to get their copy of "Betsy-Tacy and Tib" on audio!

https://tinyurl.com/2jtvpmvz
. . and buy a BTS membership!

https://shop.betsy-tacysociety.org/shop/membership/2

Be honest – wouldn't your head be spinning a bit too?!! 🤪

What fun we are having!

❌⭕️ Jennifer D-K
BTS Exec. Director

10/14/2026

Happy birthday, Lois Lenski! The illustrator of the first four Betsy-Tacy books was born on this day in 1893. 🎊

Fun fact: the title of our Betsy-Tacy picture book (𝐵𝑒𝑡𝑠𝑦-𝑇𝑎𝑐𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑆𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛) is an homage to the “Small” characters (Papa Small, Engineer Small, Farmer Small, etc.) in Lenski’s own books. 🙂

Order your copy today to enjoy Lois Lenski’s beautiful illustrations in color 👇
https://shop.betsy-tacysociety.org/product/-betsy-tacy-for-small-children-/917

Or get a black and white illustration of hers to color in yourself – or frame as is 👇
https://shop.betsy-tacysociety.org/s/search?q=Art%20print

And read more about her here! 👇
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lois_Lenski

10/13/2026

A NOTE FROM JEN

It's 𝑩𝒆𝒕𝒔𝒚-𝑻𝒂𝒄𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑻𝒊𝒃 Release Day! As an audiobook, I mean.

https://betsy-tacysociety.org/betsy-tacy-and-tib-on-audio/

It is beyond exciting to have these books available to an entirely new audience, and I'm especially delighted by this title. BTT is such a FUN, FUNNY book – it's the perfect one to engage young readers who might be less interested in what looks like an "old" book. Who can resist the fun of our girls going begging, trying (and utterly failing) to be good, and making Everything Pudding?! I'm sure that Mara Wilson had such a blast reading it aloud!

All the titles are available for pre-order right now, but this one can be in your "hands" (ears?) TODAY!!!

We have established a partnership with Libro.fm. If you follow the link from our Shop, the Betsy-Tacy Society will get a small portion of your purchase:

https://tinyurl.com/mrxayrmu

Happy BTT Release Day! Happy listening!

❌⭕️ Jennifer D-K
BTS Exec. Director

10/07/2026

Our Executive Director Jen went on local TV program Kato Living today to talk about the new audiobooks, coming soon – the first release date is October 13! 🎧

Today we learned the beloved Betsy-Tacy books are now on audiobook!

WATCH: https://www.keyc.com/video/2026/10/07/kato-living-betsy-tacy-books/

10/03/2026

Okay, ONE last reminder: the Deep Valley Book Festival is TODAY!! 🥳

10/02/2026

One more reminder: the Deep Valley Book Festival is tomorrow! Come out to see us and Kate DiCamillo -- fellow Betsy-Tacy fan, as you can read about in this post of ours from 2024!

Minnesota author Kate DiCamillo was in Mankato last week for a book signing (“Ferris” is out now!) and when we mentioned the Betsy-Tacy Society, she said that it’s “better than AAA” because no matter where you go, you’ll always find a member of the BTS!

We asked her if she’d tell us a bit about her relationship to the B-T books, and this is what she wrote:

“𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘵𝘴𝘺-𝘛𝘢𝘤𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘍𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘶𝘱, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘐 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘵𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 (𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘮𝘦𝘯) 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘴 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳 (𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴). 𝘐 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴: 𝘰𝘩, 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐'𝘮 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦.

𝘉𝘶𝘵, 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘔𝘢𝘶𝘥 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 *𝘉𝘦𝘵𝘴𝘺-𝘛𝘢𝘤𝘺* 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 *𝘉𝘦𝘵𝘴𝘺'𝘴 𝘞𝘦𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨.*

𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥, 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘵𝘢.”

We send our heartfelt thanks to Kate DiCamillo for these beautiful words celebrating our beloved books—and we wish her a happy birthday, as it happens to be today! 🎂

And speaking of birthdays, don’t forget to join us tomorrow at the Children's Museum of Southern Minnesota for a Betsy-Tacy birthday party! https://www.cmsouthernmn.org/events/betsy-tacy-society-visit/

10/01/2026

Happy October! 🍁

(And if you haven’t read Emily of Deep Valley: it’s a great cozy autumn book! Read it! https://shop.betsy-tacysociety.org/product/emily-of-deep-valley-by-maud-hart-lovelace-hardcover/1070 )

(AND if you need another reminder to join us at the Deep Valley Book Festival: this is it!)

09/29/2026

𝑭𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 [𝑴𝒓. 𝑹𝒂𝒚] 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒆 𝒐𝒏. 𝑯𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒆𝒈𝒈, 𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒕, 𝒎𝒊𝒙𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓. 𝑯𝒆 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒃𝒐𝒊𝒍, 𝒔𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒌𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔.
— from ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕥𝕠 𝔹𝕖𝕥𝕤𝕪

Did you know? September 29 is National Coffee Day!

Says the National Day Calendar, "From the moment the average coffee lover opens a fresh bag of coffee beans, the aroma beckons, percolating the senses. Even those who don't drink coffee tend to enjoy the fragrance roasted beans cast."

Many coffee houses offer special deals on this day:

https://nationaldaycalendar.com/celebrations/national-coffee-day-september-29

Curious about that egg? We wrote about this intriguing inclusion in the Fall 2025 𝔻𝕖𝕖𝕡 𝕍𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕪 𝕊𝕦𝕟. You can learn more about the origins of Minnesotan egg coffee here:

startribune.com/egg-coffee-scandinavian-swedish-state-fair-history/600268975/

While you may personally prefer tea or cocoa, we hope you will lift a steaming mug to Mrs. Ray and her favorite beverage!

Whether getting one to go or lingering over a second cup, on September 29 be sure to observe National Coffee Day!

09/28/2026

A NOTE FROM JEN

I'm flying to Mankato on Wednesday for 10 days – Deep Valley in autumn, my favorite season. I'm giddy with anticipation!

As always, my itinerary is packed with planned projects and outings, but I'm especially excited to attend the Deep Valley Book Festival on Saturday – an event I've heard about for years but have never seen in person before. Our table is very near Kate DiCamillo's, so I expect that she and I will be braiding each other's hair and making friendship bracelets by the end of the day, yeah?

If you're looking for something fun to do in Mankato on Saturday, this should be a blast for any book-lover. Free admission! Free parking! Kate DiCamillo!!!!

Please stop by the BTS table to say hi. I'd love to see you!

📚 📖 Jennifer D-K
BTS Exec. Director
in Boston for one more day!