Beverly Cleary
Anna Faust and Kaalah Manongdo
About the Author
Born April 12, 1916 in McMinnville, Oregon as Beverly Atlee Bunn and lived on a farm in Yamhill until she attended school
Yamhill didn’t have a library, but her mother arranged for the State Library to send books and she would act as librarian. This is where her love for books began.
Family moved to Portland and Beverly found herself in her school’s low reading circle. By 3rd grade she had conquered reading and spent most of her time with books and in the library. The school librarian encouraged her to check out books she could relate to and instilled the belief in her that she could write for children one day.
At age 18, Bunn moved to Ontario, California to attend Chaffey College, where she earned an Associate of Arts degree. She worked as a substitute librarian at the Ontario City Library, and went on to attend the University of California at Berkeley. After graduating with a B.A. in English from Berkeley, she studied at the School of Librarianship at the University of Washington, where she earned a degree in library science.
About the Author, continued
In 1940, she married Clarence Cleary. They eloped because her Presbyterian parents did not approve of her marrying a Roman Catholic. They had twin children, Marianne and Malcolm, in 1955.
Cleary worked as a librarian, where she found that children were searching for the same kind of books she was interested in finding as a child, but weren’t finding what they were looking for. This is when she decided to write her own stories.
Her first book, Henry Huggins, was published in 1950. She later wrote several books about Huggins, as well as books on supporting characters Beezus and Ramona. In 1988, a Canadian show based on her work called Ramona aired. In 2010, a film entitled Ramona and Beezus was released.
She has written two autobiographies, My Own Two Feet (1995) and A Girl from Yamhill (1998)
Her husband died in 2004, and today she lives in Northern California. She will celebrate her 100th birthday on April 12th.
Writing Style
As a child, she decided she would someday write stories she longed to read, but couldn’t find on the shelves of the library.
She treats childhood problems with respect, making her books relatable for children and teens. Emotions of anger, self-pity, and pride are explored honestly within the characters. She wrote with the words of her college writing professor in mind: “the proper subject of the novel is universal human experience grounded in the minutiae of ordinary life.”
Her descriptions are not lengthy and flowery- she prefers reporting action - what people did, and what they said about it. Her writing style can be described as brisk and matter-of-fact and incorporates dry humor. She’s been described as a model of the “plain American style” and as “having nothing wasted in her writing.”
She has said that she wrote books in order to entertain and not to teach children lessons, stating: “If I suspected the author was trying to show me how to be a better behaved girl, I shut the book.”
“One need not be anointed or privileged, or part of an establishment, to make good work. What is required is authenticity of voice. To find the clay that built Ramona, one returns always to a farm in Yamhill.” -Anna Keesey, Oregon Live
Feature Books
Awards
Publisher HarperCollins recognizes her birthday, April 12, as National Drop Everything and Read Day (D.E.A.R.)
2012 Ramona the Pest was ranked number 24 among all-time children’s novels (School Library Journal)
2003 National Medal of Art from the National Endowment of the Arts
2000 Cleary was named a “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress
1985 Children’s Book Council’s Every Child Award
1984 John Newbery Medal for Dear Mr. Henshaw
1984 United States author nominee for the Hans Christian Anderson Award
1982 Newbery Honor Book- Ramona Quimby, Age 8
1982 University of Southern Mississippi’s Silver Medallion
1981 National Book Award in Children’s Fiction for Ramona and Her Mother
1980 Catholic Library Association’s Regina Medal
1978 Newbery Honor Book- Ramona and Her Father
1975 American Library Association’s Laura Ingalls Wilder Award
1973 William Allen White Children’s Book award for Socks
Visit her Website!
We’re gonna party like it’s her birthday because it is coming up on April 12th! 100 years old!