Anyone remember a series of kids books about a girl named Betsy? I read them when I was in third grade or so, but they were already kind of easy for me at that point, so I think they're aimed a little younger. She had a little sister named Star, named that because she was born on Christmas. I'm pretty sure the books were from the fifties or earlier, but not much earlier than the thirties or so.

You don't mean Understood Betsy, do you, Hil?

I loved The Five Little Peppers when I was a kid, too, but I read that myself.

Carolyn Haywood, "B is for Betsy" and so on?

Nope, though Misunderstood Betsy looks interesting. Turns out I mean "B is for Betsy." Found the right google terms.

edit: x-post with amych. Thanks!

I was a huge Cherry Ames fan as a kid. Found a ton of them at garage sales when I was kid and just got sucked in, since I loved reading anything WW II set.

Cherry Ames rocked! I loved those books, although I only ever read the ones my mom had.

I also loved the Beany Malone books, which were set in the 1940s.

Goodness, did I love Cherry Ames! I also read Sue Barton nurse books, and one called "Bertrice Perry, X-ray technician", which was really interesting in how they developed films, etc.

Also, I so wanted a stove so I could make raisin cakes like Polly in Five Littel Peppers. That is actually one of the ones I re-read from time to time (I also adore Boxcar Children and anything my Louisa May Alcott)

I also loved All-of-a-Kind Family. And the Boxcar Children, and anything by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

I also really like the American Girl books. The dolls get way more attention in the press now, but those books were actually pretty good. Plus, each one had a section at the back with historical information and pictures and things. I remember being horrified by the historical section about child labor in one of the Samantha books (set in 1904). There were some photos of factory worker kids who were missing some fingers.

I also had the American Girl cookbook, which it looks like they don't publish anymore. It had what I think were fairly authentic recipes from the various eras (very few of them were doable for a 1o-year-old alone -- they absolutely require adult supervision, and, in one case, the help of a butcher to tie a cut of meat for roasting), plus historical notes on cooking methods and things like that from the different time periods. There was a huge section on how to set a proper Victorian table, and reproductions of ration cards and nutritional guidelines and Victory garden information from the WWII era, and a bunch of other stuff. I really think the American Girl books and things have gone down in quality a lot since they got bought out by Mattel.

They also used to have kid-sized versions of a lot of the outfits. I had the kid-sized version of this one [link] and loved it. That dress lasted through two summers and still looked perfect. (The horizontal pleats a bit above the hem were apparently something that they did on dresses back then, and they could be let out when the girl grew taller, so the dress could last a few extra seasons. The dress was too long for me as made, so my mom sewed in a third pleat above the other two so that it would be the right length and keep the historical pattern.)

Boxcar Children! And Betsy and Tacey?

Oh, how I loved the Boxcar Children!