Book Review: Ramona the Brave by Beverly Cleary

Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons!

   A childhood favorite is rife with nostalgia. It is a feeling of comfort that lasts throughout the years of our lives. As we face the harsh reality of being an adult, it is sometimes a great idea to set aside duty and adulting to just be a kid again. A favorite way that I have done that this year is to revisit one of my favorites series as a child, Ramona Quimby written by Beverly Cleary.

  In Beezus and Ramona we saw a young Beatrice Quimby daringly brave being an older sister of a four year old. That four year old was Ramona. Imaginative, often infuriating, and absolutely adorable, little Ramona began what would be a series of children's books published from 1955 to 1999. When last I visited Klickitat street in Ramona the Pest, our pint-sized protagonist was entering kindergarten. In Ramona the Brave, she is a first grader still yearning for the easy days as a kindergartner, and not liking her new class or teacher, Mrs. Griggs, all that much. She is facing many changes at home and in school, and at six years old, Ramona is struggling with being older.

   

  Beverly Cleary's Ramona the Brave was written in 1975 and is currently published by HarperCollins. It is once again presented with the whimsical artist work of illustrator, Tracy Dockray. Cleary takes all of her books' fan favorite characters and peppers them throughout this funny sequel. Of interest to me was Ramona's little friend Howie Kemp and his often messy little sister, Willa Jean. I love Howie's mild-mannered reactions to Ramona's often over-dramatic tantrums. In Ramona the Brave she is still dodging dirty looks from the family cat, Picky-Picky, and is struggling with sharing a room with sister, Beezus. But when Mr. and Mrs. Quimby announce that the girls will have their own rooms as soon as an addition to the house is finished, things calm down between the siblings. They would both share the new room, each having it for six months out of the year. Of course Ramona wishes to tell her whole class that a hole was chopped out of her house, but this does not go so well for her. Neither does making owls out of paper bags, getting her progress report, or having to do the Pledge of Allegiance with only one shoe (see below).

 But true to its title Ramona is brave. She stands up for her sister against playground bullies, fends off a dog by throwing her shoe at him (which he eats), and walks bravely up the steps to the big kids classrooms to ask her sister's teacher for a stapler (to help in making a paper slipper for her bare foot...pesky doggie). But there is nothing that this bold first-grader cannot handle. And it is all delightful to read.

  Once again I had the pleasure of listening to actress Stockard Channing read Ramona Quimby. Each time I listen to her narrations I am lost in the story, and laugh out loud at her wide range of voices. I am very happy that she is the narrator for the entire series. Amazing work.  

  I enjoyed this book immensely, and I gave Ramona the Brave four out of five stars.  If you are looking to be a kid again, or you want to read a fun story to your child, this book is a great choice.

  Have fun reading this week. Let me know in the comments below what you are reading.

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  Because there is always time to read,
   Xepherus3 



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