Beverly Cleary, Age 104
Posted on April 7, 2021
by Eric P
Beverly Cleary, who died March 25 at the age of 104, was once named a “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress, and rarely has such a distinction seemed so well-deserved. Cleary started writing for young readers in 1950 and somehow, unlike many of her contemporaries, her books never got dated or out-of-fashion – or, for that matter, out of print. That may partly be because of her commitment to writing grounded, realistic stories about recognizably unremarkable people. (Except, you know, for the ones about a mouse who rides around on a motorcycle.)
The kids in books like Ramona Quimby, Age 8 and Dear Mr Henshaw didn’t have wild adventures or live out larger-than-life fantasies. Their parents had big messy arguments and struggled with job loss and money troubles – real adult problems that affected their kids in real plausible ways. Characters dealt with divorce and self-esteem and mortality. Ramona failed to manage her impulses and Beezus was moody. Cleary’s thorough empathy and her tendency to treat characters like real, flawed people with complexity and integrity kept these storylines from curdling into melodrama, and also mostly helped her avoid the sexist representations that plague some other books of her vintage.
Beverly Cleary may be gone, but as long as there are books in the library, kids will continue to recognize themselves among the denizens of Klickitat Street.
Henry Huggins
ebook audio | ebook Spanish | hoopla | hoopla audiobookEllen Tebbits
eBook | hoopla | hoopla audioHenry and Beezus
Book on CD | eAudiobook | eBook | hoopla | hoopla audioOtis Spofford
eAudiobook | eBook | hoopla | hoopla audioHenry and Ribsy
Braille | eAudiobook | eBook | hoopla | hoopla audioBeezus and Ramona
Book on CD | Braille | eAudiobook | eBook | hoopla | hoopla audioFifteen
hooplaHenry and the Paper Route
Book on CD | eAudiobook | eBook | hoopla | hoopla audioThe Luckiest Girl
hooplaEmily’s Runaway Imagination
eAudiobook | eBook | hoopla | hoopla audioHenry and the Clubhouse
eAudiobook | eBook | hoopla | hoopla audioRibsy
eBook | hoopla | hoopla audioThe Mouse and the Motorcycle
Braille | DVD | eAudiobook | eBook | ebook Spanish | hoopla | hoopla audio | Large PrintMitch and Amy
eAudiobook | eBook | hoopla | hoopla audioRamona the Pest
eAudiobook | eBook | hoopla | hoopla audioRunaway Ralph
Book on CD | eAudiobook | eBook | hoopla | hoopla audioSocks
eBook | hoopla | hoopla audioRamona the Brave
Book on CD | Braille | eAudiobook | eBook | hoopla | hoopla audioRamona and Her Father
eAudiobook | eBook | hoopla | hoopla audio | Large PrintRamona and Her Mother
eAudiobook | eBook | eBook Spanish | hoopla | hoopla audioRamona Quimby, Age 8
Book on CD | Braille | eAudiobook | eBook | hoopla | hoopla audio | Large Print | PlayawayRalph S. Mouse
Book on CD | eAudiobook | eBook | hoopla | hoopla audioDear Mr. Henshaw
Braille | eAudiobook | eBook | hoopla | hoopla audioRamona Forever
Book on CD | eAudiobook | eBook | hoopla | hoopla audioMuggie Maggie
eAudiobook | eBook | hoopla | hoopla audioStrider
Braille | eAudiobook | eBook | hoopla | hoopla audioRamona’s World
Book on CD | eAudiobook | eBook | hoopla | hoopla audiohoopla
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Cleary also wrote a little bit about her own life in accounts that offer compelling insights into how she came to choose to write the kinds of stories she wrote.
A Girl from Yamhill
hooplaMy Own Two Feet: A Memoir
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