Happy 100th Birthday, Beverly Cleary!

Six decades ago, I picked a book from my school library called Beezus and Ramona. At the time my favorite books were fairy tales, The Betsy, Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace and the Cherry Ames series by Helen Wells. None of these books were about contemporary families like mine. The Betsy, Tacy books took place in the early 1900's, more my grandmother's childhood than mine (I loved those books and so did my daughters). The Cherry Ames books were a series about a young girl starting  nursing school and following  her into various nursing positions. Cherry Ames, Army Nurse was my first real exposure to World War II. All of that was a far cry from Beezus and Ramona. Almost a quarter century later, when my daughters were reading the book, it was just as real. By then, Beverly Cleary had written several more books about Ramona and her family: Ramona the Pest, Ramona the Brave, Ramona Quimby, Age 8, Ramona and Her Mother, Ramona and her Father and Ramona Forever. In 1999, she wrote her final book about Ramona, Ramona's World.

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 Did you know Beverly Cleary was a struggling reader who grew up first to be a librarian and then a writer? You can find out more about her at CNN and NPR. She also has a website, http://www.beverlycleary.com/ where you can find all the 41 books she has written, learn about the characters and even play games. In Ramona Quimby, Age 8, she wrote about Drop Everything and Read (D.E.A.R.) a month long celebration of reading. D.E.A.R. programs have been held nationwide on April 12, Beverly Cleary's birthday.

Beverly Cleary won the Newbery Medal in 1984 for Dear Mr. Henshaw and Honors in 1978 for Ramona and Her Father and in 1982 for Ramona Quimby, Age 8.

The Sonoma County Library has every book written by Beverly Cleary and many as audio-books as well.

Reading and Bookish Links

Every day I come across interesting blog posts and articles about kids and reading from Facebook, Pinterest and Tumblr. Each week I will try to round up the most helpful and post them here.

Do you have a child who is ready for chapter books or a reluctant reader? Melissa Taylor from the Imagination Soup blog has compiled an long list of humorous books,Funny Books for Kids. Bonus: many of these books are one of a series.

This morning on Facebook there was a picture of my 3 month old great-niece being read to by her father. Joy! Reading to your child from birth onward is the most important thing you can do to prepare her for success in school. From the Scholastic Parents Blog is 5 Tips Every Parent Needs to Rock the Read-Aloud.

A few years ago, I gave a Yulupa teacher a copy of The One and Only Ivan to read to her class. The class had just raised money and purchased a painting by an elephant in a preserve in Thailand. What I did not count on was that she did not read the book first. When she got to the part about (spoiler alert) Ruby dying, she started crying. Her students were very concerned and tried to comfort her and the next day she received flowers and cards from them. The story and the teacher's reaction brought out empathy in her students. On the Brightly website, Heather Shumaker writes  about Why We Should Share Sad and Scary Stories With Kids. When stories reflect the broad spectrum of life kids can feel empathy, wonder and relief in a safe place.

Jessica Woodbury writes for Book Riot, To Ramona Quimby, With Love about reading all the Ramona books to her children and how different it was from when she read them as a child.  I read the first book in second or third grade and two and a half decades later I read the Ramona books to my kids. My reactions as an adult paralleled Jessica's. I was amazed at how real to life the books were. Beezus and Ramona was the first book in the series, published in 1955. Real life books were not the standard in the 1950's. They are every bit as real today. On April 12th, Beverly Cleary will be 100 years old (more about that later).

Time Magazine’s 100 Best Young Adult Books of All Time

It is more accurate to say that this is a list of Middle Grade and Young Adult books. Charlotte's Web is probably read by more third graders than high school sophomores. Then again, The Hunger Games, would be more appropriate for an older reader. Some of my favorite books are on this list including From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, The Invention of Hugo Cabret , Holes, A Wrinkle in Time, When You Reach Me, The Graveyard Book, Wonder, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime , Matilda and of course, The Sorcerer’s Stone (the first Harry Potter book).

NYPL Top Children’s Books of the Last 100 Years

The New York Public Library (NYPL) presented its first ever list of the Top Children’s Books of the Last 100 Years. Many of the books are no surprise: Cat in the Hat by Dr Seuss, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle and Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. Some have been featured on this blog: Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo, Holes by Louis Sacher and The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. There are books that I loved as a kid: Charlotte’s Web by E B White, Madeleine by Ludwig Bemelmans and The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien. A generation later my children loved: Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume, The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe by C S Lewis and Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst. My grandchildren love: The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J K Rowling .  Check out the  complete list at School Library Journal.

Happy Birthday, Beverly Cleary

Today is Beverly Cleary’s 96th birthday. In her honor, today has been designated Drop Everything and Read Day ( or D.E.A.R.) an annual event aimed at getting families to read together for at least 30 minutes. She wrote about D.E.A.R. in the second chapter of  Ramona Quimby, Age 8 in 1981.

She won a 1982 Newberry Honor award for this book and also for Ramona and Her Father in 1978. In 1984, she was awarded the Newberry Medal for Dear Mr. Henshaw. At the request of two of her readers, she wrote one of the first children’s books that dealt with divorce.

Three generations of my family have read Beverly Cleary’s books. On their behalf, I’d like to wish her a Happy Birthday and to encourage your family to read her too. Here are a couple places you can go to hear more about this author: Beverly Cleary website and KQED's Perspectives.