i listened to 7 sections, including how to place holds, on the Overdrive how-to site, and followed the instructions. It was easier than I imagined to download the book I chose, Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace. I’ve always had a fondness for this historical series, and discovered a wonderful thing as an adult: there is a place, Mankato, in Minnesota that has the restored, real houses of Betsy, and Tacy and Tib!! People flock to this town every year, to celebrate the stories based on the very real little girls who lived at the turn of the last century. As a child, I read all the books that my library had; as an adult, I found the “missing” and no-longer published volumens of “Winona’s Pony Cart” and “Carney’s House Party” held by libraries who managed, somehow, to hang onto them over the years. Through these stories, I learned about World War I and what it felt like to be caught overseas, in Germany, when the War broke out. Betsy’s Joe taught that true love does not run smoothly, just as Carney’s romance taught that a “friend” may not be husband material. Listening to the downloaded book brought my friends and so many memories back to me, but I have to say…I did miss the illustrations found in the original print versions. I think the illustrator was Vera Neville, but she may be the modern illustrator, so I’ll have to check my personal library at home!
The download was fast, just under 2 minutes, and I could have burned it!
Ahh, memories…but nothing replaces the paper version, the few illustrations, and all those pictures I made when I read those books so long ago!
