Posted
by Joel Mathis
April 11, 2006 at 4:20 p.m.
Clearly Cleary
![][1]If you were an American child with even a mild literary bent during the last half-century or so, it's inevitable that you encountered one of [Beverly Cleary's][2] creations.Henry Huggins.Ribsy.Beezus Quimby.Ramona Quimby.Ralph the Mouse.And so on.Beverly Cleary, in the late 1970s and early 1980s - when I was first learning to read - was practically a rite of passage. Teachers, during the after-lunch reading time, frequently used her books to fill the time.It's no exaggeration for me to say that the first books I loved, really loved, were the Henry Huggins books. I wanted a dog because of him. I wanted a paper route, and a clubhouse, too. And because I loved Cleary's characters so much, I put aside my fears and read the Ramona books after I'd been through the Henry books a couple of times.Maybe I'm a reader today because of Beverly Cleary.![][3]She turns 90 this week. There are people who are grandparents now who read her books when they were kids. My hope is that, 30 or 40 years from now, I'll be giving Beverly Cleary books to my own grandkids.Thank you, ma'am. [1]: http://media.bestprices.com/content/isbn/94/0694525294.jpg [2]: http://www.beverlycleary.com/index.html [3]: http://www.rauecenter.org/common/images/events/2006-04-ramonaquimby.jpg
Comments
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alm77 (anonymous) says…
Did you hear the interview with her on NPR? It was really great. I started reading her books to my kids a couple of years ago. Soon they'll be able to read themselves. It's really neat to see my kids enjoy the same books that I did.
cee (anonymous) says…
I loved Beverly Clearly books as a child. I even went as far as to dress up as Ramona Quimby one year for Halloween and then I was extremely irritated that most people did not immediately know who I was, even after I told them. (It goes without saying that I was a weird child.)
Joel, I think you just answered my question about what to get my niece for her upcoming birthday!
mitzibel (Misty Nuckolls) says…
Ah, Ramona Quimby. I was pissed off for weeks after discovering those books, simply because my own name was so damned boring, and there wasn't a single letter in it that I could draw as a cat with its tail curled.
Yeah, cee, I was a weird child, too ;)
Happy Birthday, Beverly. We need to spend more time acknowledging those authors who got kids to read back before the bright idea of marketing children's books with ugly black glasses and vibrating broomsticks.
Joel (Joel Mathis) says…
Well, there's Judy Blume, for one. The "Superfudge" books, expecially. I, um, never read "Are you there God? It's me, Margaret." Wasn't really my stuff.
I was also a fan of "The Great Brain" series of books by John Fitzgerald. Actually, I probably wouldn't mind re-reading them:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0803...
And the "Henry Reed" books about a young inventor. And Encyclopedia Brown.
thetomdotdot (anonymous) says…
Late 70s I was learning how to spell Psilocybin. Which may partially explain why I missed Beverly Cleary and why doffing the cap sounds like something one could get escorted from the building for.
I shall investigate since my son is at that age as we speak. What is very cool is watching him read to his little sister. Whew.
CafeSiren (anonymous) says…
I had forgotten about the "great brain" books!
You know, I never read a single Cleary book. I know that makes me an oddball. Nothing against her -- I just never got around to it as a kid. I liked Madelene L'Engle. But I was a dork.
My three year-old neice, on the other hand, loves the "Ramona" books. So maybe I'll start reading them myself. Why not? (Anything's better than this book on Roman law that I'm supposed to be reading.
Shelby (anonymous) says…
I used to read the Ramona books. And I'm a guy. Were they geared toward boys and girls alike, or is the fact that I read them outlying data?
I guess what I'm asking is...am I gay?
CafeSiren (anonymous) says…
(guess html tags don't work on Lawrence.com, huh?)
cvillehawk (anonymous) says…
The first series I clearly remember reading was "Little House on the Prairie". I guess they got to me before the whole gender stereotyping thing set in, because I have been informed since then that they were "girl books". My grandmother gave them to me because much of them took place in Kansas, and it didn't matter to me that the main character my age was a girl - it was just a good story. Thanks, gramma!
Joel (Joel Mathis) says…
Shelby, the fact that you read Ramona books doesn't make you gay.
The fact you read them while looking fabulous, however...
Dotdot: The Henry Huggins books were around in the 50s, so you should have no excuse. But they'd be delightful books for your kids.
beatle919 (Marcy McGuffie) says…
Fond memories of Ramona. I went so far as to watch the tv series too. I can picture that actress to date...
I still own Judy Blume's Superfudge...might have to reread that. I must be a kid at heart...
Who wrote the book "Hatchet?" That stands out as one of my fave reads as a child...
mitzibel (Misty Nuckolls) says…
I was a particular fan of "The Island of Dolphins," and even more so "My Side of the Mountain". Maybe it speaks to my social skills as a child that my fondest wish was to be left alone on a remote island to fend for myself. . .
toreador (Michael Austin) says…
Lots of Hardy Boys and H.G. Wells. I have never even heard of these books.
Oh,.. and The Pokey Little Puppy.
Joel (Joel Mathis) says…
Oh yeah, Hardy Boys. I knew I was forgetting something.
lilchick (anonymous) says…
I loved reading Ramona books, they still rank right up there with the Little House books, Where the Red Fern Grows and anything by Judy Blume. I actually am enjoying having a neice-in-law (?my hubby's neice?) since she shares my love of reading, its great to buy and loan her books that I loved as a child. I try to re-read the books before I give them to her so I can discuss and answer any questions she might have.
Share the love of reading and the knowledge it contains with all the young people of the world!
lilchick (anonymous) says…
*I know, I'm a nerd.....but I have fun!*
thetomdotdot (anonymous) says…
Hardy Boys!
My older brothers had a bookshelf full of Hardy Boys. I don't remember reading anything else early on. But that might be the fog.
Joel (Joel Mathis) says…
Dotdot: I doff my cap to you.
toreador (Michael Austin) says…
I think I ended up reading every Hardy Boys book out there eventually. Probably why I like Law and Order and CSI now. Or, I just like flashy things.
As soon as I took that step to H.G. Wells I was gone and never looked back. Somewhere around 3rd grade. Sadly I read a lot of horrible sci-fi and fantasy books before realising they were horrible sci-fi and fantasy books. I don't go there anymore.
SAHM2tylrnathan (anonymous) says…
I loved all the Beverly Cleary books and Judy Blume, although Superfudge was just after I left grade school. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing was one of the best books--even more so to me now that I have two boys who are 3 years apart! (Eat it or wear it!)
I had the entire Great Brain series and probably read each one more than 3 times. I can't wait until my boys are old enough for these. In fact in light of the mumps outbreak, I was just reminding my husband of how J.D., the youngest, set out to purposely catch the mumps from a quarantined friend. He was always the last one to get sick when his mom put them all in the same bed if one of the brothers caught something. He wanted to have it first and then be outside playing by the time they were suffering!
We read all the Little House books too, and I have already read all of Farmer Boy to my 6-year-old. He loved it!
I don't remember when it was, but I had the entire Chronicles of Narnia too. Of course, the religious allegory was lost on me at the time. My son saw the movie and now we are reading the book together.
OtherJoel (anonymous) says…
Yeah, Shelby I read the Ramona books too. And I'm not gay -- although I used to hate broccoli, but these days it's not so bad...
I liked Encyclopedia Brown and Hardy Boys too. I read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, though I can't remember any of it.
Last year my father-in-law decided to clean house and brought over every single possession from my wife's childhood that they had been storing in their basement. Quite a few of those boxes have some cool old kid's books. I know there's some Hardy Boys and the Chronicles of Narnia in there, among others; I still need to spend some time in the basement and take inventory.
MyName (anonymous) says…
I don't remember whether I read the Cleary books, or my teacher read them to me. I think the latter, along with the Little House books. I read the Narnia books, and the Great Brain. I thought the Hardy Boys were dull, but I liked Encyclopedia Brown and anything by Roald Dahl. I liked Madelene L'Engle too. I think I liked the Chemistry book my school library had better than most of the "age appropriate" fiction, but then I was kind of weird too.
katnip (Deb Townsend) says…
Go Pokey Little Puppy! I read the Little House books over and over, but then something terrible happened, we went on vacation and somebody--me, my step mom, my dad--forgot to pack my age appropriate books and on one rainy day when I was driving the step mom crazy she handed me, of all things, a freakin Danielle Steele Book. I read three of those that week and ended up reading a Jackie Collins on the way home. Hypersexualized at 10. Terrific! That's a case of passive child abuse for the record books!
toreador (Michael Austin) says…
My copy of Pokey Little Puppy was horribly mangled by the time I made it to 5. Cover gone, pages ripped out. Doodles on the pages. It was my favorite book. (I will deny this in public of course)
I had a lot of the original golden books too. You know, the ones where the three pigs boil the wolf in a pot and Hansel and Gretel still push the old witch into the oven. I hear they have changed all of those now.
SarahSota (anonymous) says…
Ramona is absolutely, positively the reason I am a reader today. My dad bought me the complete Ramona Quimby set for Christmas when I was 7 or 8 and I devoured them. I heard an interview with Beverly Cleary on NPR the other day. You know, for 30 years she answered all of her own fan mail? So great.
jochan (Jocelyn Craft) says…
Jeezus, Beezus! I think I *was* Ramona and Beezus at the same time.
I was *definitely* Sheila in "Otherwise known as Sheila the Great".
beatle919: Hatchet was by Gary Paulsen, I think.
mitzibel: Island of the Blue Dolphins (Scott O'Dell) -- Yes. That and "Julie of the Wolves". And "The Cay". Any survival story was my favorite at about age 11.
I *wanted* to be Encyclopedia Brown... *sigh*
beatle919 (Marcy McGuffie) says…
jochan: good call...that sounds correct. thanks!
toreador (Michael Austin) says…
There is one I forgot. Encyclopedia Brown. Wow, memories come flooding back.
sarahkatheryn (anonymous) says…
I still want a clubhouse!!