Ramona the Brave » (Reprint)

New readers find a friend in Beverly Cleary, who displays an uncanny understanding of kid life in Ramona Quimby, Age 8, Henry Huggins, and other titles in her classic series of books about life on Klickitat Street -- books that hold up decade after decade.

In this touching and funny story, the ebullient Ramona, feeling brave and grown-up, enters first grade. Quickly she finds that her new teacher, Mrs. Griggs, appears perplexed by pupils who like to be different. Since Ramona cannot help being different, clearly the two are incompatible.

Nevertheless, Ramona can be counted on to keep things lively. Enraged when Susan copies her wise old owl prepared for Parents' Night and receives praise for it, Ramona rebels. Overcome by guilt and no longer brave, she tries mightily thereafter to please her teacher, but still Mrs. Griggs infuriatingly reports home that Ramona lacks self-control. Only because she is a girl with spunk, to use her father's word, does Ramona's courage return, earning her at last an uneasy truce with the teacher.

Beverly Cleary draws here a portrait of a little girl discovering with astonishment that the way others see her is not always the way she sees herself. In the contrast lie moments of emerging self-knowledge for Ramona and of delicious hilarity for the reader.

Children's Literature

Long before Junie P. Jones or Peter's little brother Fudge, there was Ramona Quimby, a brave and fearless (spunky according to her Dad) little girl just starting first grade. This year Ramona will need all her spunk to deal with her first grade teacher who calls her Ramona Kitty Cat (because Ramona prints the Q that starts her last name with whiskers and ears), a bossy big sister, and her Mom's new job. But it is hard to be brave when you take a different route to school and lose your shoe protecting yourself from a growling German shepherd! Or when you go to sleep in your new bedroom and, for the first time ever, you are alone in the dark. Who knows what might be hiding under the bed, slithering behind the curtains, or slinking around the walls? A timeless classic that is as delightful today as it was when first published. A wonderful book for parents and teachers to share with younger readers.