The Ramona series by Beverly Cleary

First published:Ramona the Pest, 1968; Ramona the Brave, 1975; Ramona and Her Father, 1977; Ramona and Her Mother, 1979; Ramona Quimby, Age 8, 1981; Ramona Forever, 1984; all illustrated

Type of work: Domestic realism

Themes: Family and emotions

Time of work: The late twentieth century

Recommended Ages: 10-13

Locale: Klickitat Street in Portland, Oregon

Principal Characters:

• Ramona Quimby, a bright, imaginative girl, whose natural exuberance often leads to problems
• Mrs. Quimby, Ramona’s sympathetic, supportive mother
• Mr. Quimby, Ramona’s other kind, supportive parent
• Beezus Quimby, Ramona’s older sister, usually a polite, conscientious young girl

The Story

Ramona, who appeared in other books by Beverly Cleary, as a pest, is the central character in this series that amusingly depicts the delights, difficulties, and adventures of an imaginative, active young child learning to adjust to the adult world. Ramona’s approach to life as the smallest person in the family is that she sometimes has to be noisier to get attention. While each book presents typical Ramona delights, such as clanking down the sidewalk on tin-can stilts with her friend Howie, each book also subtly presents a stage in her growth.

At first, in Ramona the Pest, Ramona has two compelling desires: to have what she wants and to have the love of those around her. For a while, she has only one desire: the love and good opinion of her kindergarten teacher. While she has that, she thinks that her teacher is the most understanding person in the world. When Ramona’s desire to do what she wants becomes as strong as her desire for her teacher’s approval, however, a conflict arises. When challenged to control her behavior, Ramona decides she cannot promise this restraint and refuses to return to school. Only when Ramona is reassured of her teacher’s love does she make some unarticulated concessions and return to school.

As Ramona continues to grow in the social setting of school, more difficult challenges present themselves. Her next challenge, in Ramona the Brave, is to cope with the realization that her first-grade teacher is not as loving and accepting as her kindergarten teacher had been. While this realization shakes Ramona’s self-confidence, it also motivates growth. Ramona begins to see herself from other perspectives. Sometimes she feels as if she were standing outside herself seeing a sort of messy, grubby six-year-old girl. This less-than-appealing image of herself reminds her that she must continue to control her behavior and at the same time, be, as her father tells her, spunky. She tries: She sleeps alone; courageously, she heads off to school even when she thinks her teacher does not like her; and most dramatically, she bravely faces an angry dog, an action that wins, to her immense satisfaction, the hearty praise of her teachers.

As Ramona comes to see herself more objectively and works to improve, she also sees that adults, too, struggle to exert self-discipline. The focus of her adventures shifts to family concerns in Ramona and Her Father when Mr. Quimby finds himself without a job. Because of her father’s loss of employment, Ramona becomes aware of family struggles: Her mother takes on a full-time job; they all limit treats; her sister angrily talks back to her father. Ramona recognizes that her own tears of anger and frustration stem from worry about her family. She discovers to her surprise and dismay that her family is not perfect, but she also gains a new perspective on them. Eventually, she sees not only their negative but also their positive qualities, such as the way her father gives up smoking. She appreciates her family: the way her father colors a huge picture of Oregon with her, the way her mother steps over this picture spread across the kitchen floor as she fixes dinner, the way her sister includes her in a class assignment. She sees much in her family to love.

As her maturation process continues, Ramona finds that she plays an important role in family life. This realization becomes important in Ramona and Her Mother when her mother begins working full time, and Ramona has less time with her. In addition, she notices the companionable times her mother and sister have together and feels left out. Though these negative feelings cause Ramona to feel wicked and backslide into naughtiness, they are countered by a new sense of satisfaction in being relied upon by others. Ramona sees her job in the family as putting up with her sitter and the sitter’s troublesome four-year-old granddaughter. Still, what offers Ramona the most comfort and biggest boost to self-esteem is simply her mother’s reassurance of her love.

As Ramona grows, she continues to amuse readers by expressing her self-centered logic in Ramona Quimby, Age 8. Ramona is self-righteous when she sees that others perceive her behavior differently from the way she sees herself. She is indignant when her teacher describes her as a showoff and a nuisance. She feels her job of cheerfully staying with her sitter is too hard. She notices with impatience that her father is often cross. She silently agrees when her mother admits that parents are not nice all of the time. Still, despite her sense of being misunderstood, Ramona finds much to feel good about. She is delighted, for example, when her teacher refers to her as one of her sparklers. What she learns in this stage of her growth is that bad days can have good endings, and tomorrows bring a brand-new day.

Launched into the career of becoming her own best self, Ramona continues to be more aware of herself and others in Ramona Forever. She values positive attributes of those who make up the growing circle of family and becomes more patient with the imperfections of her family and herself. Especially, she becomes cognizant of efforts people take on behalf of others.

With this maturing perspective, she makes some shocking realizations. One is that her sitter really does not like her; another is that her beloved aunt is planning to marry a man of whom Ramona does not approve. Most surprisingly, she discovers that adults sometimes act like children. While she makes these distressing discoveries, she also has the pleasant experience of contributing to the happiness of others. She and Beezus sacrifice their own needs to help their parents; they take initiative to solve problems, and Ramona’s own action actually saves her aunt’s wedding day. Her behavior and the special wedding-day treats from Grandfather—a limousine and a pizza—enable Ramona to see that one person can bless others with a special gift that brightens lives or at least days. She begins to see that being an adult, as her father tells her, takes hard work.

Context

The Ramona books present an ordinary, normal family whose everyday activities are realistic and thus often amusing. Like other books by Beverly Cleary, the Ramona books sparkle with realistic detail. Miss Binney’s primary teacher’s stock remarks—“I like that Ramona is looking at her own work”—are amusing, as are the familiar playground epithets that never change much: “yard apes” and “cooties.” It is also amusing that the omniscient narrator generalizes about the two kinds of kindergarten students: those who line up by the door and wait for the teacher to come and those who run around the playground until the teacher calls everyone to get in line.

The Ramona books provide stories about normal boys and girls in an everyday town who do normal—and entertaining—things. Like Cleary’s other heroes and heroines, Ramona does not change her character, even though she does work at controlling herself and she does mature. In a period when the trend in children’s books is to examine a contemporary problem, the Ramona books are not trendy. That is not to say that they are not relevant. While these children do not have special problems, they do dramatically portray the joys and difficulties typical of all children. While their parents do not espouse causes, they are practical, sensible parents who try to be cheerful while creating a comfortable life for themselves and their children.

As a children’s librarian in the 1940’s, Cleary saw a need for books about boys and girls with whom young readers could identify. She set out to fill this need, and she has. The books and the author have received numerous awards, testifying to their success. More important, children and adults alike continue to find delight and amusement in Ramona.