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Emily's Runaway Imagination. Beverly Cleary. 1961. 288 pages. [Source: Bought]

First sentence: The things that happened to Emily Bartlett that year!

Premise/plot: Emily Bartlett is the heroine of Beverly Cleary's Emily's Runaway Imagination. Emily has many adventures or misadventures, many of which center around the formation of the first public library in her town. I would categorize the book as historical fiction. Reference is made to a world war, and, I think it may even be the first world war. One of the adventures involves Emily's grandpa getting a car. And having a car is a novelty in their town. Most people either walk, ride horses, drive a horse and wagon.

My thoughts: I really LOVE this one. If I read this one growing up, I only read it once. It's even possible this is one we didn't own. It took me so long to get to it as an adult because the local library doesn't have a copy of it. I bought this battered copy of it at my local charity shop for a quarter.

Favorite quotes:

"There are still books left to choose from," answered Mama.
And there were! Just think of it, real library books right here in Pitchfork, Oregon. The Dutch Twins, the Tale of Jemima Puddleduck--what a tiny book that was! Emily had not known they made such little books. The Curly-Haired Hen, English Fairy Tales. But no Black Beauty. Oh, well, perhaps another time. Emily chose English Fairy Tales because it was the thickest, and Mama wrote her name on a little card that she removed from a pocket in the book. Emily now had a library book to read. (117)

"Ma'am, is it all right if I get some books for my family?" he asked.
Mama smiled at the boy. "I don't believe I have seen you in Pitchfork before. Do you live in the country?"
"No, ma'am. I live in Greenvale," he answered. "We read about the library in the Pitchfork Report and I walked down the railroad track to see if we could get some books too."
"Why, that's at least four miles," said Mama, "and four miles back again."
The boy looked at the floor. "Yes ma'am."
"Of course you may take books for your family," said Mama. This boy wanted to read. That was enough for her. It made no difference where he lived. (118)

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Ooo.  Lots of adult books with smatterings of children’s literature littered about the pages today.  Don’t even know where to start with this one.  Let’s see, eeny meeny miney . . . MO!

Libertarians on the Prairie: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Rose Wilder Lane, and the Making of the Little House Books by Christine Woodside

This is the most interesting of the batch in many ways.  This year saw the publication of the book The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder, published by editor William Anderson.  I know these letters well since Jules Danielson and I used them for our book Wild Things: Acts of Mischief in Children’s Literature.  Yet little did I know that the story of Rose Wilder was far more interesting than the degree to which she wrote the Little House books herself or whether or not she could swear like a sailor (she could).  Listen to this part of the description:

“Rose hated farming and fled the family homestead as an adolescent, eventually becoming a nationally prominent magazine writer, biographer of Herbert Hoover, and successful novelist, who shared the political values of Ayn Rand and became mentor to Roger Lea MacBride, the second Libertarian presidential candidate. Drawing on original manuscripts and letters, Woodside shows how Rose reshaped her mother’s story into a series of heroic tales that rebutted the policies of the New Deal.“

Nope.  Didn’t know that one!

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Lois Lenski: Storycatcher by Bobbie Malone

Sometimes a book gets published and I sit in my library and think, “Is anyone else in the entire world going to really read and enjoy this besides me?” Then, after a moment, I’ll get a crazed look in my eye, stand up at my desk, and scream, “THEN I SHALL MAKE THEM ENJOY IT!!!!”  Little wonder my desk is sequestered at the end of my floor, far from my cowering co-workers.  This Lenski bio may have a limited built-in audience but for Newbery die-hards (Strawberry Girl fans, are you with me?) this is a must.  Plus I really like the central conceit involving inherent class structures.  Says the description: “Lenski turned her extensive study of hardworking families into books that accurately and movingly depicted the lives of the children of sharecroppers, coal miners, and migrant field workers.”  Now somebody out there write me a comparative study looking at how Kate DiCamillo has done similar work with working class people in Florida, with a good compare and contrast of the two award winning authors’ work.  And . . . go.

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Everybody Behaves Badly: The True Story Behind Hemingway’s Masterpiece The Sun Also Rises by Lesley M.M. Blume

Okay.  You’ll bite.  What’s the children’s literature connection here?  Is it the fact that the book’s about Hemingway and we know that his grandson Eddie Hemingway makes picture books?  Is there going to be a revelation in the book that Hemingway based The Sun Also Rises on The Velveteen Rabbit (think about it . . . no, wait, don’t)?  No, it’s a lot simpler than that.  Its author, Lesley M.M. Blume, has made a veritable plethora of children’s books over the years.  My personal favorite was her Modern Fairies, Dwarves, Goblins, and Other Nasties: A Practical Guide by Miss Edythe McFate.  Now she’s getting stellar reviews on the adult side of things.  Bully for her, says I!  Well done!

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Love From Boy: Roald Dahl’s Letters to His Mother by Donald Sturrock

What We Know: 2016 marks 100 years since the birth of Roald Dahl.

What That Means: Lots o’ books about Dahl.  Some covering areas we’ve seen before.  Others traipsing into new territory.  I certainly haven’t seen this one before and as the mom of a 2-year-old boy it gets frighteningly close to teary-eyed territory.  I also love this part of the book’s description: “Sofie Magdalene kept every letter her son wrote to her (sadly, her own side of the correspondence did not survive).”  Tsk.  Ain’t that like a boy.

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The Best “Worst President” by Mark Hannah, ill. Bob Staake

Bob Staake cover and interior art.  Nuff said.

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Walking with Ramona: Exploring Beverly Cleary’s Portland by Laura O. Foster

One of my catalogers came up to me the other day, book in hand.  Baker & Taylor has cataloged this book as 813.54 (literary stuff) but the book is clearly (Cleary-ly?) a travelogue.  Indeed, open it up and you get a whole mess of delightful Portland, Oregon haunts.  Where the HECK was this book when I was moving there, all those years ago?  I would have lapped it up.  As it stands, it’s really very delightful.  Those of you planning to move there, or have friends or kids moving there, grab this thing.  Like I say – Ramona invented the original Portlandia.

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In the Great Green Room: The Brilliant, Bold Life of Margaret Wise Brown by Amy Gary

 Hold the phone. Now hand the phone to me.  Someone else besides Leonard Marcus has written a biography of Margaret Wise Brown?  Who is this Amy Gary type personage?  Sez the description: “In 1990, author Amy Gary discovered unpublished manuscripts, songs, personal letters, and diaries from Margaret tucked away in a trunk in the attic of Margaret’s sister’s barn. Since then, Gary has pored over these works and with this unique insight in to Margaret’s world she chronicles her rise in the literary world . . . Amy Gary has cataloged, edited, and researched all of Margaret’s writings for the last twenty-five years.”

Oh.  There you go then.

Okay.  One more.

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Looking for Betty MacDonald: The Egg, the Plague, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, and I by Paula Becker-Brown

For whatever reason I feel like this is slightly more accessible than the Lois Lenski book.  Probably because MacDonald had a career outside of children’s literature occasionally.  “Readers embraced her memoir of her years as a young bride operating a chicken ranch on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, and The Egg and I sold its first million copies in less than a year. The public was drawn to MacDonald’s vivacity, her offbeat humor, and her irreverent take on life. In 1947, the book was made into a movie starring Fred MacMurray and Claudette Colbert, and spawned a series of films featuring MacDonald’s Ma and Pa Kettle characters.” Piggle-Wiggle is what she’ll go down in history for, but it’s nice to see another side of her as well.  Could have put a little more work into that book jacket, though.  Seriously, University of Washington Press.  You weren’t even trying.

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Socks. Beverly Cleary. 1973. 160 pages. [Source: Library]

I haven't reread Socks by Beverly Cleary since I was a child. I remembered very little about it except that it was about a cat, which, I must admit is the most obvious thing to remember! The first chapter introduces readers to Socks, her litter mates, and the boy and girl who originally "owned" her and were trying to sell all the kittens. Bill and Marilyn Bricker adopt Socks and take him home. Several chapters focus on these early, happy, good years. (Actually, I'm not sure how much time passes, Socks isn't particularly great at noting months, seasons, or possible years.) A few chapters into the book, Socks is upset by a shrinking lap. Mrs. Bricker is having a baby, and, Socks doesn't particularly care one way or the other about it...until the new baby changes everything. Less attention, less food, no lap-time, a lot of noise, visitors who warn of the dangers of having a cat around the baby, etc. Will Socks make peace with Charles William?

I enjoyed this one. I didn't love, love, love it. Not like I love, love, love the Ramona books. But it was an enjoyable read. I liked the ending, it felt right to me.

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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This summer, kids can access great books, go on adventures to faraway places and even win prizes – all at their local library.

Kate DiCamillo, author of Because of Winn-Dixie, The Tale of Despereaux and the recently released Raymie Nightingale, appreciates the importance of reading – especially during the summer.

As she visits schools throughout the country, answering questions about her new character Raymie and her journey to conquer remarkable things, she’s also letting kids know that all summer long their local libraries offer great opportunities for summer fun as the 2016 Collaborative Summer Library Program (CSLP) National Summer Reading Champion.

We had the opportunity to talk to Kate about what inspired her to become a children’s author, the importance of books and imagination and which books she loved to read during summer break as a kid.

Your books are very imaginative. Why is important for kids to explore their imagination through books?

Because you find that anything is possible – and the feeling of possibility gets into your heart. That’s what books did for me.

As a kid, I was sick all the time and spent so much time alone. It was super beneficial to read because I was convinced that the things I didn’t think were possible actually were! That’s incredibly important for kids in need, but also for all of us.

Your stories are very relatable for children. Why is it important for kids to see parts their lives in the books they read?

I feel this as an adult reader too. Books give me an understanding not only of the world and other people’s hearts, but my own heart. When you see yourself in a story, it helps you understand yourself.

During my school visits, so many kids tell me stories of how they connect with my characters – Despereaux and Edward Tulane and Raymie. It’s so humbling to see that connection.

And when you see other people, it introduces you to a whole new world. I think of a story I read as a kid, which was actually just reissued, called All of a Kind Family. It’s about a Jewish family in turn-of-the-century New York. That couldn’t have been more foreign to me growing up in Central Florida but I loved every word of it.

Did you like to read during the summer as a kid?

Yes! I loved reading. I could spend all day reading. I’d go up into my tree house with books and sometimes didn’t come down until dusk.

If you gave me a book as a kid, I loved it. I read without discretion.  But I did have my favorites I’d come back to again and again: Beverly Cleary’s books, Stuart Little and Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books.

It’s so crazy to stand in front of groups of kids and tell them this. There’s always a murmur of “oh, yeah, yeah! I read that!” That’s the staying power of books.

How can kids access books and learning activities over the summer?

That is the beautiful thing about CSLP summer reading programs at public libraries: it makes it easy for parents, caretakers and kids themselves to access all kinds of materials and activities for free.   The 2016 summer reading theme is “On your mark, get set, READ!” and I think that’s an open invitation to readers of all ages to take advantage of everything their library offers.

Want more Kate DiCamillo? Listen to her talk about the fantastic summer fun you can find at your local library!

The post Author Kate DiCamillo Finds Summer Fun at The Local Library appeared first on First Book Blog.

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To celebrate Beverly Cleary's 100th birthday, I thought I would share my top ten Ramona moments.

10. "Ramona Sits" from Ramona's World
Ramona cat-sits Daisy's cat. It is NOT a fun week. Seven days feels like forever. Especially when her Mom leaves her in charge of Roberta too--for a whole FIFTEEN MINUTES.
9. "Ramona's New Pajamas" from Ramona and Her Mother 
Ramona loves, loves, loves her new pajamas. But is it a good idea to wear pajamas under your clothes and go to school?! 
8. "Owl Trouble" and "Parents' Night" from Ramona the Brave
Poor Ramona! Susan and Ramona have ISSUES over their owls at art time. I feel for Ramona in this situation. The owl-drama continues. And Ramona writes the sweetest heart-felt note to her mom. COME HERE MOTHER. COME HERE TO ME. This chapter is just one reason why I love, love, love Cleary's writing. She KNOWS what it feels like to be a kid.
7. "The Quimbys' Quarrel" and "The Extra-good Sunday" from Ramona Quimby, Age 8
Ramona and Beezus complain about eating TONGUE. And the parents decide to punish them. Beezus and Ramona do not get out of their punishment: cooking a meal for the family. What do Ramona and Beezus know how to cook, or to cook well? It will be an experiment for sure.

6. "Ramona's Great Day" from Ramona the Pest
Ramona's first day of morning kindergarten. Her teacher is Miss Binney. The days has its ups and downs. But Ramona by the end of the day feels good about this thing called school. But will it last?! This is the chapter where Ramona asks Miss Binney HOW DID MIKE MULLIGAN GO TO THE BATHROOM?! 
6. "Supernuisance" "The Patient" and "The Book Report" from Ramona Quimby Age 8
Ramona gets sick at school and throws up in front of the class. She's so embarrassed. Her mom stays home to take care of her when she's sick. Ramona gets a homework assignment: a book report. Ramona has to read The LEFT BEHIND CAT for a book report, but, she doesn't like it. How to make the review entertaining? How about doing her report like a commercial? This is a funny chapter!
5.  "Beezus and Her Little Sister." from Beezus and Ramona
Ramona LOVES, LOVES, LOVES to have The Littlest Steam Shovel read to her. Her parents are unwilling to read it to her--they have come to have no tolerance for it. But Beezus, well, she'll read it to Ramona, not that she likes it, but, she'll give in now and then. She gets the idea to take Ramona to the library to get a brand new book--for two weeks. Ramona picks a new book, but, it is still about steam shovels. She likes it so much, that she does something NAUGHTY so she can keep it for always. What will Beezus do since it was checked out on her card? Just how sympathetic will the librarian be?
4. "Slacks for Ella Funt" from Ramona and Her Mother
What's the Quimby household like on a Saturday? Well, on this particular Saturday, it's an interesting one. Ramona wants to have a sewing project like Beezus and her mom. She decides that she will make her elephant a pair of pants. Does it go well? Not really. Could she have successfully made a skirt for her elephant? Most likely without any trouble. But stubborn Ramona wanted PANTS. When it doesn't end well, she gets upset, which leads to her doing something very naughty with a tube of toothpaste!
3. "The Sheep Suit" and "Ramona and the Three Wise Persons" from Ramona and Her Father
Christmas is a coming. Ramona wants to be a sheep. She volunteers her mom to make her a costume. (At least she didn't volunteer her mom to make all three costumes! So it could always be worse!) But will her mom have time to make the costume?! It doesn't look like it! Will Ramona get to be a sheep?
Pageant night! Ramona may not be wearing a satisfactory costume, but, will she go on and participate anyway? Three older girls filling in for the wise men may help her out! The book which has had its serious moments ends on a joyful tone.

2. "Ramona Says A Bad Word" from Ramona the Brave
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this chapter. I do. Ramona's had a horrible time of it throughout the whole book, and, she's had enough of it. She breaks down. She lets loose. GUTS. GUTS. GUTS. GUTS. But why is everyone laughing at her?! She wasn't trying to be funny! She was doing some serious venting!!!
1. "Ramona's Engagement" Ring from Ramona the Pest 
 This chapter is probably one of my FAVORITE chapters from the whole series. In this chapter, Ramona has issues with her boots. She doesn't want hand-me-down brown "boy" boots. She wants pretty RED boots that are obvious girl boots. She does get them eventually. But can she use them responsibly?! This is the chapter where Henry Huggins becomes Ramona's hero...much to Davy's relief. It has Ramona joyfully shouting that she WILL MARRY HENRY HUGGINS. She has a worm engagement ring and everything.

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Author Beverly Cleary will be turning 100 on April 12. Cleary is best known for her rambunctious and beloved character, Ramona Quimby. There isn’t a reader today who isn’t familiar with the sweet world Cleary created. Ramona Quimby, Age 8, holds a special place in my heart as it was the first book that I ever read “critically,” my first book report. I agonized over capturing the enjoyment I found in this delightful book. I remember being so worried that my teacher (Hello Mrs. Schwarz!) wouldn’t believe I read the whole thing so my report rambled on and on and on. I wanted to write about every detail because I loved so much of it. How could you not love a strong, precocious, daring, real girl like Ramona. What astounded me most about Ramona (besides the fact that we were the same age when I read the book), was that it was the first time I saw myself in a character. I was Ramona! Someone had written a book about a girl just like me! We both had older sisters, we were both trying so hard to earn everyone’s approval, we both wanted to be loved and also to be independent. Cleary had a knack for creating living, breathing characters that were innocent and honest and real and true. She is all of those things, as well, and that is why we all love Beverly Cleary so much.

 

Here is the biography straight from Beverly’s website:

Beverly Cleary was born in McMinnville, Oregon, and, until she was old enough to attend school, lived on a farm in Yamhill, a town so small it had no library. Her mother arranged with the State Library to have books sent to Yamhill and acted as librarian in a lodge room upstairs over a bank. There young Beverly learned to love books. However, when the family moved to Portland, Beverly soon found herself in the grammar school’s low reading circle, an experience that has given her sympathy for the problems of struggling readers.

By the third grade she had conquered reading and spent much of her childhood either with books or on her way to and from the public library. Before long her school librarian was suggesting that she should write for boys and girls when she grew up. The idea appealed to her, and she decided that someday she would write the books she longed to read but was unable to find on the library shelves, funny stories about her neighborhood and the sort of children she knew. And so Ramona Quimby, Henry Huggins, Ellen Tebbits, and her other beloved characters were born.

When children ask Mrs. Cleary where she finds her ideas, she replies, “From my own experience and from the world around me.” She included a passage about the D.E.A.R. program in Ramona Quimby, Age 8 (second chapter) because she was inspired by letters she received from children who participated in “Drop Everything and Read” activities. Their interest and enthusiasm encouraged her to provide the same experience to Ramona, who enjoys D.E.A.R. time with the rest of her class.

Mrs. Cleary’s books have earned her many prestigious awards, including the 2003 National Medal of Art from the National Endowment of the Arts and the 1984 John Newbery Medal for Dear Mr. Henshaw. Her Ramona and Her Father and Ramona Quimby, Age 8 were named 1978 and 1982 Newbery Honor Books, respectively.

Among Mrs. Cleary’s other awards are the American Library Association’s 1975 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, the Catholic Library Association’s 1980 Regina Medal, and the University of Southern Mississippi’s 1982 Silver Medallion, all presented in recognition of her lasting contribution to children’s literature. In addition, Mrs. Cleary was the 1984 United States author nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award, a prestigious international award.

Equally important are the more than 35 statewide awards Mrs. Cleary’s books have received based on the direct votes of her young readers. In 2000, to honor her invaluable contributions to children’s literature, Beverly Cleary was named a “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress. This witty and warm author is truly an international favorite. Mrs. Cleary’s books appear in over twenty countries in fourteen languages and her characters, including Henry Huggins, Ellen Tebbits, Otis Spofford, and Beezus and Ramona Quimby, as well as Ribsy, Socks, and Ralph S. Mouse, have delighted children for generations. And her popularity has not diminished.

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April 12, 2016 marks the one hundredth birthday of children’s literature icon Beverly Cleary. To celebrate, the March/April 2016 issue of The Horn Book Magazine includes a series of tributes to the author and her work written by children’s book authors, illustrators, editors, and librarians whose lives and work were touched by Ms. Cleary.

Each week leading to The Big Day we’ll post an article or two about Cleary’s life and work. To start things off, here is Julie Roach, from the Cambridge (MA) Public Library talking about “Ramona in the 21st-Century Library” — including bonus Ramona-inspired tattoo!

Happy 100th Birthday, Beverly Cleary! For more, click the tag Beverly Cleary at 100 and read the March/April 2016 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.

The post Happy 100th Birthday, Beverly Cleary! appeared first on The Horn Book.

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“‘Oh, did people write that in those days, too?’ Beezus was surprised, because she had thought this was something very new to write in an autograph album…” (Beezus and Ramona)

Sometimes a book becomes quickly dated, and sometimes it easily crosses decades or generations. Beezus finds this is also true for autograph albums, and she makes an important parallel discovery that brings her much hope for the future: her mother and beloved aunt grew up to be close, though they fought as children as intensely as she and Ramona do. (Aunt Beatrice ruined Mother’s autograph album by signing every page!) It is okay not to love one’s little sister all the time. These days, autograph albums may be out of fashion, but the theme of sibling rivalry never goes out of style.

Beverly Cleary published Beezus and Ramona sixty-one years ago. At the Cambridge Public Library in Massachusetts, where I manage youth services and oversee youth collection development, I checked in on Ramona in the twenty-first century.

The city of Cambridge has a diverse population that truly supports and uses its public libraries. The Children’s Room in particular is a fantastic community gathering space where kids from all backgrounds come alone or with friends or family to read and make discoveries. For the past decade, our Children’s Room book circulation has grown significantly every year, and almost fifty percent of the total number of items goes out every month. We strive to have something for each reader, with multiple copies of the books that “everyone” is reading. We want all children to find books with characters and situations they can relate to and recognize as well as books with characters and situations unlike those they know. As much as possible, we want readers to be able to find both the book they came in for (even if it is very popular) along with the one they did not know they wanted.

How does Ramona fare in such an environment?

Each of our six branches owns copies of Beverly Cleary’s books, and the Main Library owns extra copies of each — ten copies of the most popular titles — and audio editions and some versions in other languages. Beverly Cleary’s books all circulate multiple times a year, with Ramona’s titles going out more than the others. The Ramona audiobooks, engagingly performed by Stockard Channing, circulate even better than the printed books. Twenty-first-century characters who are often compared to Ramona — such as Sara Pennypacker’s Clementine, Lenore Look’s Alvin Ho, and Megan McDonald’s Judy Moody and Stink — are in high demand at our library, but over the past year the print versions of Ramona held ten to twenty percent higher circulation figures than those other series.

Numbers can only tell so much, so I asked the parent/child book group I facilitate what they think. This group consists of about twenty people, ten kids between the ages of seven and ten and usually their ten grownups (although we can and do have kids who join solo). The group includes boys and girls from different schools and a wide range of backgrounds, and everyone — child and adult — reads and participates. Their varied takes on the books we read consistently blow my mind, and they are quite practiced at telling me how they really feel about what they are reading.

I let everyone know about the article I was writing and casually asked, “Have any of you ever read the Ramona books?”

All hands shot up and enthusiastic chatter erupted around the table.

When I asked if they remembered how they first discovered the Ramona books, I got an interesting assortment of answers. One girl’s mom read them to her. Another found out about them from a school friend.

One boy said, “My librarian at school gave me that book about Ralph. The mouse? And then I found the Ramona books next to it on the shelf. And I really liked those.”

While I was taking in this response, absorbing what insight it might offer about assumptions, shelf order, and readers’ advisory, another girl brought me back to the present in a pitying tone:

“There was the movie, you know…” [2010’s Ramona and Beezus]

Right.

“Well,” I told them, “Beverly Cleary, who wrote the Ramona books, is celebrating a big birthday this year. She’s going to be one hundred years old…”

Gasp.

“Is she still alive?!”

“Is she coming here!?!”

“Let’s have her come here!!!”

“She is very much alive! But she wrote the Ramona books a long time ago. I read them when I was your age. The first one was written in 1955…[dramatic pause] Do they seem old-fashioned to you?”

Silence and thinking and looking around at each other.

“Some things a little bit. But not the way she fights with her sister!” declared a boy, which inspired a lot of vocal solidarity from around the table.

“Ramona is funny,” smiled another girl.

The mom who had read the books aloud to her daughter interjected an important point: “Some of the details in the first ones are a bit dated now. But they were written over such a long period of time…The last ones weren’t written all that long ago.”

Though Ramona only ages about six years in those eight books, the series itself spans forty-four years, from 1955 to 1999.

“Are we going to read Ramona next?” another boy wanted to know.

Inspired by their enthusiasm, I re-read the series myself. I have often revisited my old friend Ramona, whom I first met when I was in second grade, thanks to my own school librarian. The Quimby family taught me, an only child like Beverly Cleary, the nuances of a sibling dynamic better than a graduate-level psychology class could. Even now, I continue to make new connections and discoveries when reading these books.

Through all these years, nothing much has changed about being little and not having much control. The issues Cleary addresses in her books are ones our children still deal with, and they can be scary and isolating. What if my family is keeping a secret from me? What if my family doesn’t have enough money? What if my dad loses his job? What if I don’t like my sibling? What if there is a new baby coming? What if my parents get divorced? What if my teacher doesn’t understand me? What if I do something cruel? What if someone does something cruel to me?

The plot points and details are honest and not sanitized for anyone’s benefit. Be it 1975 or 2016, sometimes a kid really does need to blow off steam by singing “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall” in its entirety as loudly as possible for all the neighbors to hear.

When Cleary’s characters experience fear, love, jealousy, boredom, anger, or worry, we all recognize those emotions. She brings them sharply into focus. They are emotions we have felt and will keep feeling, but maybe up until that moment, we thought we were the only ones. What a relief to share the burden. What a relief to find that even if things don’t turn out as planned, there is hope and probably a really good laugh to be had as well.

Why, thought Beezus, Aunt Beatrice used to be every bit as awful as Ramona. And yet look how nice she is now. Beezus could scarcely believe it. And now Mother and Aunt Beatrice, who had quarreled when they were girls, loved each other and thought the things they had done were funny! They actually laughed about it. Well, maybe when she was grown-up she would think it was funny that Ramona had put eggshells in one birthday cake and baked her rubber doll with another. Maybe she wouldn’t think Ramona was so exasperating, after all. Maybe that was just the way things were with sisters. (Beezus and Ramona)

Maybe, Beezus. Maybe.

Happy birthday, Beverly Cleary! We love you in Cambridge, Massachusetts. You have brought us so much laughter and confidence — as we have grown both as readers and as humans. You have made our many troubles easier to bear. You have connected us, generation to generation, family to family, by showing us what we have in common as people.

We hope you have the best birthday cake — free of eggshells and baked-in rubber dolls.

We all want autograph albums.

We want you to sign every page.

From the March/April 2016 issue of The Horn Book Magazine. Happy 100th Birthday, Beverly Cleary! For more, click the tag Beverly Cleary at 100.

The post Ramona in the 21st-Century Library appeared first on The Horn Book.

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Oh wait, wait, wait, am I cut off? So many other favorites!

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I received this note from a mother the other day:

My son, Joey, completed his reading project that I mentioned in an earlier e-mail.  He had to read three books from one author, provide summaries to the class, create a poster, and be the author for a class presentation.  This is a picture of him after the big event.  He read Bystander, The Fall
and Before you Go.  His classmates were very interested in the subject material.  They asked many questions after the presentation.

In any case, thought you might like to see the picture.  We were going to put facial hair on but the teacher did not allow make up.

Joey is looking forward to your new book, The Courage Test.

I keep imagining this dear, kind mother sitting at the kitchen table shaking her head, “Why, Joey? Why?”

There are, of course, copious tears.

There’s even a Youtube video of Joey, as James Preller, giving a brief presentation. It was a strange sensation for me, as if staring into a mirror and seeing a much improved version of my actual self. I liked that Joey wore the Mets hat, and it’s fairly remarkable that he came up with an Oneonta sweatshirt. It is too bad about the rule against facial hair. That would have nailed it.

Thank you, Joey. I’m grateful and a little shocked that you would pick me out of all the possibilities. Though I suppose I was a better choice for you than, say, Beverly Cleary. I just don’t see you in those glasses.

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In April of this year, Beverly Cleary will celebrate her 100th birthday. To honor the popular children’s books author, HarperCollins released new editions of three of her titles: Ramona Quimby, Age 8, The Mouse and The Motorcycle, and Henry Huggins.

According to a post on Cleary’s Facebook page, the publisher recruited three female writers to create new forewords: Amy Poehler, Judy Blume, and Kate DiCamillo. All of the books will also feature an exclusive interview with Cleary.

The publisher also has a new edition of Cleary’s memoir, A Girl From Yamhill, slated for release on Apr. 5. It was originally published in 1988. (via Entertainment Weekly)

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Allison Branscombe, author of All About China: Stories, Songs, Crafts and More for Kids, selected these five family favorites.

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It's one thing to read about censorship in a news article; it's another to become aware of the threat at a nearby library or school. For Banned Books Week this year, we reviewed hundreds of documented appeals to remove materials from a local public library, school library, or course curriculum. Below are 30 books that [...]

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Note: Join us this Thursday, August 27, at Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing for an author event with Christopher Moore. Describe your latest book. Secondhand Souls is the sequel to my bestselling novel A Dirty Job, which was about a single dad in San Francisco who gets the job of being Death and runs [...]

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Note: Join us at Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing on Wednesday, September 16, for an author event with Cara Nicoletti. As a kid, I read for two reasons: the first, and most common, was to escape from my everyday life by imagining a different one — to read about people and places that I [...]

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Ramona's World. Beverly Cleary. 1999. HarperCollins. 240 pages. [Source: Library]

Ramona's World is the last book in the series. Ramona is in fourth grade now. And she's definitely got a big crush on Yard Ape. (There's been no mention at all of Henry Huggins lately or of Mary Jane for that matter.)

"Ramona Spreads the News" Ramona starts fourth grade. She's anxious to spread the news that she's a big sister. Her baby sister, Roberta, is oh-so-cute and oh-so-little. Ramona meets the new girl, Daisy, and hopes that they can become BEST friends.

"The Role Model" Does Ramona like spelling? Does Ramona like teachers that emphasis how important spelling is? Does she like teachers that pick on and point out all her spelling mistakes word by word in front of the whole class? She does not! She is not liking her new teacher very much. But Roberta can make her day better. Roberta copies Ramona and sticks out her tongue and makes cute faces.

"At Daisy's House" Ramona and Daisy get to know each other better and decide to be best friends.

"The Invitation" Beezus has a new best friend, Abby. Abby is having a boy-girl party and invites Beezus, of course. Beezus is excited and anxious and sneaks out to get her ears pierced.

"The Princess and the Witch" Ramona gets into trouble at Daisy's house, but, it isn't her fault, not really.

"The Party" Beezus attends a party, and Ramona goes with her Dad to drop her off. Her Dad has been teaching Beezus how to dance. Does the party go well?

"The Grown-Up Letter" Ramona sends off a letter when she sees something that bothers her in the paper. She impresses her teacher when she gets a reply.

"Peas" Ramona's picture day

"Ramona Sits" Ramona cat-sits Daisy's cat. It is NOT a fun week. Seven days feels like forever. Especially when her Mom leaves her in charge of Roberta too--for a whole FIFTEEN MINUTES.

"The Valentine Box" Valentine's Day. Will she treasure Yard Ape's valentine?

"Birthday Girl" Ramona turns 10, has a party, shares her cake with boys, and learns something surprising about her old nemesis, Susan.

Part of me was sad to see an end to the series. I have loved visiting with Ramona so very much. The series did a good job at aging up the characters, however. Something that you can really appreciate better if you read the series all at once.

Do you have a favorite book in the series? Mine would probably be Ramona the Pest or Ramona the Brave or Ramona Quimby, Age 8.

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Ramona Forever. Beverly Cleary. 1984. HarperCollins. 208 pages. [Source: Library]

Ramona is growing up quickly--depending on your point of view. If you consider that she was four in 1955, and nine in 1984, then, her childhood is taking forever. But when you're happily rushing through the series, it feels like she's growing up so quickly. Ramona Forever is the seventh book in the series. Ramona is still in third grade, I believe.

"The Rich Uncle" Howie and Willa Jean have a rich uncle coming to stay with them. Will Ramona like Howie's uncle? He doesn't make the best first impression. He teases her about his name. He gives Howie and Willa Jean presents. Not that Ramona wanted a present. But. Since Mrs. Kemp BLAMES Ramona when Willa Jean breaks her present, she wishes that the Uncle had not come at all. Why is it HER FAULT?

"Ramona's Problem" Ramona tells her mother that she doesn't want to go to the Kemps anymore. She HATES going there after school, can't her and Beezus come home instead. They'll be really, really good and responsible...

"Being Good" How well are Ramona and Beezus getting along after school on their own?!

"Picky-Picky" Ramona and Beezus find Picky-Picky dead in the basement. Beezus suspects that their mom might be pregnant, and doesn't want to worry or upset her. They decide to bury the cat in their yard on their own.

"It" Beezus was right. Ramona is going to be a big sister. Their mom is going to have a baby in the summer. Is Ramona excited or not?!

"A Surprise, Sort Of" Aunt Beatrice has a big announcement. And why is she bringing Howie's Uncle to dinner?!

"The Chain of Command" Shopping for wedding clothes. Ramona is a thousand times more excited than Howie. Howie does not want to be a ring bearer.

"The Families Get Together" Wedding planning.

"Ramona Saves the Day" The wedding itself. Ramona, you guessed it, saves the day. This one has a very sitcom feel to it.

"Another Big Event" Is Ramona ready to be a big sister?!

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Ramona Quimby, Age 8. Beverly Cleary. 1981. HarperCollins. 208 pages. [Source: Library]

I really love the Ramona series, and, Ramona Quimby, Age 8 is one of my favorites. Ramona is in third grade in this book. Her father will be working part-time for the market and going to school again so he can be a teacher.

"The First Day of School" Ramona starts third grade, and meets a boy, Danny, she nicknames Yard Ape. Her teacher is Mrs. Whaley, and, like in previous books, it takes Ramona a while to decide if she likes her new teacher, and, if her new teacher actually likes her too. School can be so tricky!

"At Howie's House" Ramona loves Sustained Silent Reading at school, even though she doesn't like calling it D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything And Read). Can she use this trick at the Kemps house after school to avoid playing with Willa Jean? Perhaps. At least some of the time.

"The Hard-Boiled Egg Fad" Ramona regrets following a new fad when her mom grabs an egg from the wrong shelf to send in her lunch. The fad is hard-boiled eggs, and the raw egg makes a horrible mess. Ramona is angry and embarrassed.

"The Quimbys' Quarrel" Ramona and Beezus complain about eating TONGUE. And the parents decide to punish them.

"The Extra-good Sunday" Beezus and Ramona do not get out of their punishment: cooking a meal for the family. What do Ramona and Beezus know how to cook, or to cook well? It will be an experiment for sure.

"Supernuisance" Ramona gets sick at school and throws up in front of the class. She's so embarrassed.

"The Patient" Her mom stays home to take care of her when she's sick. Ramona gets a homework assignment: a book report.

"The Book Report" Ramona has to read The LEFT BEHIND CAT for a book report, but, she doesn't like it. How to make the review entertaining? How about doing her report like a commercial? This is a funny chapter!

"Rainy Sunday" The Quimbys turn a dismal day--everyone's a bit grumpy--around by going to Whopperburger. Ramona orders from the adult menu for the very first time.

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Ramona and Her Mother. Beverly Cleary. 1977. HarperCollins. 224 pages. [Source: Library]

Ramona and Her Mother is the fifth book in the Ramona series by Beverly Cleary. Ramona and Her Father ends with Christmas, Ramona and Her Mother opens with New Year. It's nice, for a change, to get the opportunity to spend a full year with Ramona and the rest of the Quimby family.

"A Present for Willa Jean" The Quimby family hosts a New Year's Day brunch for the neighborhood. While Beezus gets to help serve and host, Ramona's "job" is to entertain Willa Jean. Is Ramona happy about this? Not really! In case you don't remember, Willa Jean is far from Ramona's favorite person. Don't even dream of bringing up any similarities between Ramona and Willa Jean! In this chapter, Ramona gives Willa Jean a box of Kleenex for a present.

"Slacks for Ella Funt" What's the Quimby household like on a Saturday? Well, on this particular Saturday, it's an interesting one. Ramona wants to have a sewing project like Beezus and her mom. She decides that she will make her elephant a pair of pants. Does it go well? Not really. Could she have successfully made a skirt for her elephant? Most likely without any trouble. But stubborn Ramona wanted PANTS. When it doesn't end well, she gets upset, which leads to her doing something very naughty with a tube of toothpaste!

Nobody had to tell Ramona that life was full of disappointments. She already knew. She was disappointed almost every evening because she had to go to bed at eight-thirty and never got to see the end of the eight o'clock movie on television. She had seen many beginnings but no endings. And even though she had outgrown her tricycle, she was still disappointed because she never could find a tricycle license plate with her name printed on it. (40)

As Ramona sat on the hard edge of the tub, feeling sorry for herself and trying to sort out her thoughts, she noticed a brand-new red-white-and-blue tube of toothpaste lying beside the washbasin. How smooth and shiny it looked with only one little dent where someone had squeezed it once. That tube was as good as new, and it was the large economy size. Ramona was suddenly filled with longing. All her life she had wanted to squeeze toothpaste, really squeeze it, not just a little squirt on her toothbrush but a whole tube, a large economy size tube, all at one time just as she had longed to pull out a whole box of Kleenex. I'll give it one little squeeze, thought Ramona. Just one teeny squeeze to make me feel better. She seized the tube. (43)

"Nobody Likes Ramona" Ramona has a bad day at school, and a very bad day at the Kemps after school. Willa Jean won't let Howie and Ramona play checkers. And when Howie and Ramona try to play something else--a big accident happens.

"The Quarrel" The bad day continues for every single member of the Quimby family. It's a HORRIBLE night at home. Ramona and Beezus witness their parents fighting, and, it upsets both of them.

"The Great Hair Argument" Beezus is the star, of sorts, of this chapter. Beezus is getting to be "that age" and a bit difficult for her parents. In this chapter, Beezus is growing out her hair and refusing to let her mom cut it anymore. She wants a REAL hair cut in a real salon by a real stylist. She says all the girls in her class get real hair cuts. Reluctantly, Mrs. Quimby agrees, but, it will be a student stylist. Will Beezus like her new haircut?! Ramona also gets a new haircut in this one.

"Ramona's New Pajamas" Ramona loves, loves, loves her new pajamas. But is it a good idea to wear pajamas under your clothes and go to school?!

"The Telephone Call" Ramona has a fit--though she refrains from yelling guts, guts, guts--and decides to run away from home. Her mom "helps" her pack. Will Ramona really run away?!

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Happy birthday to a living legend.

In celebration of the day, here is a recap of all my posts about Saint of Yamhill from last year, when I re-read many of her books.

A Realization

Homesick for Klickitat Street and A postscript

Spunky Girls (Ramona), Ramona, Relatability, and Serendipity, Henry Huggins

Mr. Henshaw

 

Filed under: Miscellaneous Tagged: 99, beverly cleary, birthday

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Ramona and Her Father. Beverly Cleary. 1977. HarperCollins. 208 pages. [Source: Library]

Ramona and Her Father is the fourth book in the Ramona series. This wonderful, unforgettable series was written over five decades. The first book, Beezus and Ramona was published in 1955! The fourth book in the series was published in 1977! The last book in the series was published in 1999! Many changes occurred throughout the decades, yet, Ramona remains timeless and just-about-perfect.

In Ramona and Her Father, Ramona is in second grade. (Have you noticed how almost all the books start in the late summer or early fall?!) Ramona's worries in this book mainly relate to her father. He loses his job, and, she's worried about him. She's worried for the family too, in a way, but, she's worried about him specifically. How he's coping, how he's handling it. (Not that she uses those words.) She's also worried about his physical health. She's worried that he's killing himself by smoking. And this fear is very real and very strong. She LOVES her Dad and sincerely cares for him.

"Payday" The family learns that Mr. Quimby lost his job.
"Ramona and the Million Dollars" Ramona gets the idea that she can star in commercials and make a lot of money. It gets her into trouble!
"The Night of the Jack-O'Lantern. The family carves a pumpkin only to have the cat ruin it all.
"Ramona to the Rescue" Ramona and Beezus team up to try to convince their dad to stop smoking.
"Beezus's Creative Writing" Ramona accompanies Beezus on a homework assignment, and a new game is discovered.
"The Sheep Suit" Christmas is a coming. Ramona wants to be a sheep. She volunteers her mom to make her a costume. (At least she didn't volunteer her mom to make all three costumes! So it could always be worse!) But will her mom have time to make the costume?! It doesn't look like it! Will Ramona get to be a sheep?
"Ramona and the Three Wise Persons" Pageant night! Ramona may not be wearing a satisfactory costume, but, will she go on and participate anyway? Three older girls filling in for the wise men may help her out! The book which has had its serious moments ends on a joyful tone.

Do you have a favorite cover?

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Ramona the Brave. Beverly Cleary. 1975. HarperCollins. 208 pages. [Source: Library]

Ramona the Brave is the third book in the series. I love it. It has some GREAT moments.

"Trouble in the Park" Ramona can't understand why Beezus is angry with HER for standing up to the big, bad bullies at the park who were teasing her (Beezus). Ramona thought that she was loving her sister by speaking up, but, Beezus is too angry to explain. Readers also learn that Ramona and Howie LOVE to play BRICK FACTORY.

"Mrs. Quimby's Secret" Ramona and Beezus learn that they won't have to share a room together anymore. Their parents have decided to add a room to the house. Mrs. Quimby will WORK OUTSIDE THE HOME to help pay for it.

"The Hole in the House" This chapter has a perfect description of Brick Factory.

They were no longer six-year-olds. They were the strongest people in the world. They were giants. When the driveway was thick with red dust, Ramona dragged out the hose and pretended that a terrible flood was washing away the Brick Factory in a stream of red mud. "Run, Howie! Run before it gets you!" screamed Ramona. She was mighty Ramona, brave and strong. Howie's sneakers left red footprints, but he did not really run away. He only ran to the next driveway and back. Then the two began the game all over again.(38)

"The First Day of School" Ramona doesn't have the best first day experience. She wanted to love first grade as much as kindergarten. (Not that she always loved, loved kindergarten, mind you). She wanted to love her first grade teacher, Mrs. Griggs, as much as the wonderful Miss Binney. It doesn't happen. Sometimes teachers are like that, even Beezus can tell you that. Beezus LOVES her teacher. (Ramona ends up liking him too.)

"Owl Trouble" Poor Ramona! Susan and Ramona have ISSUES over their owls at art time. I feel for Ramona in this situation.

"Parents' Night" The owl-drama continues. And Ramona writes the sweetest heart-felt note to her mom. COME HERE MOTHER. COME HERE TO ME. This chapter is just one reason why I love, love, love Cleary's writing. She KNOWS what it feels like to be a kid.

"Alone in the Dark" Ramona doesn't like her new room. She finds it VERY SCARY. Poor Ramona is FRUSTRATED during the day at school, not liking her teacher and some of her classmates, and she's SCARED to be alone in her room at night. So she's not sleeping all that great either. I believe she mentions how as long as she hears her Dad moving about and knows that he's awake somewhere, it's not too bad, but, then when everyone is asleep but her, it's overwhelming.

"Ramona Says A Bad Word" I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this chapter. I do. Ramona's had a horrible time of it throughout the whole book, and, she's had enough of it. She breaks down. She lets loose. GUTS. GUTS. GUTS. GUTS. But why is everyone laughing at her?! She wasn't trying to be funny! She was doing some serious venting!!!

Then Ramona felt her mother's hand on her back. "Ramona," she said gently, "what are we going to do with you?" With red eyes, a swollen face, and a streaming nose, Ramona sat up and glared at her mother. "Love me!" Her voice was fierce with hurt. Shocked at her own words, she buried her face in the pillow. She had no tears left. "Dear heart," said Mrs. Quimby. "We do love you." Ramona sat up and faced her mother, who looked tired, as if she had been through many scenes with Ramona and knew many more lay ahead. "You do not. You love Beezus." There. She had said it right out loud. For years she had wanted to tell her parents how she felt. (140-1)

"Mr. Quimby's Spunky Gal" Ramona encounters a big, bad dog, loses a shoe, and gains a new friend. Ramona makes her own slipper--with a borrowed stapler from Beezus' teacher--and finally feels a little bit brave.

Do you have a favorite cover?

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Ramona the Pest. Beverly Cleary. 1968. HarperCollins. 208 pages. [Source: Library]

  Ramona the Pest is the first book in the series from Ramona's own point of view. At last readers get the chance to be inside Ramona's head after witnessing all her pesty ways in previous books. Ramona is in kindergarten. And Ramona's teacher isn't the only one who will find her unforgettable. In my review of Beezus and Ramona, I mentioned how Cleary greatest strength was her ability to capture what it was like to be a kid. That is very true in Ramona the Pest. The writing is PERFECT.

Ramona could not understand why grown-ups always talked about how quickly children grew up. Ramona thought growing up was the slowest thing there was, slower even than waiting for Christmas to come. She had been waiting years just to get to kindergarten, and the last half-hour was the slowest part of all.(7)

"Ramona's Great Day" Ramona's first day of morning kindergarten. Her teacher is Miss Binney. The days has its ups and downs. But Ramona by the end of the day feels good about this thing called school. But will it last?! This is the chapter where Ramona asks Miss Binney HOW DID MIKE MULLIGAN GO TO THE BATHROOM?!

"Boys and girls," she began, and spoke in her clear, distinct way. "The reason the book does not tell us how Mike Mulligan went to the bathroom is that it is not an important part of the story. The story is about digging the basement of the town hall, and that is what the book tells us." Miss Binney spoke as if this explanation ended the matter, but the kindergarten was not convinced. Ramona knew and the rest of the class knew that knowing how to go to the bathroom was important. They were surprised that Miss Binney did not understand, because she had shown them the bathroom the very first thing. Ramona could see there were some things she was not going to learn in school, and along with the rest of the class she stared reproachfully at Miss Binney. (20)

"Show and Tell" Howie and Ramona get into a fight over a ribbon. That's the short version. It's a ribbon that Miss Binney gave Howie for "Howie's bunny" that was really Ramona's bunny. You see, Howie's mom thought Howie was upset that he wasn't bringing anything for show and tell. And Ramona's mother made her go in the house to get something--anything--for Howie to take. She picked a rabbit that was mainly loved by their cat. Ramona thinks it should be HER ribbon because it was tied to her bunny. Howie likes it only because it came from the teacher. That and I think he likes to fight with Ramona. So if she didn't want it, would he?!

"Seatwork" Adventures and misadventures in the classroom. We get lovely descriptions of some of Ramona's classmates. There is Howie, of course, Davy, the boy she chases and tries to kiss, and Susan, her nemesis. This chapter, Ramona decides to go by Ramona Q and decorate the Q like a cat. I love this chapter because we get to overhear Miss Binney interacting with ALL the children.

"Substitute" Ramona is scared of the substitute teacher and doesn't want to be in kindergarten if Miss Binney is absent. She can't go home, or, her mother will know. So where will she go?!

"Ramona's Engagement Ring" This chapter is probably one of my FAVORITE chapters from the whole series. In this chapter, Ramona has issues with her boots. She doesn't want hand-me-down brown "boy" boots. She wants pretty RED boots that are obvious girl boots. She does get them eventually. But can she use them responsibly?! This is the chapter where Henry Huggins becomes Ramona's hero...much to Davy's relief. It has Ramona joyfully shouting that she WILL MARRY HENRY HUGGINS. She has a worm engagement ring and everything.

"The Baddest Witch in the World" The Halloween chapter. Ramona *wants* to be the baddest witch, but, she also wants to be herself. She doesn't want to be unknown. So what will she do when it's costume time?!

"The Day Things Went Wrong" Will Ramona be kicked out of kindergarten because she lacks self-control when it comes to touching or pulling Susan's curly hair?! This one has plenty of drama, including a lost tooth which she leaves at school accidentally.

"Kindergarten Dropout" Ramona still persists that she won't go back to school. Is there anything to be done?!

Ramona despaired. Nobody understood. She wanted to behave herself. Except when banging her heels on the bedroom wall, she had always wanted to behave herself. Why couldn't people understood how she felt? She had only touched Susan's hair in the first place because it was so beautiful, and the last time--well, Susan had been so bossy she deserved to have her hair pulled. (202)

It was a joy to read Ramona the Pest again. 

Do you have a favorite cover?

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Beezus and Ramona. Beverly Cleary. 1955. HarperCollins. 208 pages. [Source: Library]

Unlike other books in the Ramona series, this one is narrated by Beezus. Like all other books in the Ramona series, it has a just-right feel about it. Beverly Cleary's greatest talent may be in her capturing what it feels like to be a kid.

Beezus, as you probably know, is Ramona's big sister. Ramona does steal the show in almost every book in which she appears. There's something unforgettable about her. But though the focus is on Ramona, this is still very much Beezus' book. It captures how she feels about her family, about Ramona.

"Beezus and Her Little Sister." Ramona LOVES, LOVES, LOVES to have The Littlest Steam Shovel read to her. Her parents are unwilling to read it to her--they have come to have no tolerance for it. But Beezus, well, she'll read it to Ramona, not that she likes it, but, she'll give in now and then. She gets the idea to take Ramona to the library to get a brand new book--for two weeks. Ramona picks a new book, but, it is still about steam shovels. She likes it so much, that she does something NAUGHTY so she can keep it for always. What will Beezus do since it was checked out on her card? Just how sympathetic will the librarian be?

"Beezus and Her Imagination" Beezus is in an art class. Ramona isn't supposed to be in the class with her, she's supposed to be playing outside in the sandbox. But on this occasion, Beezus finds Ramona in class with her. Could she get inspired by her sister's imaginary pet?! Could she earn her teacher's attention?!

"Ramona and Ribsy" Beezus invites Henry Huggins (and his dog, Ribsy) to her house to play checkers. It doesn't go well. Both Ribsy and Ramona have fits of sorts. And Ribsy ends up locked in the bathroom?! Beezus wishes Ramona was more like other people's sisters.

"Ramona and the Apples" Beezus is supposed to be watching Ramona while their mother does the grocery shopping. But. Ramona proves too much to handle. She sneaks into the basement and has her way with all the apples...taking one bite and just one bite from each apple. Will Beezus get in trouble? Can anything good come from all those ruined apples?

"A Party at the Quimbys" Ramona decides to have a party and invite other kids over to the house--without permission of course. What will Beezus and their mother do? This one ends in a parade. Among the guests, Howie and Willa Jean.

"Beezus's Birthday" Will Beezus have a cake for her tenth birthday?! It might not be as easy as you might think. Not with Ramona around. But with a little help from Aunt Beatrice, all might be well after all. Hint: If you have a sister like Ramona, don't read the story of Hansel and Gretel to her when your cake is in the oven!

I love the Ramona series. I do. I love, love, love the Ramona books. I think I read them dozens of more times than the Little House books. (I've recently reread these too.) I'm not sure Beezus and Ramona is my favorite of the series, but, it's a great start to a great series.

Do you have a favorite cover?

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Henry and Beezus. Beverly Cleary. 1952. HarperCollins. 224 pages. [Source: Library]

I definitely enjoyed rereading Henry and Beezus. Unlike the Ramona series, I've only read the Henry Huggins books once or twice. Henry Huggins, our hero, really, really wants a bicycle. His parents can't afford to give him one, and, he doesn't expect it of them. He doesn't feel entitled to it. If only there was a way to earn enough money to buy it himself.

"Henry and The Roast." Readers meet Henry and Ribsy, learn of his great desire for a bicycle, and witness Ribsy steal a roast from the neighbor's barbecue. Readers also meet Henry's nemesis: Scooter, a boy with a bicycle and a paper route. A boy who happens along just in time to "save the day" or save the roast and save Ribsy from a dog fight.

"Henry Gets Rich." Henry discovers abandoned boxes of gumballs. He needs Beezus' red wagon to carry them back home. But borrowing the wagon means getting Beezus and Ramona to tag along with him.

"Ramona," coaxed Beezus, "can't you play that game some other time?"
"What game?" asked Henry. He couldn't see that Ramona was playing any game.
"She's playing she's waiting for a bus," explained Beezus.
Henry groaned. It was the dumbest game he had ever heard of. "Doesn't she know it isn't any fun just to sit on a box?" he asked, looking nervously up and down the street. If only he could be sure no one else had discovered his gum!
"Sh-h," whispered Beezus. "She thinks it's fun and I don't want her to find out it isn't. It keeps her quiet." Then she said to her little sister, "If you get in the wagon, Henry and I'll pull you and you can pretend you're riding on the bus." (40)

Henry thinks the gum a great discovery. He can even sell it to all his friends and classmates. He can make some money for his bike fund. But the teachers aren't happy about all the gum. (Neither are the janitors). And he finds it increasingly hard to sell gum after the first day or two. Maybe the gum wasn't such a wonderful discovery after all.

"The Untraining of Ribsy" Henry has the opportunity to take over Scooter's paper route for a week. A dollar will help his bike fund that's for sure. But can he stop Ribsy from "stealing" papers on the route? Beezus and Ramona make an appearance in this chapter as well. In fact, it is Ramona who accidentally provides a solution.

"Henry Parks His Dog" and "Beezus Makes A Bid" Henry, Beezus, and Ramona go to a police auction. Henry's trying to buy a bicycle at the auction with his $4.04. (He had to spend a dime to buy Ramona a snack. He didn't want to stop at the store and "park his dog" outside, but, he had to do something to get Ramona to behave.) Will he get a good deal? Or will all the kids tease him?

"The Boy Who Ate Dog Food" Everyone is excited about the grand opening of Colossal Market. There will be prizes and free samples. Henry and his parents go. As do Beezus and her family, I believe. (I think all the neighbors go.) Henry is lucky and unlucky. He wins something. But the prize, at first, feels very unlucky. He won $50 of work at a BEAUTY SALON. He doesn't need manicures, waves, and facials. Everyone is laughing. Which leads him to accept a dare to eat dog food. But then he realizes that he can SELL his prize and get the money for what he wants most...


© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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