Busy Betty

by Reese Witherspoon, Xindi Yan (Illustrator)

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Multi-hyphenate extraordinaire Reese Witherspoon delights with her picture book debut, Busy Betty. Betty is what we'd all hope for in a best friend. Fun, engaging and relatable, with Xindi Yan's masterful art, Busy Betty is as re-readable as it gets!

A New York Times bestseller!

From Academy Award–winning actress, founder, and bestselling author, Reese Witherspoon, comes Busy Betty, a story about a creative, curious, and exuberant young girl who has big plans and an even bigger heart.

Busy Betty has always been busy . . . even when she was just a baby!

When Betty gives Frank a big hug, she realizes he needs a bath, PRONTO! Her best friend, Mae, is coming over, and Betty can’t have the smelliest dog in the whole world! But giving Frank a bath is harder than she thought and just when everything seems impossible, with Mae’s help, Betty learns she can accomplish anything with perseverance, teamwork, and one great idea.

From Reese Witherspoon comes a smart and larger-than-life character who encourages young readers to celebrate what makes them unique and realize that anything is possible!

Praise for Busy Betty:
"A fun and high-spirited story for the fans of Fancy Nancy, Pinkalicious, or Freckleface Strawberry."—School Library Journal

"An earnest and unabashed celebration of youthful entrepreneurial zeal that feels very of the moment." —Publishers Weekly

"Extreme angles effectively convey a sense of perpetual motion. . . . Witherspoon’s rollicking text never holds back . . . . as Betty says, “Being busy is a great way to be.” Young readers are sure to agree."—Kirkus reviews

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593465882
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	10/04/2022
Series:	Busy Betty
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	49,841
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Reese Witherspoon is an award-winning actress, entrepreneur, producer, and New York Times bestselling author. She won an Academy Award® for her portrayal of June Carter Cash in Walk the Line and was later nominated in that same category for Wild in 2014, which she also produced. Witherspoon also starred in beloved films Sweet Home Alabama, Legally Blonde, and Election, as well as the award-winning television series Big Little Lies, Little Fires Everywhere, and The Morning Show. Her other film credits include Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time, Universal Pictures’ animated musical comedy Sing and Sing 2. In addition to her acting and producer roles, Witherspoon is an author and entrepreneur. In 2018, Reese released her first book, Whiskey in a Teacup, which was an instant bestseller. In 2016, she established Hello Sunshine, a media brand and content company dedicated to female authorship and storytelling across all platforms. Hello Sunshine is also home to Reese’s Book Club and Reese’s YA Book Club, which focus on storytelling with women at the center. Witherspoon sold Hello Sunshine to Blackstone in September 2021. Now Hello Sunshine is the cornerstone of a larger media company called Candle Media. Witherspoon is an advocate and activist for women’s issues across the globe.


Xindi Yan left behind a small city in China to realize her dream of being a published artist. She traveled thousands of miles to study, live, and work in New York. Having always wanted to illustrate children’s books, Xindi buried herself in countless books and drawings. She is the illustrator of Sylvia Rose and the Cherry Tree by Sandy Shapiro Hurt, the Craftily Ever After series by Martha Maker and The Itty Bitty Witch by Trisha Speed Shaskan. When not drawing, she likes to keep busy with lots of crafts and cooking. Xindi currently lives in Brooklyn with her husband and dreams of having a puppy one day.

Editorial Reviews

08/29/2022

An impetuous child’s enthusiasm finds a worthy channel in this peppy picture book by Witherspoon (Whiskey in a Teacup, for adults), whose heroine’s boundless, big-cartwheel energy is both adorable and a little unnerving. “Sweet cinnamon biscuits, I love being busy!” proclaims young Betty, who enjoys “DOING things and MAKING things and playing ALL day long!” In polished cartooning by Yan (The Wishing Tree), Betty—portrayed with blond pigtails, pale skin, and big round spectacles—decides she’s watched enough dog-washing at the local pet store to scrub the family’s recalcitrant pug, Frank. Both Betty and Frank get increasingly messy as they tussle in an inflatable pool and Frank knocks into canisters of glitter, but Betty’s pale-skinned, dark-haired best friend Mae is able to peer through the chaos and see a great idea: “a bubble-blowing-dog-running-squeaky-clean-canine-scrubbing... BUSINESS!” Text leans heavily into positive messaging (“You have to focus to finish”) and wordplay (“When we pool our ideas, we can do anything!” says Betty, pushing the pool into place). It may test some readers’ tolerance for perkiness, but it’s an earnest and unabashed celebration of youthful entrepreneurial zeal that feels very of the moment. Ages 3–7. Author’s agent: Cait Hoyt, CAA. Illustrator’s agent: Christy Ewers, CAT Agency. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"An earnest and unabashed celebration of youthful entrepreneurial zeal that feels very of the moment." —Publishers Weekly

"Yan uses vivid, pastel colors . . . Extreme angles in several of the illustrations effectively convey a sense of perpetual motion and heighten the story’s tension, drawing readers in. An especially effective, glitter-strewn spread portrays Frank looming large and seemingly running off the page while Betty looks on, stricken at the ensuing mess . . . Witherspoon’s rollicking text never holds back, replete with amusing phrases such as “sweet cinnamon biscuits,” “bouncing biscuits,” and “busted biscuits.” As Betty says, “Being busy is a great way to be.” Young readers are sure to agree." —Kirkus reviews

"Yan’s illustrations feature appealing cartoonish characters with oversized heads and large eyes, complementing the ebullient text that’s interspersed with many idiosyncratic expressions involving biscuits. This is a fun and high-spirited story for the fans of “Fancy Nancy,” “­Pinkalicious,” or “Freckleface Strawberry.” VERDICT A book that will undoubtedly find its way to many collections owing to the popularity of its author and the sweetness of its protagonist." —School Library Journal

From the Publisher

08/01/2022

PreS-Gr 1—Bespectacled Betty, a spunky character in Witherspoon's own image, is a whirlwind of activity. After introducing herself and talking at length about how endlessly busy she is, Betty decides to give her smelly dog a bath because her friend Mae is coming over. Drawing on a memory of watching the groomers do it, she gathers a garden hose, an inflatable pool, and some bubbles, making an enormous mess in the process, just in time for brown-haired Mae to arrive for their play date. Luckily for Betty, Mae's pragmatic focus turns Betty's mistakes into the neighborhood dog-washing business. Yan's illustrations feature appealing cartoonish characters with oversized heads and large eyes, complementing the ebullient text that's interspersed with many idiosyncratic expressions involving biscuits. Witherspoon's willingness to make herself the fall girl in this tale helps put it over; despite the statement that "being busy is a great way to be," Betty's own frenzied activities cannot succeed without Mae's idea or calmer demeanor. This is a fun and high-spirited story for the fans of "Fancy Nancy," "Pinkalicious," or "Freckleface Strawberry." VERDICT A book that will undoubtedly find its way to many collections owing to the popularity of its author and the sweetness of its protagonist.—Yelena Voysey

School Library Journal

2022-07-13
Actor and author Witherspoon makes her picture-book debut.

Betty, a light-skinned, bespectacled child with blond pigtails, was born busy. Constantly in motion, Betty builds big block towers, cartwheels around the house (underfoot, of course), and plays with the family’s “fantabulous” dog, Frank, who is stinky and dirty. That leads to a big, busy, bright idea that, predictably, caroms toward calamity yet drags along enough hilarity to be entertaining. With a little help from best friend Mae (light-skinned with dark hair), the catastrophe turns into a lucrative dog-washing business. Busy Betty is once again ready to rush off to the next big thing. Yan uses vivid, pastel colors for a spread of a group of diverse kids bringing their dogs to be washed, helping out, and having fun, while the grown-ups are muted and relegated to the background. Extreme angles in several of the illustrations effectively convey a sense of perpetual motion and heighten the story’s tension, drawing readers in. An especially effective, glitter-strewn spread portrays Frank looming large and seemingly running off the page while Betty looks on, stricken at the ensuing mess. Though it’s a familiar and easily resolved story, Witherspoon’s rollicking text never holds back, replete with amusing phrases such as “sweet cinnamon biscuits,” “bouncing biscuits,” and “busted biscuits.” As Betty says, “Being busy is a great way to be.” Young readers are sure to agree. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

An entertaining, if light, addition to the growing shelf of celebrity-authored picture books. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews