For fifty years, Beverly Cleary has continued to delight young readers with her humorous, yet realistic, stories about the ordinary lives of children. While the author has written books for children as young as three and for teenagers, the bulk of her books have been written for children eight to twelve years old. Cleary has written more than 30 books. Her books have been translated into more than a dozen languages.
Beverly Cleary has won numerous awards, including the Newbery Medal for "Dear Mr. Henshaw" (compare prices). Two of her books about Ramona Quimby, "Ramona and Her Father" (compare prices) and "Ramona Quimby, Age 8" (compare prices) were designated Newbery Honor Books. Cleary also received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award in honor of her contributions to children's literature. If that's not enough, her books have also won about three dozen statewide children's choice awards.
When she was a child, Cleary noticed that there didn't seem to be any books about children like the ones who lived in her neighborhood. When she began writing, Cleary created Klickitat Street, based on her childhood neighborhood. The children who live on Klickitat Street are based on the children she grew up with. Fourteen of Cleary's books are set on Klickitat Street, beginning with her first book, "Henry Huggins" (compare prices), published in 1950. While Henry was the focus of the first books, several books also highlighted Beatrice "Beezus" Quimby and Beezus' little sister, Ramona. Ramona has been the title character in the last seven of the Klickitat Street books.
The most recent Ramona book, "Ramona's World" (compare prices), came out in 1999. HarperCollins published a paperback version in 2001. With a fifteen year break between "Ramona's World" and the last previous Ramona book, I was a little apprehensive about a lack of continuity. I needn't have worried. In this book as in her others, Cleary is right on target as she addresses, in typical humorous fashion, the vicissitudes in the life of Ramona Quimby, now a fourth grader.
Beverly Cleary's books have remained popular because of characters like Ramona. If your children haven't read any of her books, now's the time to introduce them to Cleary's books.
