Henshaw came about because two different boys from different parts of the country asked me to write a book about a boy whose parents were divorced. "I learned a lot from children's letters," Cleary said. Librarians kept shelves devoted entirely to Cleary's books, and teachers read the books aloud to their students.įor about 30 years - despite objections from publishers who wanted her focus on writing more books - Cleary answered all of her fan mail herself. She was a "pioneer," Lalicki said, in this "rooted-in-reality kind of book for children."Ĭleary's books racked up awards and were constantly reprinted and re-illustrated. "I find that many people don't, but I'm just very fortunate."īarbara Lalicki, who edited the 1999 Ramona book, Ramona's World, said Cleary steered the field of children's writing away from fantasy and historical fiction. I do have very clear memories of childhood," Cleary said. In Character Ramona Quimby: The Mischievous Girl Next DoorĬleary used her crystal-clear recall to capture the tribulations of young children exquisitely in her books. By the 1940s she'd become a children's librarian in Portland, Ore., and she remembered boys in particular would ask her: "Where are the books about kids like us?" Cleary was still a young girl when she decided to become a children's book author. Her writing style - clear, direct, uncomplicated - mirrored the author's own trajectory. And I think children like to find themselves in books." And in my childhood, many years ago, children's books seemed to be about English children, or pioneer children. "I wanted to read about the sort of boys and girls that I knew in my neighborhood and in my school.
That's what I wanted to read about when I was growing up," Cleary told NPR's Linda Wertheimer in 1999. "I think children want to read about normal, everyday kids. Generations of readers tore around the playground, learned to write in cursive, rebelled against tuna fish sandwiches and acquired all the glorious scrapes and bruises of childhood right along with Ramona.Ĭleary's simple idea - to write about the kids in her own neighborhood - ensured that her books have never gone out of print. Cleary was the creator of some of the most authentic characters in children's literature - Henry Huggins, Ralph S. Mouse).Ĭhildren's author Beverly Cleary died Thursday in Carmel, Calif., her publisher HarperCollins said. Beverly Cleary was the author behind many beloved characters, including Henry Huggins, Ellen Tebbits, Otis Spofford, and Beezus and Ramona Quimby (as well as Ribsy, Socks and Ralph S.
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