The Bobbsey Twins at the County Fair

The Bobbsey Twins at the County Fair, published in 1922, follows the family to the annual Lakeport County Fair, a multi-day agricultural and entertainment exhibition of the kind that was central to small-town American life in the early twentieth century. The book is essentially a tour of the fair experience: the prize-winning livestock barns, the baked-goods competition, the pie-eating contest, the merry-go-round, the lemonade stands, and the visiting circus that has set up alongside.

Nan enters a needlepoint piece in the home arts competition. Bert and his friends investigate a small mystery involving missing prize ribbons. Flossie and Freddie wander off and ride the merry-go-round once too often. The Bobbsey adults appear mostly as background. A traveling magician’s act is part of the entertainment, and his disappearing-rabbit trick provides the climax in a satisfyingly small-scale way. A representative example of the cozy mid-period Bobbsey formula.