By Cara Kenmore

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The World of Beverly Cleary

• By Cara Kenmore
• Summer 2008
• 5183

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Who is Beverly Cleary?

• 1916 Beverly Bunn is born April 12, in
  McMinnville, Oregon.  After her birth, the family
  returns home to Yamhill, Oregon.
• 1918 November 11, World War I is finally over.
   The bells of Yamhill's three churches ring out
  the news, and Beverly's mother tells her two year
  old daughter to never forget this day.

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Who is Beverly Cleary?

• 1921
• Beverly owns two books and Yamhill has no
  library!  
• Beverly's mother begins to campaign for a
  permanent library in Yamhill.  She succeeds, and
  Yamhill soon has books for all its citizens.  
• Beverly tells a similar story in Emily's Runaway
  Imagination.

4

Beverly the Student

• 1922
• Begins first grade
• Smallpox
• Placed in the "Blackbird" reading group with
  other struggling readers
• Influenced her writing

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Beverly the Student

• 1924
• The Dutch Twins by Lucy Fitch Perkins
• First time she felt like reading was funWhy,
  something actually is happening in this story!
• Beverly's teacher calls her a nuisance.  She
  writes about a similar incident in Ramona Quimby,
  Age 8.

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Beverly the Student

• 1926
• Beverly and her mother argue about wearing long
  woolen underwear to school. Ellen and her mother
  argue about the same thing in the story Ellen
  Tebbits.
• Beverly also wonders why adults talk about
  children as if they are not there.  Her character
  Ramona Quimby often wonders the same thing.

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Beverly the Student

• 1928 Beverly's seventh grade teacher encourages
  her to write and predicts she will write
  children's books someday.
• 1929 Hard times hit many families including
  Beverly's when the stock market crashes.
• 1930 Beverly begins high school at U. S. Grant
  High School in Portland.  

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Beverly the Student

• 1934 Moves to California to attend Chaffee
  Junior College
• 1936 University of California, Berkeley
• 1939 The Universtiy of Washington Library
  School at Seattle.

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Beverly the Woman

• 1940
• Children's librarian in Yakima, Washington
• She always wondered where the stories were about
  neighborhoods and friends similar to her
  childhood
• Marries Clarence Cleary and moves to Oakland,
  California

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Beverly the Woman

• 1942 Post librarian at the Oakland Army Hospital
• 1945 World War II ends and Beverly and Clarence
  move to Berkeley, California

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Beverly the Writer

• 1949 January 2, Beverly begins writing a
  children's book about a boy and his dog.  Two
  months later, she sends it to William Morrow and
  Company.
• 1950 Henry Huggins goes on sale!

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Beverly the Writer

• 1955
• After writing several more books about Henry and
  writing Ellen Tebbits, Beverly gives Ramona her
  first titled appearance in Beezus and Ramona.
• Beverly and Clarence become parentstwins
  Marianne Elizabeth and Malcolm James !

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Beverly the Writer

• 1965
• The Mouse and the Motorcycle is released!  
• Beverly wrote the book after her son had a high
  fever in a motel room and requested a story about
  a mouse and a motorcycle.

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Beverly the Writer

• 1968 Ramona is the star! Ramona the Pest is
  released.
• 1978 Ramona and Her Father wins a Newbery Honor
  Award.
• 1982 Ramona Quimby, Age 8 wins a Newbery Honor
  Award.

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Beverly the Writer

• 1984
• Dear Mr. Henshaw wins the Newbery Award!
• Ramona Forever is published.

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Beverly the Writer

• 1993 The Clearys donate a large bookmobile to
  Monterey County, California.
• 1999 After fifteen years, Ramona is back!
   Ramona's World is published.

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Beverly the Writer

• Best known as the creator of middle-class, child
  characters who live in and around Klickitat
  Street in Portland, Oregon
• http//www.beverlycleary.com/adventures/map.html

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School Media Appeal

• Children
• Comfort
• Humor
• Insight
• Her works assure young readers that they can
  master their own situations and make successful
  transitions as they move closer to adulthood

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School Media Appeal

• Parents
• Timeless topics Growing up, making mistakes,
  feeling helpless, misunderstood, guilty, left
  out, sibling rivalry, bullies, death, only child,
  divorced or single-parent families
• Clearys work promotes the pleasures of reading.

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Classroom Integration

• Henry Hugginsjournal entry about experiences
  with animals
• Ellen Tebbitsdiscuss friendship conflicts, good
  vs. bad resolution strategies
• The Mouse and the Motorcyclestory prompt Once a
  pig plays the piano.
• SocksDescribe a day in the life of your family
  pet, from its perspective

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Classroom Integration

• Ramona and Her Fatherfeelings vs. actions chart,
  understanding and improving our reactions
• Ramona Quimby, Age 8dealing with difficult
  personalities, role playing
• Dear Mr. Henshawwriting to a pen pal, different
  than email?
• Muggie Maggiediscuss struggles in school, cause
  and effect story map

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Beverly the Legacy

• Received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award (1975)
• Beverly Cleary Sculpture Park in Portland (1995)
• Ramona Henry
  Ribsy

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Beverly the Legacy

• Established in 2002 by the Oregon Educational
  Media Association, a group of Oregon school
  librarians
• Created to allow younger students in Oregon the
  chance to vote for their favorite books each year
• Seven books are nominated each year by students,
  librarians, teachers, and other interested
  people. The winner is announced in April.

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Beverly the Legacy

• Quotes
• Children should learn that reading is pleasure,
  not just something that teachers make you do in
  school.
• I wanted to be a ballerina. I changed my mind.
  (Arent we glad she did!)

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Works Cited

• Ciampi, Jaime. The world of Beverly Cleary.
  Harper Collins Publisher, 2001.
  http//www.beverlycleary.com/index.html (accessed
  July 2008).
• Cleary, Beverly. A girl from Yamhill A memoir.
  New York Morrow Junior Books, 1988.
• ____________. My own two feet A memoir. New
  York Morrow Junior Books, 1993.
• Kelly Joanne. The Beverly Cleary handbook.
  Illustrated by Pat Martin with photos by Charles
  Kelly. Portsmouth, NH Teacher Ideas Press,
  1996
• Ward, S. Meet Beverly Cleary. New York
  Powerkids Press, 2001.