What a delightful read! There are so many things I enjoyed about this book.
The simple pleasures and sense of community in a small, old-fashioned town really came through. It was so charmingly quaint how in that time before cinema, all the children got excited for matinee productions that come through town with travelling theater companies. I loved how proud and grown-up Betsy felt when she was allowed to spend the day downtown by herself, and how the shopkeepers helped to make the girls' Christmas wishes come true.
In previous books of this series, especially in Betsy-Tacy and Tib, I think Betsy came across as kind of bossy. Now at age twelve, it's a pleasure to see that she has matured nicely. I wasn't too crazy about the way the three girls tried to manipulate Winona in the beginning, but since Winona saw through their antics and didn't mind, I figured I shouldn't mind either.
I like that the girls have clear personality differences, and I find myself mostly admiring Tib, who remains the calm, competent, matter-of-fact voice of reason.
I especially enjoyed the peek into old-fashioned slang, in which young people apparently expressed their dissatisfaction with others by saying, "You go way back and sit down!" Haha. Kind of like a turn-of-the-century version of the Fonz's "Sit on it!"
I stopped short of giving this book 5 stars because, like Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill, this book includes some language that historically would not have been offensive in the time of original publication, but in modern times, should probably be accompanied with some contextual explanation for young readers. Basically, the girls talk about performing in blackface. Of course, they mean no disrespect, but now that the idea is presented, it might be a good idea to let young readers know that performing in blackface is not acceptable these days.
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