She has a few mishaps, but she always comes up with witty solutions. She loves her teacher, Miss Binney, and is excited for all of the grown-up things they are learning, like writing letters and her name. Despite minor disappointments - like being forced to walk with Howie and Willa Jean each morning, or being told to wait here for the present, and not realizing that that doesn't mean she gets an actual present for waiting - nothing can dampen her enthusiasm. This is a big moment for Ramona, who wants to grow up as big as Beezus, and has been longing for this day for an eternity, or so it seems to her. I like her earliest appearances, when she comes on the stage as a willful and stubborn young girl, who always understands what she is doing even when others think she is being unreasonable, and who is clever and creative and quite a handful.In this book, Ramona enters kindergarten. When she writes about Ramona, though, her books really shine. Read moreĬleary always delivers solid children's books, with a good message and believable characters and conflicts that are gripping but very domestic. Her characters, including Beezus and Ramona Quimby, Henry Huggins, and Ralph, the motorcycle-riding mouse, have delighted children for generations. Henshaw won the Newbery Medal, and Ramona Quimby, Age 8 and Ramona and Her Father have been named Newbery Honor Books.

Cleary's books have earned her many prestigious awards, including the American Library Association's Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, presented to her in recognition of her lasting contribution to children's literature. And so, the Klickitat Street gang was born! She based her funny stories on her own neighborhood experiences and the sort of children she knew. When a young boy asked her, 'Where are the books about kids like us?' she remembered her teacher's encouragement and was inspired to write the books she'd longed to read but couldn't find when she was younger. Before long, her school librarian was saying that she should write children's books when she grew up. But by third grade, after spending much time in her public library in Portland, Oregon, she found her skills had greatly improved.

As a child, she struggled with reading and writing. Beverly Cleary is one of America's most beloved authors.

Ramona the pest