Children's Books discussion
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June and July 2021 — Beverly Cleary
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The Art of Ramona Quimby: Sixty-Five Years of Illustrations from Beverly Cleary’s Beloved Books also looks good, but Open Library does not have a copy and I am not sure that buying new books at present is the way to go, as I have way too manny books and not enough shelf space.
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But I do want to warmly recommend The Beverly Cleary Handbook. It is in my opinion a superb introduction to all things Beverly Cleary for teachers and parents (biographical information on Cleary, book synopses, detailed bibliography) and with the suggested activities being the icing on the cake.
I just loved Ramona growing up! She was a good friend. My favorites were Ramona the Brave, Ramona Quimby Age 8 and Ramona the Pest. My school library had the first editions and I had a few paperbacks. I watched the PBS TV show starring Sarah Polley before her big break in Road to Avonlea. I read and reread the Ramona books often enough that years later, when Pest was serialized in the paper, I remembered so much of it. Susan with the "boing boing" curls and the "dawnzer." I'm sure I read the Henry books too but they didn't make an impression on me.I don't believe the text has been updated. The illustrations have though. Ramona no longer wears skirts in the illustrations.
I also enjoyed Socks, Ralph S. Mouse and The Mouse and The Motorcycle. I was Ralph for book character day in third grade.
I probably also read the teen novels but didn't like them very much. I'll have to pick up the Ramona books I don't remember as well and see what I think.
I haven't seen the 2010 movie but I heard it was great and heartwarming.
I have A Girl from Yamhill upstairs in the attic.
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I started reading Beezus and Ramona today and I do find it interesting and quite delightful how close theme and content wise, Beezus and Ramona feels to Astrid Lindgren’s Madicken series (Mischievous Meg), as in both novels there is a bratty little sister. But while Ramona is of course the main character for Beverly Cleary and not older sister Beatrice (Beezus), older sister Meg (Madicken) is the main character for Astrid Lindgren and her annoying little sister Elizabeth is secondary, but still very similar to Ramona (and both girls can and do certainly get away with things).
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Beverly Clearly had a hard time learning how to read as a young child. She was totally uninterested in the books they were supposed to be reading in school in her day. She found the same thing when she worked as a children's librarian. The kids couldn't relate to the stories she was reading about GOOD children The Elsie Dinsmore Series. I think it was a kid who asked if there were any books about NORMAL kids-kids who make mistakes and get into trouble. She realized, no, there weren't, and decided to write one herself! From what I was reading on social media at the time of her death a few months ago, her books cross the race/class divide because they were so modern that most kids could relate. She wrote about working moms, kids fearing divorce, money problems, sibling rivalry, etc.
In her hometown of Portland, Oregon there's a Beverly Clearly sculpture garden
I'm sorry to hear she's not so popular in Europe. She was a big influence on Judy Blume, who is also enormously popular, more with older kids.
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I do think that Astrid Lindgren kind of plays a similar role to Beverly Cleary in Europe and vice versa. It is amazing how textually similar the two of them are for me and that even Cleary’s and Lindgren’s attitudes towards children and that children need real and relatable literature are akin and alike.
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Manybooks wrote: "Although I really kind of despise Ramona and how she is basically able to get away with so much just because she is younger than Beatrice. Kind of reminds me of my own little sister and that if she misbehaved, I usually got into trouble. ."Yeah my little brother was a pest and got away with everything because he was the youngest and the only boy. Keep reading! Ramona is pretty little in the first two books (and Henry Huggins) but she ages in each book and goes through all the experiences normal young children do. I do love this book though. Reading it serialized in the paper brought back so many memories! I remember Susan with the boing boing curls and "dawnzer lee light," (I confess to being Beezus in these situations with my sister), I the "Qs" with the cat ears that became Ramona's signature. I made niece #1 listen to an audio book when she was going into Kindergarten. I think she liked it but didn't express any interest in finishing or reading the others. Lemony Snicket references Ramona in his Series of Unfortunate Events. (Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography)
If you can find the TV series, it was very well done from my memory and I am super fussy about movies/TV shows made from my favorite books. Beverly Cleary gave her blessing to Sarah Polley! Sarah Polley Remembers Beverly Clearly
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I am really looking forward to reading more!
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For example I remember Ramona changing out of her school clothes and into her play clothes in the afternoon. I don't think anybody does that anymore (unless of course they have school uniforms). But it's a terrific idea, from the perspective of not wanting to wear out & get stains on the whole wardrobe.
(Kids should be encouraged to be active enough to wear out & spill on their clothes, no? ;)
Manybooks wrote: "Even though I do think that Ramona’s mother relies a bit too much on Beezus watching over her younger sister and that Ramona simply does not want to understand that she is not always the centre of attention."That's the age though. My oldest niece was the same way. All adults were her friends. They were part of her adoring entourage. She didn't have kid friends aside from her cousins and even then she was bossy and they put up with it. My mom said when she goes to school and has a desire to make friends she will decenter a bit. That's exactly what happened. By 5 1/2, after nursery school, she was more fun to hang out with. Ramona too will mature and grow as the stories continue.
Interesting observation Cheryl. The illustrations in the last Ramona book show her wearing jeans and sneakers rather than skirts as in the first editions. Times have changed. School uniforms aren't as prevalent as they used to be, at least around here.
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I did really end up liking Beezus and Ramona. I kind of loved to despise Ramona and adored how similar Beezus and Ramona’s relationship is to how my own younger sister always got away with things. And I really LOVED it when Ramona’s mother, when Beverly Cleary shows that siblings do not always need to get along and that it is perfectly acceptable to not always love your siblings.
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For example I remember Ramona changing out of her school clot..."
Unlike other authors who have penned a series spanning decades, it looks like with Ramona, Beverly Cleary tried to keep the time and place relatively consistent, which I appreciate.
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Truth be told is that albeit I have certainly found Beverly Cleary's 1956 young adult novel Fifteen delightfully dated and as such also an engaging as well as an educational sojourn into and through 1950s America and its teen culture, as a story in and of itself, the constant focus on boys, love and more boys and more love of not only main protagonist Jane Purdy but basically ALL of her friends and acquaintances (including in my opinion even the adults, even Jane's parents, teachers etc.) has actually and in fact rather majorly bored me (and to the point that I indeed have ended up skimming through the final chapters of Fifteen because yes, I was defintely getting really sick and tired of same old, same old with regard to thematics and contents). For while reading about how Jane and Stan meet, start dating and finally end up going steady has been interesting to a point, as someone who at the age of fifteen was actually not yet all that into boys, I for one have certainly felt as though Beverly Cleary spends far far too much time just on boy/girl relationships and 1950s dating culture in Fifteen and well, I would have appreciated a bit more of a balance, to have Fifteen present more than just Jane's relationship with Stan and its ups and downs. I guess I was just expecting a bit more of a rounded and nuanced storyline from Beverly Cleary, as yes, the one-sidedness of there being mostly just girl/boy and boy/girl scenarios depicted (and even though I do appreciate reading about the American 1950s and indeed how important meeting, dating and going steady with a cute and dreamy boy seemingly was for teenaged girls), on a personal reading pleasure level, sorry, but I really have found Fifteen more than somewhat dragging, repetitive, and as such also personally rather emotionally distant).
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With regard to the second instalment of Beverly Cleary's First Love series, with The Luckiest Girl, I have certainly been considerably more involved with and interested in the story and the presented characters than with the first novel, than with Fifteen (which was just too almost exclusively boy/girl relationships oriented for my tastes, whereas in The Luckiest Girl, there seems to be a much better balance offered by the author of 1950s home and school life/culture and teenage love interests). However, albeit that I have much enjoyed The Luckiest Girl, I have also found main character and heroine 16 year old Shelley Latham not only someone with whom I could readily identify on many and different levels but equally an individual who has often proven rather frustrating and irritating (and not really in my opinion ever truly appreciative enough of her golden opportunity of attending school for two semesters in California and residing with a family both very different and much less conventional and strict than Shelley's own parents but especially her mother tend to be). For although in The Luckiest Girl, I have very much liked reading about Shelley's life and being taken into her thoughts and feelings and can also from my own personal experiences as a teenager totally relate to the frustrations she feels about her mother (and especially with the latter's penchant to still approach her daughter as a little girl to be dictated to even at the age of sixteen, and in particular with regard to Shelley's clothing choices), personally, I also do and very strongly think that Shelley Latham is still pretty much immature with regard to boys (and not all that thoughtful, empathetic and even pleasant to them at times either). Because truth be told and in my opinion, when at the beginning of The Luckiest Girl, Shelley is obviously bored with her steady boyfriend Jack, she really should have broken up with him once and for all before leaving for California (as indeed, even at the end of the novel, it sure does seem as though Jack still thinks he and Shelley are a couple even though Shelley is now clearly going out, going steady wit Hartley). And yes, that whole Phil versus Hartley scenario I feel is a bit problematic in and of itself, as I for one certainly do find it rather annoying that Shelley basically after her first (and successful) date with Hartley kind of dumps him for Phil and indeed only because Phil is supposedly cuter and better looking (not to mention that in The Luckiest Girl, I also am not too thrilled with the fact that in my eyes, Shelley kind of chased shy but cute Phil and that their dalliances also not only scuttled her biology marks but more importantly, also scuttled not just Phil's already subpar schoolwork but also his beloved basketball playing). But still and nevertheless four stars for The Luckiest Girl, as even with my personal annoyances with certain aspects of Shelley's behaviour and attitudes, I do appreciate (and enjoy) how Beverly Cleary both so realistically portrays the 1950s and yes that Shelley Latham has been depicted as both likeable and flawed, with many things to still to learn.
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While of course, the late 1950s again come interestingly and with much descriptive enlightenment to life in Beverly Cleary's 1959 Jean and Johnny (which is the third of her Young Love series of young adult novels), I do have to admit that I have really not much managed to greatly enjoy Jean and Johnny on a personal and emotional reading pleasure level. For one (and even though not quite as intensely and overtly present as in Fifteen, as in the first of the author's Young Love stories) there once again is (in my opinion) rather a bit too much of a distinct and almost exclusive emphasis and focus on Jean and her infatuation with, her crush of Johnny at the expense of a more balanced portrayal of Jean's and yes even Johnny's life. And for two, and to and for me much more importantly, throughout Jean and Johnny, I kept wanting to shake some common sense into Jean, to make her realise that Johnny is actually not really interested in her, is just stringing her along (and is obviously always dumping her if someone or something more interesting appears on the horizon). And while I do appreciate that at the end of Jean and Johnny, Jean does finally see the light, that she does decide that Johnny is NOT in any way her proverbial Prince Charming (and goes to the dance with Johnny's erstwhile friend Homer who actually really seems to like her and appreciate her), honestly, I really wanted while reading Jean and Johnny for Jean to wake up and smell the proverbial coffee with regard to Johnny and to have distanced herself from him much much earlier and not at almost the very end of the book (and indeed and also, for Jean equally to have understood much quicker how wonderful and imbued with true mutual affection, her older sister Sue's budding relationship with Kenneth really is, as Jean's rather strange and nasty asides when in Jean and Johnny Sue and Kenneth first start dating, they really have rubbed me the wrong way and have certainly shown that Jean has much to learn about what true love is and that love is not and should not be based on primarily physical looks and appearances).
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Although I have found the time and place specific datedness of Beverly Cleary's First Love series of teenage romance novels both interesting and an enlightening sojourn into and through 1950s and with the fourth instalment, with her 1963 Sister of the Bride early 1960s American culture and life (especially with regard to school, romance and family), I do have to admit that I have not really all that much enjoyed Sister of the Bride as a reading experience in and of itself. For one, sorry, but I have never been all that much of a fan of novels, of stories that focus too much if not entirely on weddings and that Sister of the Bride is basically and in my opinion mainly about Rosemary's upcoming nuptials just does not (with regard to my personal tastes) enamour me all that much of Sister of the Bride on a thematics and content based point of view. And for two, and indeed, much more problematically, I in particular have found main protagonist Barbara's total obsession with her sister's wedding and that she basically turns Rosemary's upcoming marriage ceremony totally onto herself at best rather strange and at worst totally self-centred to the extreme (that Barbara basically in my opinion does not really think of her sister as a bride and whether Rosemary will be happy both as Greg's bride and later as Greg's wife, but that to and for Barbara, the only thing that seems to matter in Sister of the Bride is her own future wedding, and that she frustratingly also wants Rosemary to have a traditional wedding mostly because, well, that is what Barbara wants and desires for herself in the future). And while Sister of the Bride has not been in any manner a terrible reading experience for me, between the to and for my personal reading tastes too many and too in my face wedding details and Barbara's constant selfishness and basically making everything more about herself than about Rosemary (who since she is getting married should really be front and centre), I just cannot consider Sister of the Bride with more than two stars and to indeed only recommend it with personal reservations (and yes indeed, I definitely have enjoyed the other three novels of Beverly Cleary's First Love series considerably more than Sister of the Bride and am really also kind of glad to leave especially Barbara and her often jealous selfishness permanently behind).
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Oh how I wish I had encountered Beverly Cleary’s Ramona series as a child. But yes, even though I unfortunately did not experience Beverly Cleary’s work as a young reader, my childhood reading experiences in Germany with Astrid Lindgren (until we moved to Canada in 1976) do actually and in fact remind me very strongly and equally totally fondly of how I am now emotionally and textually feeling and reacting with regard to my perusal of the first series novel, with regard to Beezus and Ramona, towards nine year old Beatrice (Beezus) Quimby and her often fraught with total frustration and annoyance relationship with her rambunctious and demandingly selfish four year old sister Ramona. And yes indeed, that is pretty much a major and total compliment from me towards Beverly Cleary as an author, since Astrid Lindgren is and always has been a personal favourite and I would thus of course only laudably compare Cleary to Lindgren if I thought that what I am reading from her, from Beverly Cleary’s pen is in fact something wonderful and readably delightful, and which Beezus and Ramona most definitely is and for a multitude of reasons. For albeit I actually do NOT AT ALL personally like Ramona Quimby as a character in Beezus and Ramona and find her a spoiled and entitled, often deliberately horrid and totally self-absorbed little brat, and who as the younger sister equally seems to oh so often get away with proverbial murder so to speak and as such of course also and naturally both infuriates and embarrasses her five years older sister Beezus (Beatrice), I actually do appreciate the realism portrayed by Beverly Cleary, and that she has with Ramona and Beezus depicted a relationship between siblings that will probably feel authentic and relatable to and for many of us readers who have to deal (or had to deal) with similar sibling scenarios, who have (or had) a younger sister or brother who could be a total proverbial thorn in our collective sides (and yes, even though Ramona as a depicted character drives me as batty as she obviously does poor Beezus, I do love seeing in Beezus and Ramona in many ways my own up and down relationship with my younger sister realistically portrayed in print, although I do wish that Beezus had less responsibilities with regard to looking after Ramona, as honestly, in many ways Beverly Cleary has in Beezus and Ramona older sister Beezus appear as kind of an unpaid nanny or babysitter, realistic perhaps, but also at the same time quite aggravating). And furthermore, and yes indeed, this is what really has made my rating for Beezus and Ramona move from four to a solid and glowing five stars is that Beverly Clearly also and very much deliberately lets (in particular) her young readers textually and reassuringly know in Beezus and Ramona that it is acceptable, that it is alright for siblings to not always get along, that Beezus sometimes not being able to even remotely love her younger sister is totally fine, considering how unmannerly, embarrassing and annoying Ramona often can be, something that most definitely does feel oh so much better and positive than the often and usual heavy duty messaging about how important family is, that siblings always should get along and that older sisters and brothers need to be considerate, supportive and constantly accepting towards their younger siblings.
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Although Ramona Quimby is still sometimes rather too rambunctious and annoyingly full of herself for my personal reading tastes in the second of Beverly Cleary’s Ramona novels (and also not very willing to consider she needs to accept responsibility when she, when Ramona acts out), personally I do rather tend to find find that the book title of Ramona the Pest might actually and in fact be a trifle misleading, might be a bit untrue. For in my humble opinion and if I textually compare Ramona the Pest to the first novel, to Beezus and Ramona, I really do find Ramona much more deliberately annoying and aggravating, in other words much more on purpose pestering in the latter, in Beezus and Ramona. Because honestly, for the vast majority of the anecdotal Ramona Quimby escapades presented by Beverly Cleary in Ramona the Pest, these are in my opinion generally not cases of the former, of Ramona being deliberately naughty (being a calculating nasty) but rather cases of often language based misunderstandings (such as Ramona mistaking the adverb of time present for a the noun present and assuming that her Kindergarten teacher will be handing out gifts), of Ramona making inadvertent but frustratingly unfortunate errors (aside from of course when throughout Ramona the Pest Ramona is deliberately almost stalking her classmate Susan in order to pull her boingy corkscrew curls, which I cannot help feeling angry at and especially so because Ramona is so shamelessly unapologetic and basically says that there is no way she is either willing or able to stop herself). And thus, for me, I certainly would rather want that Beverly Cleary used a title such as perhaps Ramona Again instead of Ramona the Pest, as I just do not personally think that Ramona is nearly as pestering and as frustrating in book two as she is in book one (and I therefore also have enjoyed Ramona Quimby’s reading company and presence considerably more in Ramona the Pest than in Beezus and Ramona, because Ramona, while still often overly temperamental and a bit unbridled, a bit entitled in Ramona the Pest is not nearly as much of a constant aggravation as she to and for me constantly seems to be in book one, is much more likeable and relatable, although part of me certainly does wish that older sister Beezus had a stronger and more substantial role to play, had a similar part as she has in the first Ramona novel).
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For example I remember Ramona changing out of her school clot..."
Kids should definitely be encouraged to play outside more and get nice and filthy like Howie and Ramona do when they play Brick Factory in Ramona the Brave (or like my brother and I did when we played being horses and rolled around in the dust of our riding arena like actual horses do), but yes, for that, children should have play clothes to change into and there should also not be so much worry about skinned knees etc.
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Well to tell the truth, the episodic nature of Beverly Cleary’s third Ramona Quimby novel, with her 1975 Ramona the Brave (and much more so than with the first two series novels, than with both Beezus and Ramona and Ramona the Pest) really do tend to make the connections and transitions from chapter to chapter feel a bit choppy and sometimes even leave the presented episodes rather hanging in midair so to speak (such as for example that I textually find it kind of both frustrating and annoying how after Ramona and her friend Howie have a pretty major falling out regarding the playing of their brick factory game, that entire scenario simply ceases and Cleary’s text pretty rapidly moves on to something completely different without really any closure, without us knowing if and when Howie and Ramona will be mending their proverbial fences). However, and the above having been said, I still have totally and utterly enjoyed my reading time with Ramona the Brave, can certainly well understand that for many of my Goodreads friends who fondly remember Beverly Cleary’s Ramona novels from their childhood, Ramona Quimby is obviously a wonderful and relatable book comrade/ally and therefore I do kind of wish that I had also encountered the Ramona series when I was a young reader (at least those Ramona Quimby novels which Beverly Cleary penned from the 1950s to the early 1980s). For yes indeed, many of the both school and home related issues and anecdotes that Ramona experiences and has to deal with throughout Ramona the Brave feel very much familiar to me and likely to many of us (from our own childhoods), and for me, in particular Ramona being afraid of the dark etc. and not wanting to, not daring to admit this to anyone, not to her family, not to her teacher, this most definitely is majorly personally relatable, as is my reading joy of encountering Ramona (and her friends) delightfully playing rough and tumbling outside in Ramona the Brave (and with Ramona’s mother like my own mother not really ever caring and worrying all that much about skinned knees and mild bruises, which sadly though, in today’s atmosphere of fear and helicopter parenting, would likely mean suspicion and/or parents often not even allowing any rough and outdoor playing time at all for their young children). Four solid stars for Ramona the Brave, as even though the above mentioned choppiness of some if not many of Beverly Cleary’s presented episodes does frustrate me a bit, this is certainly very much mitigated by Cleary obviously both understanding and appreciating children and writing a story that reads not only engagingly and humorously but also with much authorial empathy and sympathy. And yes and finally, for today’s children and their parents reading, encountering Ramona the Brave, in my humble opinion, it really is also time to rediscover the many joys and advantages of outdoor playing (that children, like it is shown by both Ramona and her friend Howie in Ramona the Brave should be engaging in outdoor and even rough and tumble fun and games, both invented games like Ramona and Howie’s Brick Factory and traditional games like tag and the like).
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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).
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Manybooks wrote: "Also noticing that as the Ramona series progresses, the issues become a bit more involved and problematic as both Ramona and her intended audience matures."Yes and I think this is why so many of us loved the books when we were growing up. Ramona's problems reflect the real fears and issues of growing up. Chelsea Clinton wrote a lovely response to Beverly Cleary's death stating after reading Ramona's Nosmo King plot, all she wanted for her 8th birthday was for her grandmother to quit smoking and got her wish. The problems Ramona faces haven't gone away and I hope kids are still reading these books. My nieces haven't but maybe my nephews might enjoy them.
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Yes and I think this ..."
Which makes Beverly Cleary relevant!
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I finished this one today. I agree that Ramona was pretty bratty, and the mother at times was somewhat inadequate in disciplinary measures, but at the same time, I was laughing at some of Ramona's antics, even while completely understanding poor Beezus's frustration when her things are ruined (like the 2 birthday cakes). Sometimes Ramona was deliberately bratty, while at other times she was simply exploring and in the case of Hansel and Gretel, she was acting out the story that was just read to her.
I forgot to add: what Mother in her right mind allows a child to ride her tricycle in the house (anywhere in the house)?!
(I will be reading the 5 Ramona books I never got around to, including the title above).
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I didn't like Ellen Tebbits enough to give her a reread. Ramona I read over and over, I liked Socks, Ralph S, Mouse and Ribsy. If it's any good, maybe I'll give Ellen a try again and see what my adult self thinks.
Hi - I ordered the 8-volume Ramona series back in March before Beverly Cleary passed away. I actually picked the set up at my post office the day she left us though I didn't know until days later that she died. In April I read the first four books in the set plus Kindle copies of her two autobiographies. In May I read two more Ramona books. Now I'm reading the seventh book, Ramona Forever, and I hope to finish the series with Ramona's World by the end of the month. Great series!
I did not read any Beverly Cleary books when I was a child, but I'm loving these Ramona books. Before this the only Beverly Cleary book I read was Dear Mr. Henshaw, because I like to read books from the Newbery list. My plan in buying the 8-volume set was to share the books with my 7-year-old granddaughter when I'm done with them. Right now she's reading Beezus and Ramona.
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If your seven year old granddaughter is reading Beezus and Ramona by herself, wow!
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I loved the first chapter and loved to hate both Otis and his silly mother. Hope my enjoyment continues as I do kind of find Ellen pretty relatable in many ways except that I hated having to take ballet as a child because I was such a klutz.
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I really sympathized with Ramona's emotional journey in this book; no one likes to be made fun of or to have to make an apology in front of the entire classroom.
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I really sympathized with Ramona's emotional journey in this book; no one likes to be made fun of or to have to make an apology in front..."
Ramona the Brave and other series books certainly do not and happily so shy away from Cleary depicting cases of teachers behaving in a not student friendly manner.
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The first time I really remember reading Clearly was about six or seven years ago, and it was her novel Socks -- which I ended up thoroughly enjoying. Here's my review from the time:
A friend recommended this when I was pregnant with my first. We have a beloved calico who had been Princess of Everything to that point and I'm sure she would give Socks' story five purrrs and empathize with him wholeheartedly (though thank goodness we did not have to go to any extremes with her like they did with Socks). I actually didn't get around to reading this until after my second was born and I'm glad I waited because the story is even more poignant and humorous and heartbreaking and sweet and wise when Socks is seen not just as the displaced cat but in the older sibling role. I'm sure my oldest son could relate to Socks, too! I could empathize with the new parents, so caught up with their baby and desperate to ensure his well being, though I do wish Socks hadn't been put into one situation. Still, it served it's purpose and, while I don't want to give any spoilers, I will say that I was happy with how the story ended. I've never been a Cleary fan but I really liked this book and felt she did a marvelous job getting inside the head and heart of the "older sibling" (be that a fur-baby or human child) as well as these of the new parents who loved them both.
I also read one of the Henry Huggins to my son (I can't remember which one now, I don't think I made a record of it, but it's the one where Henry finds Ribsy) and we really enjoyed it. I think I liked the Little Eddie (and Betsy) series by Carolyn Haywood a bit more -- she wrote about and for the same age group and also spanned decades with her writing career and we read them at about the same time. We tried another Henry Huggins and there was a little bit too much teasing and name calling behavior in the Henry Huggins book just for my personal taste, though I do realize that it's probably quite realistic and relatable for most kids. I'm not opposed to trying others by Cleary, though. We've had our eye on the Motorcycle Mouse books ;-)
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I imagine your boys would really like the Motorcycle Mouse books!
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I imagine your boys would really like the Motorcycle Mouse books!"
Thank you! I may have to bump that up on our list, especially with the discussion going this month and next as incentive ;-)
I was Ralph S. Mouse for book character day at school in 3rd grade. Probably that was what I was reading at the time and because I had already been Laura Ingalls the year before. One thing I really remember from I think it's from Ramona Quimby Age 8- the principal (how to spell that person who heads up your school) is your pal: p-a-l (v.s principle). I'll never forget that spelling lesson. Thank you Beverly Clearly!
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One thing I real..."
The Ralph S. Mouse books have never all that much interested me as I am not really a fan of anthropomorphic mice. But I am really enjoying Ramona.
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Because Walking with Ramona: Exploring Beverly Cleary's Portland is definitely not a book about Beverly Cleary’s life and writing but instead all about travelling to Portland and exploring the city on foot with Cleary and her set in Portland novels in mind, interesting enough, but not really what I was wanting (and what little about Beverly Cleary’s biography and writing there is is in my opinion much too basic and also seems to insinuate that ALL of Cleary’s Portland, Oregon novels are totally derivative of her own life story and this in my opinion gives a likely unintended but still annoying feeling of unoriginality).
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And I loved Socks, too. I'll have to try to reread all of these! Thank you for making this a two month long exploration!
Children's Books
Books mentioned in this topic
Sister of the Bride (other topics)Emily's Runaway Imagination (other topics)
Emily's Runaway Imagination (other topics)
Anne of Green Gables (other topics)
Emily's Runaway Imagination (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Lois Lowry (other topics)Lois Lowry (other topics)
Judy Blume (other topics)
Annie Barrows (other topics)
Tracy Dockray (other topics)
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RAMONA
Beezus and Ramona
Ramona the Pest
Ramona the Brave
Ramona and Her Father
Ramona and Her Mother
Ramona Quimby, Age 8
Ramona Forever
Ramona's World
HENRY HUGGINS
Henry Huggins
Henry and Beezus
Henry and Ribsy
Henry and the Paper Route
Henry and the Clubhouse
Ribsy
YOUNG LOVE
Fifteen
The Luckiest Girl
Jean and Johnny
Sister of the Bride
Oh and if you want to also read and review other Beverly Cleary novels or secondary books about Cleary, go ahead.
Happy reading and happy nostalgia for those of you who fondly remember Beverly Cleary’s novels from your childhood. For me, both the Ramona and Henry Huggins series are actually rather new, since I never encountered them as a child, so yes, I am definitely looking forward to finally getting to them.