Chapter Books A to Z: R is for Ramona

Ramona is my favorite naughty girl in children's literature. She doesn't mean to be naughty. It just happens to her. She is no different than any other curious child. Author Beverly Cleary had her down pat as she penned the series over the decades.

My favorite book about Ramona was always Beezus and Ramona. It's the one where Ramona is truly at her worst. She rides her tricycle into the table when Beezus and Henry are trying to play checkers, simply because she wants attention. She crashes Beezus' painting class. She has an impromptu party without notifying her mother. And she sneaks down into the basement to take one bite out of each apple being stored down there. After all, the first bite is the best!


I just read this to my extended day students. They loved it. When we went to the school library, they were excited to find another copy of it that had a different cover and checked it out. I am sure they would love to hear some more Ramona stories, but we're working on introducing a few other series before the end of the year.

I had all of the Ramona books when I was a child. When I became a teacher, I also collected the books about Henry and Ribsy, though she plays a small role, if any. My other favorite was Ramona Quimby, Age 8. I think it was partially because I was about 8 when I read it for the first time. I loved the D.E.A.R. segment. And I could commiserate with her frustration in making the big floppy 2 that was supposed to be a capital cursive Q.


I related to Ramona and Her Father, which was a Newbery Honor book. My father and I were extremely close, also. In part of the storyline, Ramona tries to help her father quit smoking. My father smoked for years, resulting in numerous health complications that lead to his passing away last year.


I grew up with Ramona. Her last book, Ramona's World, came out in 1999, when I was well into adulthood. She is a part of me.

Oh D.E.A.R. It's Beverly Cleary's Birthday!

Raise your hand if you grew up reading about Ramona, Beezus and Henry Huggins. ME! ME! My childhood would not have been complete without them. I think I have read all of their books at least a few dozen times apiece. One of my all-time favorites was Beezus and Ramona. In fact, I am reading it to my students right now.




I could always relate to poor Beezus and was always grateful that my little sister wasn't as much of a stinker. My other favorite was Ramona Quimby, Age 8, probably because I was about that age when I first read it. I could also relate to Ramona's frustrations with life at that point.




But there was more to Beverly Cleary that just the stories about Klickitat Street.
My sister's favorite book was Socks, about a rescued kitten whose place of honor gets usurped by the new baby. In fact, we named our first pet cat Socks. This one is also a favorite in my classroom.



The Ralph S. Mouse collection helped me to be a little less fearful of mice. My favorite was always The Mouse and the Motorcycle.



She also wrote about Muggie Maggie, a third-grader who couldn't read well and despised cursive. I read this to a third grader I was tutoring, who had similar problems.



I also learned a bit about young love in her books geared more toward teens. Fifteen was my favorite of all of those. I couldn't wait until I was also fifteen and could find such a boyfriend. (It didn't work out quite that way, but I digress.)



Today is Beverly Cleary's birthday. She is still going strong at a whopping 96 years of age. It is her fault that so many of us fell in love with reading. In fact, today is National Drop Everything And Read Day, thanks to her stories of Ramona and D.E.A.R. in school. It was chosen to honor her on her birthday, because she inspired so many of us to do it on a daily basis.

Thank you, Beverly Cleary, for years of inspiration and a lifelong love of reading.

What were your favorite Beverly Cleary books?

(For more information, click on any book cover above.)