Beverly Cleary
Beverly Cleary, born on April 12, 1916, in McMinnville, Oregon, was a celebrated American author known for her impactful children's literature. Growing up with a love for reading and storytelling, Cleary's early influences included her mother's establishment of a small library, which sparked her imagination. After studying at the University of California and becoming a librarian, she was inspired to write when a young patron expressed a desire for more humorous family stories. Cleary published her first book, *Henry Huggins*, in 1950, leading to beloved series featuring characters like Henry and Ramona Quimby, which resonate with the everyday experiences of elementary-age children.
Throughout her career, she received numerous accolades, including the Newbery Medal and the National Medal of Art, and her works have been translated into at least fourteen languages. Cleary's ability to capture the language and anxieties of children made her stories both relatable and timeless. She continued to write until her passing on March 25, 2021, at the age of 104. Her legacy endures through millions of copies sold, adaptations of her works into television and film, and recognition as a significant figure in children's literature, influencing literacy and engagement in young readers for generations.
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Beverly Cleary
Writer
- Born: April 12, 1916
- Place of Birth: McMinnville, Oregon
- Died: March 25, 2021
- Place of Death: Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
Biography
Beverly Cleary was born Beverly Bunn on April 12, 1916, in McMinnville, Oregon, and grew up on a farm near Yamhill, Oregon. She was an only child with a vivid imagination and a love for reading. Her mother had set up a small library in an empty room over a bank in Yamhill, and she took the young Cleary to the library one day a week. Later, the family moved to Portland, where Cleary attended public school and became a regular at the public library. From a young age, she preferred humorous stories about children like her, from small American towns, rather than exotic tales of faraway lands and fairy princesses. While still in school, Cleary wrote stories, essays, and reviews of children’s books, and one of her teachers predicted that she would one day write children’s stories herself. Cleary graduated from Ulysses S. Grant High School in Portland and, in 1934, left home to attend the University of California at Berkeley. While in college, she met Clarence T. Cleary.
Following in the footsteps of her mother and other women who had inspired her, she decided to become a librarian and attended the University of Washington’s School of Librarianship, where she specialized in children’s literature. She became children’s librarian at the Yakima, Washington, public library, where she met a young boy who wished aloud that there were more funny books about families. Cleary told herself that one day, she would write a story like the one the boy described. In 1940, she married Clarence Cleary and moved with him to Oakland, California. The couple had twins.
During World War II, Cleary was the librarian at the Oakland Army Hospital. When the war ended, her position did as well, and she began her career as a writer. In 1950, she published her first novel for children, Henry Huggins. This was followed by five more books about Henry and by another series featuring Ramona Quimby and her family. These two series tell stories about the daily ups and downs of elementary-age children at school, at play outside, and at home. Cleary also wrote more serious books for older children, including Fifteen (1956), which explores the confusion felt by a young girl in love. Cleary became well known for her ability to understand the anxieties and the language of children, which she presented in stories that children find funny and meaningful.
Cleary continued to publish children's books into the twenty-first century. On March 25, 2021, Cleary died in the California city she had long resided in, Carmel-by-the-Sea, at the age of 104.
Honors and Legacy
Cleary won dozens of awards for her work, including the 1984 Newbery Medal for Dear Mr. Henshaw and the 1968 William Allen White Children’s Book Award for The Mouse and the Motorcycle. Ramona and Her Father (1977) and Ramona Quimby, Age Eight (1981) were named Newbery Honor Books. In 2000, Cleary was named a living legend by the Library of Congress, and three years later, she was awarded the National Medal of Art by the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2010, she became the first author of children's literature to be honored with the Los Angeles Times Robert Kirsch Award. She sold millions of copies of her more than forty books and maintained a lasting impression on readers. Following her one-hundredth birthday in 2016, several of her books were reissued and provided with forewords written by prominent figures both within and outside the literary world. Additionally, young readers voted for her to receive numerous statewide awards. The Ramona books were made into a public television series, and both The Mouse and the Motorcycle and Runaway Ralph were made into films. Cleary’s books have been popular and commercial successes, translated into at least fourteen languages, and admired by children and adults alike. Regardless of how many years passed since her books were published, critics and readers continued to find her characters and stories relatable, wide-ranging, authentic, and unpretentious. In 2021, the US Senate passed a resolution recognizing Cleary as one of the most significant authors of the twentieth century. Cleary had a lasting impact on children's literacy in the US, creating relatable characters and storylines and writing literature for children that expressed her humor, empathy, and deep understanding of the childhood and adolescent experience.
Bibliography
"Beverly Cleary." HarperCollins Publishers, www.harpercollins.com/blogs/authors/beverly-cleary. Accessed 19 Sept. 2022.
Brown, Rachel. "Beverly Cleary: 'I Just Wrote About Childhood as I Had Known It.'" The Atlantic, 6 July 2011, www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/07/beverly-cleary-at-95-a-talk-with-the-author-who-created-ramona-quimby/241464/. Accessed 31 May 2024.
Grimes, William. "Beverly Cleary, Beloved Children's Book Author, Dies at 104." The New York Times, 26 Mar. 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/03/26/books/beverly-cleary-dead.html. Accessed 26 May 2024.
Mancini, Mark. "12 Incredible Facts About Beverly Cleary." Mental Floss, 26 Mar. 2021, www.mentalfloss.com/article/56708/12-charming-tidbits-about-beverly-cleary. Accessed 31 May 2024.
“100 Things You Might Not Know about Beverly Cleary.” CBC, 12 Apr. 2022, www.cbc.ca/books/100-things-you-might-not-know-about-beverly-cleary-1.4095050. Accessed 26 May 2024.
Paul, Pamela. "The Ageless Appeal of Beverly Cleary." The New York Times, 8 Apr. 2011, www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/books/review/profile-of-beverly-cleary.html. Accessed 31 May 2024.