Beverly Cleary

Beverly Cleary's yearbook photo, UC Berekely 1938 Yearbook

Beverly Cleary is an American children's author.

Her largest and best-known collection of books (too loose-knit to be really a "series", although there is a chronological order) involves a group of children that includes Henry Huggins (and his dog Ribsy), Henry's friend Beatrice "Beezus" Quimby and her little sister Ramona, and Ramona's friend Howie Kemp. Ramona is the break-out star character of the series. They were adapted into a TV series in the 1980s (called Ramona), and a movie (called Ramona and Beezus) was released in 2010.

Another well-known series by Beverly Cleary begins with The Mouse and the Motorcycle, about a mouse who befriends a lonely boy and discovers a useful but never-quite-explained ability to drive toy vehicles as if they were real.

Part of what makes the books work so well is the portrayal of various events that are a huge deal to a child. Beverly Cleary's insight into the minds of children also creates a large cast of very realistic characters easy for both children and adults to relate to.

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Works created by Beverly Cleary include:

• The Ramona Quimby series

Beverly Cleary provides examples of the following tropes:

• Dungeon Bypass: In Ralph S. Mouse, the kids build a maze for Ralph to run. Ralph climbs on top of the walls to look for the cheese, to the annoyance of the kids (who were building the maze to see how smart Ralph was in the first place).
• Let Him Choose: In one of the books with Henry and Ribsy, Ribsy's original owner shows up and wants his dog back. They decide to let Ribsy choose. He goes with Henry, of course.
• Surprisingly Functional Toys: The Mouse and the Motorcycle and sequels.