Women's Wednesday: Beverly Clearly
Well, this turned into a love letter to an author.
As I write this Beverly Atlee Bunn Cleary is 104 years old and still alive. And that is not the most amazing thing about her. The most amazing thing is the success she found as a children's author, writing about children living ordinary lives with ordinary minor problems. And even though she wrote her books several decades ago, they are still relevant today, in spite of the fact that her characters play outside in the neighborhood, walk themselves to school, and don't carry cell phones. Her first book Henry Huggins was published in 1950 and turned into a series. He and his dog
Ribsy have several adventures while living on Klikitat street. Ramona Quimby makes her first
appearance as the annoying younger sister of one of his best friends, Beezus, in one of the Henry Huggins books.
Her most famous character, Ramona, is a little girl that lives life exuberantly, loves to explore, and does not fit into the expectations that adults assign to girls. She just is, and she expects acceptance and love just as she is. Ramona even became a tv show for awhile.
And another character Ralph S. Mouse, became a movie.
But let's let Beverly talk about herself. Enjoy.
She also wrote some teen romances. These are more dated, but that's what's so fun about them. It's a peek into being a teenager in the fifties.
Another longer interview with Beverly.
And did you know there's a monument garden?
Here's a documentary about her.
She wrote two autobiographies.
The Girl From Yamhill is her story from childhood until she leaves home. She lived through the first world war!
My Own Two Feet picks up the story and has us follow her to college, her marriage to Clarence Cleary, life during WWII, her career as a librarian, and ends with the acceptance of her first manuscript, Henry Huggins.
Here's her website.
Beverly Cleary Website
And here's a list of all her books organized by series and publication date.
Now that should keep you busy for awhile.
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