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Ramona Quimby #4
Ramona and Her Father
This is the fourth title in the hugely popular series about Ramona Quimby. Ramona's father has lost his job and all the family are miserable - so Ramona decides to try and cheer them up, in her own inimitable way.
160 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1977
473 people are currently reading
4719 people want to read
About the author
Beverly Cleary
274 books3,327 followersBeverly Atlee Cleary was an American writer of children's and young adult fiction. One of America's most successful authors, 91 million copies of her books have been sold worldwide since her first book was published in 1950. Some of her best known characters are Ramona Quimby and Beezus Quimby, Henry Huggins and his dog Ribsy, and Ralph S. Mouse.
The majority of Cleary's books are set in the Grant Park neighborhood of northeast Portland, Oregon, where she was raised, and she has been credited as one of the first authors of children's literature to figure emotional realism in the narratives of her characters, often children in middle-class families. Her first children's book was Henry Huggins after a question from a kid when Cleary was a librarian. Cleary won the 1981 National Book Award for Ramona and Her Mother and the 1984 Newbery Medal for Dear Mr. Henshaw. For her lifetime contributions to American literature, she received the National Medal of Arts, recognition as a Library of Congress Living Legend, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal from the Association for Library Service to Children. The Beverly Cleary School, a public school in Portland, was named after her, and several statues of her most famous characters were erected in Grant Park in 1995. Cleary died on March 25, 2021, at the age of 104.
The majority of Cleary's books are set in the Grant Park neighborhood of northeast Portland, Oregon, where she was raised, and she has been credited as one of the first authors of children's literature to figure emotional realism in the narratives of her characters, often children in middle-class families. Her first children's book was Henry Huggins after a question from a kid when Cleary was a librarian. Cleary won the 1981 National Book Award for Ramona and Her Mother and the 1984 Newbery Medal for Dear Mr. Henshaw. For her lifetime contributions to American literature, she received the National Medal of Arts, recognition as a Library of Congress Living Legend, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal from the Association for Library Service to Children. The Beverly Cleary School, a public school in Portland, was named after her, and several statues of her most famous characters were erected in Grant Park in 1995. Cleary died on March 25, 2021, at the age of 104.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,029 reviews
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April 30, 2021Read in honor of the late Beverly Cleary! So, so, so good. This novel is notable because it deals with Ramona's father losing his job.
August 10, 2008
Oh! I had hoped that this book would be as fun and lovely as I remembered. When I received it in my sweaty hands, I said, "Oh my. I remember this book as a lot thicker." But you know what? It was fun and lovely and nostalgic. I read it in one day, on two bus trips to work and back. Who can forget Nosmo King? And the crown of burrs? And Ramona wanting to be on television commercials so she can earn a million dollars and her father and family can be happy again? And the bittersweet Christmas ending, where Ramona, in her pajama-ed sheep costume, bleats loud and proud? I often hesitate to read books that I absolutely loved as a child, but this (and Ramona and Her Mother) absolutely did not disappoint. If you need a shot of nostalgia for your childhood, and need to know that everything will work out in the end, read this book. *I do suggest finding an edition illustrated by Alan Tiegreen, from the original publications in the 80s. These are the only Ramona illustrations that will suffice.*
June 6, 2021
While I have generally very much enjoyed Ramona and her Father and think that author Beverly Clearly has painted and portrayed not only an enjoyably humorous, but also very much realistic portrait of middle class American childhood (not dwelling on the negatives, but at the same time, also not shying away from potential problems and issues, such as the trials and tribulations faced by the Quimby family when the father loses his job), I do tend to feel that the ending of Ramona and Her Father is a bit rushed and incomplete (since to and for me, Cleary simply stopping the novel with Ramona's sheep performance has left me, and potentially also leaves readers, rather hanging a bit). Now the rather abrupt and rushed ending does really make me want to read the rest of the Ramona series, so perhaps this is actually an interesting and cleverly deliberate narrative tool. But that being said, if I had actually read Ramona and her Father when I was a child, when it first came out in 1977 (which I did not, as I unfortunately only really discovered Beverly Cleary’s children’s novels as an older adult reader), I would more than likely have been rather majorly annoyed at and frustrated by the abrupt and unfinished cliffhanger type of ending, and especially at probably having to wait before the next book about Ramona Quimby and her family was published (I am not the most patient person, never have been, never will be, and have also never enjoyed open ended stories all that much either, both then and now).
Now what I actually do find really and personally very sadly and massively problematic and infuriating with regard to some of the online musings about Ramona and her Father I have read, is the unfortunate fact that more than a few reviewers actually seem to be majorly faulting and even condemning that smoking is featured and depicted in Ramona and her Father. Yes, I do know and yes appreciate that everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. However, Ramona and Her Father was written at a time when smoking (in 1977) was not yet seen either as all that generally negative or even as a probably lethal habit. Secondly, and for me even more importantly, smoking is actually NOT AT ALL glamourized by Beverly Cleary in Ramona and her Father. For it is soundly and continuously criticised (as unhealthy, too expensive, that it can start fires and so and so on and so on) and both Beezus and Ramona are indeed constantly at their father to quit smoking. And therefore, I personally really do NOT understand the negativity in the reviews that take issue with the fact that smoking is featured (for if in Ramona and Her Father smoking were portrayed as something glamorous and grown up, then perhaps I could more understand the negativity, but that is not ever the case in Ramona and her Father, since smoking is continuously shown and portrayed as a bad, unhealthy and potentially dangerous habit, as well as very expensive, especially considering that Ramona's father has just lost his job). And indeed, the only very minor annoyance for me is that when Beezus and Ramona talk back to their father, solidly and uncompromisingly take their father to task with regard to his smoking in Ramona and her Father, the mother does not interfere when he verbally chastises and rather viciously berates his daughters (yes, Mr. Quimby does later admit to Ramona that she is right about how his smoking is a bad and unhealthy habit, but in my humble opinion, the mother really should have defended her daughters, and not just remained silent, and with that silence, also quite enabling and condoning).
Now what I actually do find really and personally very sadly and massively problematic and infuriating with regard to some of the online musings about Ramona and her Father I have read, is the unfortunate fact that more than a few reviewers actually seem to be majorly faulting and even condemning that smoking is featured and depicted in Ramona and her Father. Yes, I do know and yes appreciate that everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. However, Ramona and Her Father was written at a time when smoking (in 1977) was not yet seen either as all that generally negative or even as a probably lethal habit. Secondly, and for me even more importantly, smoking is actually NOT AT ALL glamourized by Beverly Cleary in Ramona and her Father. For it is soundly and continuously criticised (as unhealthy, too expensive, that it can start fires and so and so on and so on) and both Beezus and Ramona are indeed constantly at their father to quit smoking. And therefore, I personally really do NOT understand the negativity in the reviews that take issue with the fact that smoking is featured (for if in Ramona and Her Father smoking were portrayed as something glamorous and grown up, then perhaps I could more understand the negativity, but that is not ever the case in Ramona and her Father, since smoking is continuously shown and portrayed as a bad, unhealthy and potentially dangerous habit, as well as very expensive, especially considering that Ramona's father has just lost his job). And indeed, the only very minor annoyance for me is that when Beezus and Ramona talk back to their father, solidly and uncompromisingly take their father to task with regard to his smoking in Ramona and her Father, the mother does not interfere when he verbally chastises and rather viciously berates his daughters (yes, Mr. Quimby does later admit to Ramona that she is right about how his smoking is a bad and unhealthy habit, but in my humble opinion, the mother really should have defended her daughters, and not just remained silent, and with that silence, also quite enabling and condoning).
November 6, 2019
Ramona was filled with joy. Christmas was the most beautiful, magic time of the whole year. Her parents loved her, and she loved them, and Beezus, too. At home there was a Christmas tree and under it, presents, fewer than at last Christmases, but presents all the same. Ramona could not contain her feelings. “B-a-a,” she bleated joyfully.
She felt the nudge of a shepherd’s crook on the seat of her costume and heard her shepherd whisper through clenched teeth, “You be quiet!”
In this fourth book in the Ramona Quimby series, Ramona is starting second grade and Beezus is in seventh. Fictional children. They grow up so fast!
The world Beverly Cleary has created is a sweet, cozy one, but she still deals with serious issues in her thoughtful way. In this book, Ramona’s father loses his job and is unemployed for months. This puts not only a financial strain on the family, it creates some tension between Ramona and her father, the parent she’s always bonded with best. As Christmas approaches (and Beezus, of all people, is picked to be Mary in the church pageant), will the family have a happy holiday?
Cleary has two important running themes through this series. One is that when someone is angry or upset with you, it doesn’t mean they hate you or will be angry forever. And the other is Ramona’s keen sense of justice. As a rambunctious and imaginative child, Ramona can’t help but cross the line sometimes. But she also gets scolded for honest misunderstandings and blamed for things that are not her fault. Cleary’s books are just SO good at empathetically capturing that frustration.
(And there are also plenty of other times, it should be said, when Ramona’s parents and teachers go out of their way to be understanding.)
I also need to mention how much Tracy Dockray’s sweetly funny illustrations add to the story:
I have two trivia items to end on. This book was first published in 1977, when I was only a year older than Ramona is here. And second, these books have always been vague about where they take place and I’ve always wondered if they were set in Cleary’s native Oregon. In this book, that was finally confirmed when Ramona and her dad discuss taking the Interstate Bridge that connects Portland to Vancouver.
She felt the nudge of a shepherd’s crook on the seat of her costume and heard her shepherd whisper through clenched teeth, “You be quiet!”
In this fourth book in the Ramona Quimby series, Ramona is starting second grade and Beezus is in seventh. Fictional children. They grow up so fast!
The world Beverly Cleary has created is a sweet, cozy one, but she still deals with serious issues in her thoughtful way. In this book, Ramona’s father loses his job and is unemployed for months. This puts not only a financial strain on the family, it creates some tension between Ramona and her father, the parent she’s always bonded with best. As Christmas approaches (and Beezus, of all people, is picked to be Mary in the church pageant), will the family have a happy holiday?
Cleary has two important running themes through this series. One is that when someone is angry or upset with you, it doesn’t mean they hate you or will be angry forever. And the other is Ramona’s keen sense of justice. As a rambunctious and imaginative child, Ramona can’t help but cross the line sometimes. But she also gets scolded for honest misunderstandings and blamed for things that are not her fault. Cleary’s books are just SO good at empathetically capturing that frustration.
(And there are also plenty of other times, it should be said, when Ramona’s parents and teachers go out of their way to be understanding.)
I also need to mention how much Tracy Dockray’s sweetly funny illustrations add to the story:
I have two trivia items to end on. This book was first published in 1977, when I was only a year older than Ramona is here. And second, these books have always been vague about where they take place and I’ve always wondered if they were set in Cleary’s native Oregon. In this book, that was finally confirmed when Ramona and her dad discuss taking the Interstate Bridge that connects Portland to Vancouver.
August 29, 2016
اين كتاب تو را با خودش به سادگي و شفافيت دنياي كودكي مي برد.....
June 17, 2019
This lady is a genius. That she can write compellingly about sad, virtually incomprehensible things to children, like unemployment, depression and addiction and make it totally appropriate and comprehensible for my third and fifth grader is TOTALLY AMAZING. And what's more, you don't feel like jumping off a bridge at the end because she offers you hope and faith, without being cheesy or preachy. My kidlets who have the attention span of a dog spotting a squirrel were both just in awe, quiet, wide-eyed and hanging on my every word as I read them chapter after chapter. They didn't ask for their ipad at the end, they asked if there were more Ramona books I could read them!
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October 11, 2019Bedtime stories with my kiddos = reliving my childhood. I love Ramona's spunk. I learned about things like Sunday school. But I'm also discovering why I was so hungry for representation in children's books.
As a writer, I strive to tell the story that hasn't yet been told and hope it makes a reader feel heard and seen.
As a writer, I strive to tell the story that hasn't yet been told and hope it makes a reader feel heard and seen.
June 3, 2020
اولین تجربهی آشنایی با رامونا -در دههی سوم زندگی- بسیار دلپذیر و بامزه بود. اونقدری که ترغیب شم بقیهی داستانهاش رو هم بخونم (خیلی برا خودم جالبه که وقتی بچه بودم هیشکدوم ازین کتابا رو نخوندم. احتمالن چون همش مشغول دانستنیهای علمی و علوم ترسناک و دایناسورها و پیشرفت دانش پزشکی بودم).
تنها نکتهای که برام کمی ناخوشایند بود (یا دستکم توقعاتم رو برآورده نکرد) این بود که نویسنده صرفن در جهت بازنمایی طبقهی متوسط/ متوسط رو به پایین آمریکایی براومده. بدون کوششی برای دست بردن در واقعیت یا شگفتزدهکردن مخاطب. همون شیفتگیهای آمریکایی نسبت به مناسک مذهبی کریسمس و تولد مسیح، شامخوردن تو رستوران، همون نقشهای تثبیتشده برای پدر و مادر خانواده و ... . فیالمثل مادر رامونا همسر و مادری مهربان و فداکاره که شیفتای طولانی کار می کنه. درعینحال حواسش هست که برای خانواده غذا و دسر بپزه، لباس تئاتر رامونا رو آماده کنه، براش کفش بخره و در مقابل انتقادهایی که دخترا به سیگارکشیدن باباشون وارد میکنن هم فقط تماشاچیه.
تنها نکتهای که برام کمی ناخوشایند بود (یا دستکم توقعاتم رو برآورده نکرد) این بود که نویسنده صرفن در جهت بازنمایی طبقهی متوسط/ متوسط رو به پایین آمریکایی براومده. بدون کوششی برای دست بردن در واقعیت یا شگفتزدهکردن مخاطب. همون شیفتگیهای آمریکایی نسبت به مناسک مذهبی کریسمس و تولد مسیح، شامخوردن تو رستوران، همون نقشهای تثبیتشده برای پدر و مادر خانواده و ... . فیالمثل مادر رامونا همسر و مادری مهربان و فداکاره که شیفتای طولانی کار می کنه. درعینحال حواسش هست که برای خانواده غذا و دسر بپزه، لباس تئاتر رامونا رو آماده کنه، براش کفش بخره و در مقابل انتقادهایی که دخترا به سیگارکشیدن باباشون وارد میکنن هم فقط تماشاچیه.
July 12, 2021
My girls and I continue to enjoy the Ramona series. Very interesting to read a book set in this time period, which focused a lot on smoking (and Ramona's dad quitting). Highlights for the kids included the tin can stilts, which they couldn't quite fathom, but loved the idea nonetheless. Ramona, Howie, and Picky-Picky remain favorites. Lots of good lessons here, including Mr. Quimby losing his job and how that impacted the family finances. No matter what, the essence of Ramona as a little girl remains, which is why these books continue to hold my girls' interest.
May 25, 2021
ادبیات کودک به نظرم چیزیه که میشه وقتی بی حوصله شدیو از چیزای جدی خسته بری سراغش :) و همیشه آرامش بخشه برام...
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July 19, 2017Still holds up really well -- especially about the tightening of budgets and giving up of frills when a job loss happens. I love how squarely lower middle class the family is. Dad's new job is bagging groceries, while mom works at a doctor's office as a secretary. Going out for dinner is a huge deal to them. And the entire subplot with dad giving up smoking is a thing that I remember reading as a kid, and now, as an adult, can't really recall in books I've read for young readers in years.
I think the thing I'm loving most so far: Ramona's parents treat her like she's not a baby. They're fair with her, and they're trying to make her not give up what it is that makes her who she is, but they're also not bending to her very strong will.
I think the thing I'm loving most so far: Ramona's parents treat her like she's not a baby. They're fair with her, and they're trying to make her not give up what it is that makes her who she is, but they're also not bending to her very strong will.
June 20, 2019
A parent losing a job is never an easy thing to deal with, but if you've read the series so far, you will know that Ramona despite her imperfections, tries to help and cheer people up, and it's hard to hate her for that even if she does become an annoyance sometimes. Ramona has matured nicely since the first book, but maintains her childish perspective as she is still what, 7 or 8 years old in this book?
January 31, 2019
I have always loved the fourth book in this series. Ramona And Her Father.
It begins with her father losing his job. Everything changes for the Quimby's. Suddenly her mother is working full time, and her father is taking care of the house, while looking for a job.
I loved how Ramona repeated commercials with kid's in them, hoping she could learn to be on tv, so she could make money for the family.
My favorite part is Ramona campaign to get her father to stop smoking.
This is a wonderful next chapter in the tale of Ramona Quimby growing up.
It begins with her father losing his job. Everything changes for the Quimby's. Suddenly her mother is working full time, and her father is taking care of the house, while looking for a job.
I loved how Ramona repeated commercials with kid's in them, hoping she could learn to be on tv, so she could make money for the family.
My favorite part is Ramona campaign to get her father to stop smoking.
This is a wonderful next chapter in the tale of Ramona Quimby growing up.
October 18, 2022
Ramona, who longs for a hamburger at Whattaburger and to cozy up in a booth with her parents where she feels safe and warm; Ramona, who learns to tie tin cans to her feet and walk as if on stilts, banging around the neighborhood singing "99 bottles of beer"; Ramona, who desperately wants her father to quit smoking and feels like the only happy person in her family after her father loses his job and her mother takes on a more demanding position; Ramona, who volunteers to be a lamb in the church nativity but has to wear bunny pajamas because they don't have money to make a new costume and feels sad about it.
Just one of the most endearing, classic, child characters ever created in fiction. Beverly Cleary is a national treasure for a reason.
Just one of the most endearing, classic, child characters ever created in fiction. Beverly Cleary is a national treasure for a reason.
April 11, 2020
I am really enjoying these stories. Though this instalment has lots of funny moments, there are a few more mature aspects to this story: the girls’ father loses his job, and the whole family has to tighten their belts with only their mother’s salary to keep things going. And, Beezus and Ramona have to convince their father to stop smoking. Ramona is her usual dramatic self, and she’s beginning to think about more serious things. Cleary handles this growing maturity nicely.
July 27, 2020
I'm not sure whether it was reading Ramona that unconsciously inspired me to repeat almost all of her mistakes, or it was my being reckless that made me love Ramona so much. Either way, I loved this book, and still do.
December 12, 2024
A charming little slice-of-life tale of a little girl in second grade dealing with the little dramas of family life between Halloween and Christmas. One parent loses a job and tries to quit smoking while the other becomes less available due to longer work hours.
Cute.
Cute.
November 19, 2012
Came across my 2003 school reading log, so figured I should enter these books in too. In the words of my ten-year-old self, this book was: "Really good, pretty easy"
March 16, 2017
Ramona is really the sweetest. I mean, don't get me wrong ... she's a pain, too! ... but she's also a sweetheart. :)
October 14, 2019
Fun series I’m reading with my Granddaughter. Beverly Cleary is the best!
May 9, 2024
Ramona’s dad has lost his job and so much of the book centers around that and its repercussions. She’s also trying to get her dad to quit smoking. It’s all quite serious for a Ramona book, actually, but really well done at a kids level.
August 8, 2020
I'm surprised every time I read a Beverly Cleary book how everyday almost mundane events can be told in such a manner that kids can't wait to hear about them. I would never have imagined that Ramona would interest Squirt, but here we are 3 books into the series (not that we've read them in order), and he still wants more - good thing we have the box set. I also like how un-PC they are. In this one, Ramona tries to get her father to stop smoking, and I realized that this was the first kid's book that we've read that had smoking in the story - Squirt had questions about it, and we had a good conversation as a result. Mostly, though, he now wants to make stilts out of coffee cans.
January 28, 2015
"Having a sister who tried to act like the Virgin Mary was not easy for a girl who felt as Ramona did."
Reread for VSC.
03-15-2008
"Ramona made up her mind, right then and there in the middle of arithmetic, that she was going to save her father's life."
Ramona, c'est moi. I first read this in 1980, maybe 1981, and should have been awestruck that Cleary had put pen to paper and come up with me. How did she know my 7-year-old self so well? But no, I took Ramona for granted and just read this one over and over again. Cleary was realistic but reassuring, and she captured Ramona's emotions with simple but resonant words. I made tin-can stilts just like Ramona's, but never made the longest picture in the world.
Reread for VSC.
03-15-2008
"Ramona made up her mind, right then and there in the middle of arithmetic, that she was going to save her father's life."
Ramona, c'est moi. I first read this in 1980, maybe 1981, and should have been awestruck that Cleary had put pen to paper and come up with me. How did she know my 7-year-old self so well? But no, I took Ramona for granted and just read this one over and over again. Cleary was realistic but reassuring, and she captured Ramona's emotions with simple but resonant words. I made tin-can stilts just like Ramona's, but never made the longest picture in the world.
January 28, 2022
heartwarming, and a Christmas story to boot.
April 24, 2017
Nostalgia isn't what it used to be, sure, but re-reading Cleary (sadly, probably for the last time since the grandchildren will probably have amorphic and ghastly "sense-lit-creme" that they rub onto the plugnubs under their jaws, absorbing the classics without ever having to shift their obese, glassy stare from the orange bawling dia-tribals of Emperor Trump (Rectified)), sure makes one miss one's childhood.
Ramona, who'd probably be diagnosed ADD and on a slew of medications by age seven, should be canonized as some sort of saint for a religion of children. I swear by her ruthless silliness.
Ramona, who has probably never heard of a school shooting, drones, or Youtube, lives life like a hatchet. Her dad loses his job and the family falls into crisis. Undeterred, she strives forth weathering shitty Christmas pageant costumes and her father's future lung cancer to enjoy the hell out of life. She forces her father into quitting smoking by abject harassment and goes (alone!) with her sister to some pantsuit wearing old lady's house to interview her for school.
Pre- terms like "helicopter parents", you can't help but love this and wonder what the hell happened to being a kid.
Ramona, who'd probably be diagnosed ADD and on a slew of medications by age seven, should be canonized as some sort of saint for a religion of children. I swear by her ruthless silliness.
Ramona, who has probably never heard of a school shooting, drones, or Youtube, lives life like a hatchet. Her dad loses his job and the family falls into crisis. Undeterred, she strives forth weathering shitty Christmas pageant costumes and her father's future lung cancer to enjoy the hell out of life. She forces her father into quitting smoking by abject harassment and goes (alone!) with her sister to some pantsuit wearing old lady's house to interview her for school.
Pre- terms like "helicopter parents", you can't help but love this and wonder what the hell happened to being a kid.
December 16, 2024
Not one of the best in the Ramona series, but a delightful entry nonetheless. Beverly Cleary never disappoints.
April 5, 2022
My family's favorite of the Ramona books.
May 16, 2013
We started reading the series of books starring Ramona Quimby, Beezus, Henry and their friends a few years ago, but we never made too much progress. We intended to read more, but we always chose something else.
Our youngest was given the book Ramona the Pest (Ramona Quimby to read by her second grade teacher to practice her reading comprehension and I thought we'd give the series another try. We recently listened to Ramona and Her Mother
This book brings a sense of nostalgia to me, a reminder of my childhood. Although these were written more than thirty years ago, they are still fun and great for children. It's refreshing to see that as time passes, some things still stay the same.
I like the Ramona's sincerity and the fact that she experiences real emotions. She gets angry at times, but she is also joyous, fearful and proud. She is jealous of her older sister, but loves her and looks up to her as well. She worries about her parents and wants her father to quit smoking so he won't get sick and die.
Children can empathize with her emotions, her wants and her fears. I think that's why these books are so enduring - it's because they feel so real. We really enjoyed reading this book together.
Our youngest was given the book Ramona the Pest (Ramona Quimby to read by her second grade teacher to practice her reading comprehension and I thought we'd give the series another try. We recently listened to Ramona and Her Mother
This book brings a sense of nostalgia to me, a reminder of my childhood. Although these were written more than thirty years ago, they are still fun and great for children. It's refreshing to see that as time passes, some things still stay the same.
I like the Ramona's sincerity and the fact that she experiences real emotions. She gets angry at times, but she is also joyous, fearful and proud. She is jealous of her older sister, but loves her and looks up to her as well. She worries about her parents and wants her father to quit smoking so he won't get sick and die.
Children can empathize with her emotions, her wants and her fears. I think that's why these books are so enduring - it's because they feel so real. We really enjoyed reading this book together.
April 28, 2015
"You know something?" said Mr. Quimby. "I don't care how much that kid or any other kid earns. I wouldn't trade you for a million dollars."
...
Mr. Quimby continued his careful snipping. "I'll bet that boy's father wishes he had a little girl who finger-painted and wiped her hands on the cat when she was little and who once cut her own hair so she would be bald like her uncle and who then grew up to be seven years old and crowned herself with burs. Not every father is lucky enough to have a daughter like that."
Read it on my lunch break because when I was little I loooooved Ramona and identified with her much more than any other literary character (I didn't meet Anne with an -E until a few years past Ramona). In this book we get her father unemployed and at home while the mom works, we got strained finances, we get worries, we get leftovers, we get Ramona picking up on all that. But we also get a father who will color with her in the afternoon, she and Beezus doing the anti-smoking campaign, and the sheep costume situation in the Christmas pageant. Clearly writes children really well and in my re-read I can still see glimmers of my young self in Ramona. Still liked it. Solid 4 stars.
...
Mr. Quimby continued his careful snipping. "I'll bet that boy's father wishes he had a little girl who finger-painted and wiped her hands on the cat when she was little and who once cut her own hair so she would be bald like her uncle and who then grew up to be seven years old and crowned herself with burs. Not every father is lucky enough to have a daughter like that."
Read it on my lunch break because when I was little I loooooved Ramona and identified with her much more than any other literary character (I didn't meet Anne with an -E until a few years past Ramona). In this book we get her father unemployed and at home while the mom works, we got strained finances, we get worries, we get leftovers, we get Ramona picking up on all that. But we also get a father who will color with her in the afternoon, she and Beezus doing the anti-smoking campaign, and the sheep costume situation in the Christmas pageant. Clearly writes children really well and in my re-read I can still see glimmers of my young self in Ramona. Still liked it. Solid 4 stars.
July 2, 2020
In honor of Ms Cleary's 100th birthday, I decided to read one of her books. This was my obvious choice since it has been on my to-read list for a number of years (it's a Newbery Honor title). Ramona, in second grade, lives up to her reputation.
As usually happens with these stories, many of Ramona's activities are familiar since my sister and I also did them -- arguing, pestering Dad to stop smoking, singing 99 bottles of beer, making telephones (not stilts) from tin cans, playing with burs (but not getting them in our hair), and drawing on large pieces of paper spread over the kitchen floor. Ramona wore her pajamas when she played the part of a sheep in a play. I wore my pajamas when I was the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland. But I had words to speak: "I'm late! I'm late! for a very important date." (Now that I think about it, I wonder if anyone could actually hear me say those words.)
As usually happens with these stories, many of Ramona's activities are familiar since my sister and I also did them -- arguing, pestering Dad to stop smoking, singing 99 bottles of beer, making telephones (not stilts) from tin cans, playing with burs (but not getting them in our hair), and drawing on large pieces of paper spread over the kitchen floor. Ramona wore her pajamas when she played the part of a sheep in a play. I wore my pajamas when I was the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland. But I had words to speak: "I'm late! I'm late! for a very important date." (Now that I think about it, I wonder if anyone could actually hear me say those words.)
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