I have been a huge fan of Beverly Cleary for about 25 years. And before that, I knew of her stuff because of the one book of hers we owned at home growing up, which was Ellen Tebbits.I must have read that book at least half a dozen times, just because it was there. It wasn't until much later, when I began to improve as a writer, that I really came to appreciate Ms. Cleary's amazing talent.
I've read most of her books to the twins--everything in the Henry Huggins series, everything in the Ramona series, everything in the Ralph S. Mouse series, and a couple of her other books as well (including her book Otis Spofford, which also features Ellen Tebbits in a supporting role). But this book never found its way to our shelf until last week when Charlotte brought it home from school.
And so I re-read it today. Wonderful, again. (Coincidentally, Charlotte brought home this edition, which has the Alan Tiegreen illustration on the cover, but the same drawings inside as the 1951 original that we had when I was a kid.)
1 comment:
Ellen Tebbits was one of my favorite all-time books when I was a kid. I loved it so much that I asked for it for my birthday one year and Ma & Hol got it for me from Martha Merrell's. I still have that book, the very one I got as a kid. Since moving here to Portland, I love coming across some of the street names from her books such as Klickitat Street, the home of Ramona Quimby. There is a Quimby Street, too.
There is a sculpture garden
http://www.multcolib.org/kids/cleary/ of Beverly Cleary's characters here in Portland but I have yet to see it. Maybe this summer...
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