Ramona's World

Cleary, Beverly. 1999. Ramona's World.

Ramona's World is the final in the Ramona series. In our last encounter with Ramona, Ramona Forever, her sister, Roberta Day Quimby, is born. Ramona's World opens several months later. Ramona is starting fourth grade. And she's relatively optimistic. She loves being a big sister (most of the time). In the first chapter we read, "She was often excited. She liked to be excited." Isn't that a great description? It does describe Ramona. But it also describes me. I knew there was a reason Ramona and I were such good friends.

In Ramona's World, Ramona gets a best friend. A girl best friend, Daisy. She also has more than a few battles over the evil that is spelling. Ramona has never liked to spell. But it comes to a head in Ramona's World. Spelling threatens to ruin her happiness, unless she finds a way to conquer it once and for all.

I love this quote: "All this made Ramona feel surrounded by words. There were words every place she looked in books and newspapers, on signs and television, on cereal boxes and milk cartons. The world, Ramona decided, was full of people who used their dictionary skills and probably weren't any fun."

There are quite a few things I could highlight from Ramona's World. Elements I loved or found charming. But I think one of my favorite recurring elements are about Mrs. Quimby and her book club. Now that she's back at home, Mrs. Quimby wants to join a book club and stimulate her mind. The first book that the club chooses is Moby Dick. Every now and then, Ramona has some key insight into her mother and her mother's club. It is just really fun.

Example 1: Ramona picked up her mother's book. Moby Dick. "What's this about?" she asked.
"A whale that bit off a man's leg," said Mrs. Quimby. "Our book club decided to read a book we had all heard about all our lives but had never actually read."
"Sounds exciting." Ramona opened the book, which turned out not to look exciting at all. The print was small, the lines were close together, and there were almost no quotation marks. She closed the book. She liked her own writing better. (22)

Example 2: Mrs. Quimby found more time to read Moby Dick, a book with so many pages that members of the book club, most of them mothers or women who worked outside their homes or both, had difficulty finishing it. They postponed their meeting for another month. Ramona wondered why they didn't just skip the hard parts. (40)

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Ramona Forever

Cleary, Beverly. 1984. Ramona Forever.

"Guess what?" Ramona Quimby asked one Friday evening when her Aunt Beatrice dropped by to show off her new ski clothes and to stay for supper.

Big changes are on the way for Ramona. And it all starts off with Howie's rich uncle. Aunt Beatrice is an important-but-not-often mentioned character in the Ramona books. She was definitely a player in Beezus and Ramona. But not much has been said about her since, not really. But all that changes in Ramona Forever. You see, Aunt Beatrice will soon not be the old-maid aunt anymore. Not when she meets (and gets reacquainted with) Howie's uncle, Hobart. And she's not the only one that is changing. Mrs. Quimby is getting bigger and bigger and bigger. Ramona soon won't be the baby! Shocking concept isn't it? Soon they'll be another little Quimby running around and being a pest. Yes, changes are on the way. And Ramona isn't quite sure she's ready for them all. She's grown up quite a bit, but there's always more to do!

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Ramona and Her Father

Cleary, Beverly. 1977. Ramona and Her Father.

In Ramona and Her Father, the reader finds Ramona in second grade and her older sister, Beezus, in seventh grade. Things aren't all well at the Quimby house. In the opening chapter, Mr. Quimby loses his job. In the upcoming days and weeks and months, we see changes in all sizes at the Quimby house. Her mother now works full time. Her dad is at home. Not at home doing nothing, but at home anxiously job-seeking and in a constant state of waiting. Waiting for the phone call. Waiting for news of work. At first Ramona thinks having her dad home in the afternoons--once she's home from school--will be all fun. She soon learns that while he's doing the best he can under the circumstances, he is unhappy and a little cranky. Beezus is not as perfect as she first appeared in the series. (I for one never bought it.) She's entering that age as Mrs. Quimby says. The stage where she's not her parents' little darling any longer. Ramona is acting less of a pest and more grown-up than ever. Not that she's free of getting into messes. No, a few of those do appear. But the novel is more serious. This typically happy-go-lucky family is facing hard times. But through it all, they remain a family. A family mostly united. A family that can still see the humor in life. Picky-picky's eating of the jack-o'-lantern. Ramona's crown of thorns. Ramona's sheepish Christmas play.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Ramona the Brave

Cleary, Beverly. 1975. Ramona the Brave.

Yesterday, I reviewed Ramona the Pest. I love that book. I love the illustrations. The classic illustrations. The illustrations I grew up with. The edition of Ramona the Brave that I was able to find on the library shelves was ghastly. Maybe ghastly is too strong a word. Okay, I admit it is exaggerating it a bit. I suppose it's what I can expect from HarperCollins. The publishers that removed the Garth Williams illustrations from the Little House books wouldn't bat an eye about updating the illustrations for Ramona. These new illustrations are by Tracy Dockray. And they are wrong, wrong, wrong. Mostly wrong in principle, but wrong all the same. Just a note, a rather important note: the covers that I've been pairing with the reviews are the new books with the new illustrations.

Ramona the Brave. The book in hand. "Ramona Quimby, brave and fearless, was half running, half skipping to keep up with her big sister Beatrice on their way home from the park." Ramona is getting ready to start the first grade now. Big changes are on the way, Beezus now wants to be called Beatrice. Mrs. Quimby is going to be working outside the home. (Shocking, I know. But this was the seventies.) And the Quimbys' are going to be adding another room onto the house so that Beezus and Ramona won't have to share. All that in addition to both girls starting a new school year.

A new school year, a new teacher, some old familiar classmates. Ramona wants to be a good girl. And she's going to try her best not to let Susan and her boing-boing curls tempt her into trouble. But Susan is not making it easy. Susan's prone to copy-catting and tattle taling.

First grade is not making a good impression on Ramona. And her teacher is not like Miss Binney at all. All Ramona wants is for her teacher to like her, to appreciate her, to understand her, to not label her a trouble-maker.

Drama, drama, drama. I enjoyed Ramona the Brave. Certainly some parts are memorable. Her destroying Susan's owl and then later repenting and feeling guilty. Her note to her mother gets me every time. Such real emotion. And the bit about her getting chased with a dog and making a new shoe with some paper and a stapler. Her loving Beezus' teacher? Gotta love that!

But the absolutely best scene in Ramona the Brave. The one that makes it all worth while. Is Chapter Eight: Ramona Says A Bad Word. The bad word in question. Well, I'll just have to let you see:

Ramona had had enough. She had been miserable the whole first grade, and she no longer cared what happened. She wanted to do something bad. She wanted to do something terrible that would shock her whole family, something that would make them sit up and take notice. "I'm going to say a bad word!" she shouted with a stamp of her foot. That silenced her family. Picky-picky stopped washing and left the room. Mr. Quimby looked surprised and--how could he be so disloyal--a little amused. This made Ramona even angrier. Beezus looked interested and curious. After a moment Mrs. Quimby said quietly, "Go ahead, Ramona, and say the bad word if it will make you feel any better." Ramona clenched her fists and took a deep breath. "Guts!" she yelled. "Guts! Guts! Guts!" There. That would show them. Unfortunately, Ramona's family was not shocked and horrified as Ramona had expected. (137-138)

Don't you just love it? I especially love the process of how it's resolved. "Her parents continued to sit in silence, but Ramona was past caring what anyone did. She cried harder than she ever had cried in her life. She cried until she was limp and exhausted. Then Ramona felt her mother's hand on her back.d 'Ramona,' she said gently, 'what are we going to do with you?' With red eyes, a swollen face, and a streaming nose, Ramona sat up and glared at her mother. 'Love me!' Her voice was fierce with hurt. Shocked at her own words, she buried her face in the pillow. She had no tears left." (141)

Such raw emotion that is as authentic as can be. No wonder I connected with Ramona growing up!

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Ramona the Pest

Cleary, Beverly. 1968. Ramona the Pest.

"I am not a pest," Ramona Quimby told her big sister Beezus.

Ramona is back. Originally published in 1968, a full decade after Beezus and Ramona, Ramona the Pest follows Ramona as she enters a strange, new world: kindergarten. Now five years old, Ramona is ready--or so she thinks--to conquer this thing called school. Eager to learn to read and write so she can catch up with her older sister Beezus. But what Ramona doesn't expect to be quite so challenging is the ever-going struggle to be good, to stay good through the course of a school day. Staying in her seat. Being quiet. Following the rules. Playing nicely with others. Ramona hasn't encountered much resistance. This has been Ramona's philosophy, and up to a point, it has always worked for her: "If she had to, she would make a great big noisy fuss, and when Ramona made a great big noisy fuss, she usually got her own way. Great big noisy fusses were often necessary when a girl was the youngest member of the family and the youngest person on her block." (12) So you can only imagine what a rude awakening is in store for her as she enters Miss Binney's kindergarten class.

Ramona the Pest is completely delightful. The novel is from Ramona's perspective, and she captures kid-thinking, kid-acting so authentically. Ramona and her classmates. What can I say? There's the ever-so-cute, ever-so-kissable Davy, Susan with the boing-boing curls, and Howie who is Ramona's playmate not by choice but because their parents are good friends. What I didn't realize growing up was how authentically she captures the teacher, Miss Binney.

I have so many favorite scenes from Ramona the Pest. But my favorite favorite favorite scene comes from chapter five, "Ramona's Engagement Ring." Henry Huggins, boy hero, saves Ramona and earns her new-found love and attention.

One of the things that makes these novels so charming, so perfectly delightful (besides the brilliantly witty and authentic characters and dialogue) is the artwork by Louis Darling.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Beezus and Ramona

Cleary, Beverly. 1955. Beezus and Ramona.

Originally published in 1955, Beezus and Ramona is a true children's classic. Beezus, age 9, and Ramona, age 4, are the stars of Beezus and Ramona. This story is told from Beezus' perspective. (I believe the others in the series are told from Ramona's perspective.) This is how it opens: "Beatrice Quimby's biggest problem was her little sister Ramona. Beatrice, or Beezus (as everyone called her, because that was what Ramona had called her when she first learned to talk), knew other nine-year-old girls who had little sisters who went to nursery school, but she did not know anyone with a little sister like Ramona." If you've read any of the Ramona series, you know what she's talking about. Ramona. That love-to-hate, pesky little sister who is always into something. She has to be one of the best-loved, most-memorable characters ever created.

In Beezus and Ramona, we see the family dynamics of the Quimby household and the tension between two sisters. Beezus is almost perpetually frustrated with her younger sister. And Ramona is well, Ramona. Prone to wanting what she wants when she wants it.

I must have read this series dozens and dozens of times growing up. But I haven't read it recently. I probably last read it in 1999. Ramona is just as great as I remembered it. Each chapter has a scene that I almost know by heart. From the opening chapter, where Ramona's fascination with steam shovels lead her to destroy a library book, to the last chapter where Ramona's imaginative "acting-out" of Hansel and Gretel leads her to bake her doll, Bendix, in the oven and ruin her sister's birthday cake in the process.

I highly recommend this series to readers young and old. I think they make especially nice read-alouds! You can read the first chapter online here.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Themed Reading Challenge 2008

I have been thinking and thinking and thinking about the Themed Reading Challenge. But I have finally come up with a theme that I am more than happy with...Beverly Cleary.

I am going to try to read and review EVERY Cleary book I can get my hands on. Some I have already--childhood copies--and, of course, I'll see what the library has to offer as well.

http://www.beverlycleary.com/books/index.html
http://www.beverlycleary.com/books/ramona_books.html
http://www.beverlycleary.com/books/henry_books.html
http://www.beverlycleary.com/books/ralph_books.html
http://www.beverlycleary.com/books/leigh_books.html

I know I probably can't manage all of these, but here is her bibliography according to Wikipedia:

• Henry Huggins (illus. by Louis Darling) - (1950)
• Ellen Tebbits (illus. by Louis Darling) - (1951)
• Henry and Beezus (illus. by Louis Darling) - (1952)
• Otis Spofford (illus. by Louis Darling) - (1953)
• Henry and Ribsy (illus. by Louis Darling) - (1954)
• Beezus and Ramona (illus. by Louis Darling) - (1955)
• Fifteen (illus. by Joe and Beth Krush) - (1956)
• Henry and the Paper Route (illus. by Louis Darling) - (1957)
• The Luckiest Girl - (1958)
• Jean and Johnny (illus. by Joe and Beth Krush) - (1959)
• The Hullabaloo ABC (illus. by Earl Thollander) - (1960)
• Two Dog Biscuits (illus. by ? ?) - (1961) (companion to The Real Hole)
• Henry and the Clubhouse (illus. by Louis Darling) - (1962)
• Sister of the Bride (illus. by Joe and Beth Krush) - (1963)
• Ribsy (illus. by Louis Darling) - (1964)
• The Mouse and the Motorcycle (illus. by Louis Darling) - (1965)
• Mitch and Amy (illus. by Bob Marstall) - (1967)
• Ramona the Pest (illus. by Louis Darling) - (1968)
• Runaway Ralph (illus. by Louis Darling) - (1970)
• Socks (illus. by Beatrice Darwin) - (1973)
• Ramona the Brave (illus. by Alan Tiegreen) - (1975)
• Ramona and Her Father (illus. by Alan Tiegreen) - (1977)
• Ramona and Her Mother (illus. by Alan Tiegreen) - (1979)
• Ramona Quimby, Age 8 (illus. by Alan Tiegreen) - (1981)
• Ralph S. Mouse (illus. by Paul O. Zelinsky) - (1982)
• Dear Mr. Henshaw (illus. by Paul O. Zelinsky) - (1983)
• Ramona Forever (illus. by Alan Tiegreen) - (1984)
• Lucky Chuck (illus. by J. Winslow Higginbottom) - (1984)
• Two Dog Biscuits (illus. by DyAnne Disalvo-Ryan) - (1986) (companion to The Real Hole)
• A Girl from Yamhill: A Memoir - (1988)
• Muggie Maggie (illus. by Kay Life) - (1990)
• Strider (illus. by Paul O. Zelinsky) - (1991)
• Runaway Ralph (illus. by Tracy Dockray) - (1991)
• Petey's Bedtime Story (illus. by David Small) - (1993)
• My Own Two Feet - (1995)
• The Hullabaloo ABC (illus. by Ted Rand) - (1998)
• Ramona's World (illus. by Alan Tiegreen) - (1999)