I missed out on Cleary books as a child. I have a few theories as to why this happened. Her first book, Henry Huggins was published in 1955, a year after I was born, so her books were still quite new when I was a young reader but not so new that I wouldn’t have seen them at the library or had them read to me by my very bookish elementary school teachers. Yes, my teachers, especially my third and fifth grade teachers, read lots of books aloud to us, but no Cleary that I can recall. Believe it or not, in the early 60s her books were considered too radical. Were they? Are they still?
I think one reason I didn’t pick Beverly Cleary off the library shelf was that I always turned my nose up at a book that looked as if it were going to be about boring regular life. No, I didn’t read the Little House books or even Nancy Drew. And I didn’t play with Barbie; I played with those little troll dolls with the colored hair that sticks straight up. I discovered that I liked the magical toys and the magical books, such as those by E. Nesbit and Edward Eager and E. B. White, what I came to think of as those magic E authors.
I first read Cleary as an adult when I had reading children of my own and was writing articles and stories for children’s magazines. I think the first one I read was Dear Mr. Henshaw, which won the Newbery award. The first half is laugh-out-loud funny. Humor is definitely her forte. But then it goes oh-so-dark. There are some problems with it, which I have written about on this blog. After that I tried the Ramona books and they hit the spot and probably influenced some of my own magazine stories. I still remember the trouble she had with her owl art project and the time a dog took her shoe on the way to school so she made one out of paper towels from the school rest room. Ha-ha!
No, my teachers did not read Cleary books to me. They had not yet stood the test of time. Let’s find out if they do, and which ones, a half century later. I’m going to start with the eight Ramona books for girls and then the Henry Huggins for boys, then, if I feel they are worthy classics, put them in my little library in April to celebrate Beverly’s 100th birthday. Clearly, I better get reading Cleary!
Here’s a handy booklist to get us started. By the way, I went to the local thrift store and easily found six Cleary books I didn't already have for 75 cents each.
Henry Huggins, Morrow, 1950 †
Ellen Tebbits, Morrow, 1951
Henry and Beezus, Morrow, 1952 †
Otis Spofford Morrow, 1953
Henry and Ribsy, Morrow, 1954 †
Beezus and Ramona, Morrow, 1955 ‡
Fifteen, Morrow, 1956
Henry and the Paper Route. Morrow, 1957 †
The Luckiest Girl, Morrow, 1958
Jean and Johnny, Morrow, 1959
The Hullabaloo ABC, Parnassus, 1960
The Real Hole, Morrow, 1960
Beaver and Wally, Berkley, 1960
Here's Beaver!, Berkley, 1961
Two Dog Biscuits, Morrow, 1961
Emily's Runaway Imagination, Morrow, 1961
Henry and the Clubhouse, Morrow, 1962 †
Sister of the Bride, Morrow, 1963
Ribsy, Morrow, 1964 †
The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Morrow, 1965
The Growing-Up Feet, Morrow, 1967
Mitch and Amy, Morrow, 1967
Ramona the Pest, Morrow, 1968 ‡
Runaway Ralph, Morrow, 1970
Socks, Morrow, 1973
Ramona the Brave, Morrow, 1975 ‡
Ramona and Her Father, Morrow, 1977 ‡
Ramona and Her Mother, Morrow, 1979 ‡
Ramona Quimby, Age 8, Morrow, 1981 ‡
Ralph S. Mouse, Morrow, 1982
Dear Mr. Henshaw, Morrow, 1983
Ramona Forever, Morrow, 1984 ‡
The Ramona Quimby Diary, Morrow, 1984
Lucky Chuck, Morrow, 1984
Janet's Thingamajigs, Morrow, 1987
A Girl from Yamhill, Morrow, 1988
Muggie Maggie, Morrow, 1990
Strider, Morrow, 1991
Petey's Bedtime Story, Morrow, 1993'Bold text'
My Own Two Feet, Morrow, 1995
Ramona's World, Morrow, 1999 ‡
Two Times the Fun (omnibus containing The Real Hole, Two Dog Biscuits, The Growing-Up Feet, and Janet's Thingamajigs), Morrow, 2005
Postscript: I have now read all eight Ramona books. So funny, real, and good. Ramona the Brave is my fave. The three Mouse books are cute, too.
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