The Reading Warehouse

This warm-hearted story of a mother's love for her spirited young daughter is told beautifully by Newbery Medal-winning author Beverly Cleary.

Ramona Quimby is no longer seven, but not quite eight. She's seven and a half right now, if you ask her. Not allowed to stay home alone, yet old enough to watch pesky Willa Jean, Ramona wonders when her mother will treat her like her older, more mature sister, Beezus.

But with her parents' unsettling quarrels and some spelling trouble at school, Ramona wonders if growing up is all it's cracked up to be. No matter what, she'll always be her mother's little girl...right?

Beverly Cleary is one of America's most beloved authors. As a child, she struggled with reading and writing. But by third grade, after spending much time in her public library in Portland, Oregon, she found her skills had greatly improved. Before long, her school librarian was saying that she should write children's books when she grew up.

Instead she became a librarian. 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. She based her funny stories on her own neighborhood experiences and the sort of children she knew. And so, the Klickitat Street gang was born!

Mrs. 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. Dear Mr. Henshaw won the Newbery Medal, and Ramona Quimby, Age 8 and Ramona and Her Father have been named Newbery Honor Books. Her characters, including Beezus and Ramona Quimby, Henry Huggins, and Ralph, the motorcycle-riding mouse, have delighted children for generations.