The timeless stories of a precocious little girl and her friends growing up in the 1960s. Follow Becky Chalmers in a series of humorous adventures. The first four books are picture books, beautifully illustrated by Linda E. Jones. Then, watch the crew move on to middle school in Becky Chalmers Beautified and Becky Likes Boys.
Diane Campbell Green
Diane Campbell Green
Author of The Becky Chalmers Series
About The Author
After completing college and attending graduate school, author Diane Campbell Green’s thought was to someday write history books. She didn’t know at the time that it was her own history that she was meant to share through her beautiful works of fiction.
A child of the ‘50s and ‘60s, Diane had a wonderful childhood growing up in the Delaware River town of Yardley, Pennsylvania. Her memories of lazy summers playing outside, peashooters, and paper airplanes, fishing trips and kickball games inspired her to write children’s stories, including her newest, Becky Chalmers Beautified, a precious coming of age story about an eleven-year-old girl finding her place in the world in the ‘60s, for early middle-grade readers.
Diane’s Becky Chalmers series first originated from her own childhood adventures. She hopes her young readers will come away from her books learning what it was like to grow up in a national period of peace and prosperity and with a sense of inner faith and self-confidence that lasts long after the book is closed.
When she isn’t writing poignant stories for young readers, Diane enjoys taking walks with her husband, visiting with her son, reading, and completing jigsaw puzzles. She currently lives in the sponge capital of Florida, Tarpon Springs.
Books
Becky Likes Boys
Becky Chalmers is growing up in the sixties. Face powder hides freckles. Life is Pop Stars and Teen Magazines. And there are the Boys; David, the American Dragon, Scotty, Big and Clumsy, Juan Carlos, Becky’s Crush.
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Becky Chalmers Beautified
On the cusp of her eleventh birthday, young Becky Chalmers is straddling childhood and growing up as she navigates the world of the 1960s in her idyllic hometown of Yardley, Pennsylvania. Whether it’s making new friends, her first kiss, or learning what true beauty entails, this spirited girl is an “everygirl,” finding an inner faith and self-confidence that young readers will relate to.
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In Becky Chalmers Beautified, young readers follow Becky through her carefree days as she learns about herself and the world she lives in. Whether it’s the bond with her best friend Sharon being put to the test when she moves away, finding comfort in community during a Christmas Eve bonfire outing following President Kennedy’s assassination, or making a wise friend in an unlikely stranger named Mr. O-Angel outside her library, Becky’s experiences have lasting meaning.
When Becky’s eleventh birthday nears, she tells her mother she doesn’t want a doll or toy. She wants something that will make her beautiful. Becky and her friends’ efforts include staining their lips with red M&Ms, dousing in perfume, and painting their nails. When a chance encounter during a snowy walking trip to the grocery store has Becky helping a cold and frightened little girl, Becky learns that beauty comes from within—from her kind and gentle heart.
Reminiscent of beloved characters such as Ramona Quimby and Scout Finch of a bygone children’s book era, Becky Chalmers Beautified exudes the emotional appeal of a childhood of the ‘60s with the modern strength and vigor of girl storybook characters today. The book provides middle-grade readers with an eloquent story that will stand the test of time, a true classic in the making.
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I’d Rather Be a Kid signed, Becky Chalmers
Becky Chalmers and Friends are back. It’s 1963, more characters are introduced. Little sister Susie becomes part of Becky’s crew. All are infatuated with Sally Star the television cowgirl. Cousin Sandy is introduced. She is as fearless as Becky herself. The neighborhood moms have a disagreement over the party line. Scotty Cadwallader, the biggest second grader, gets “managed” by Becky and friends. Cousin Eric, Becky’s favorite cousin takes Becky horseback riding. And Gramma and Pop-pops bring Becky and cousin Sandy to New York City. Becky gets a taste of adulthood when she is given chores—thus, “I’d Rather Be a Kid, signed Becky Chalmers.
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Goats and Ginger Ale Floats
I’m in the third grade at Yardley Elementary School. My sister-friend, Sharon, my twin brothers and baby sister live in this quiet little town in the Delaware Valley. There are other people here like mean-old Mrs. Pincher, my favorite boy-friend, David, Colonel Belleview, a war hero, and the biggest first-grader you ever saw named Scotty Cadwallader. Someday I’m going to grow up. It’s hard to know exactly when you’re a grown-up, so I told some stories and made a list of signs so you can measure your own growing up.
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The Sparkling Adventures of Becky and Friends
Introducing me, Becky Chalmers. I am eight years old and I live on Cadwallader Court in Yardley, Pennsylvania. It’s the 1960s. Jimmy, Billy, Sharon and I, and a few other friends, travel around Yardley having adventures. We don’t always do the right thing and sometimes we do the exactly wrong thing, but we have some great fun.
The Sparkling Adventures of Becky and Friends is the second book in a series. The first, Santa and the Cotton Tree is a 2020 Royal Dragonfly Award winner.
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Santa and the Cotton Tree
It’s Christmas Eve day, 1963, in Yardley, Pennsylvania. Eight-year-old Becky Chalmers leads her three younger siblings on a journey to introduce baby Susie to Santa. At home her father is creating a magical cotton tree and her mother is preparing for the Christmas Day celebration. The story takes the reader back to a simpler time when a child’s freedom to explore the world was almost unlimited. Travel with the Chalmers kids to “Santa’s House” and wake up with the whole family together for a magical Christmas.
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Reviews
Blogs
Author Diane Campbell Green has won Royal Dragonfly Awards in the 2022 contest sponsored by Story Monsters. I’d Rather Be a Kid, written by Diane Campbell Green and illustrated by…
As readers absorb these eight short stories about Becky Chalmers, they will be called upon to think about their own definitions of beauty and how these can change over time.…
