Beverly Cleary

**Beverly Atlee Cleary** (née **Bunn**; April 12, 1916March 25, 2021) was an American children's writer. She was the author of over 80 books for young adults and children. Her characters are normal children facing challenges of growing up, and her stories are filled with humour. Some of her best known and loved characters are Ramona Quimby and her sister Beatrice ("Beezus"), Henry Huggins, Ralph S. Mouse, and Ribsy.

## Biography

Beverly Cleary was born **Beverly Atlee Bunn** in McMinnville, Oregon. When she was 6, her family moved to Portland, Oregon,  where she went to grammar and high school. She was slow in learning to read, partly because she did not like the books the school wanted her to read, and partly due to an unkind first grade teacher. It was not until she was in third grade that she found enjoyment from books, when she started reading _The Dutch Twins_ by Lucy Fitch Perkins. From then on, she visited the library often, though she rarely found the books she most wanted to read — those about children like herself.

In 1934, she moved to Ontario, California to attend Chaffey College, from which she earned an Associate of Arts diploma. She then moved to Berkeley to major in English at the University of California. After graduating with a B.A in English in 1938, she studied at the School of Librarianship at the University of Washington in Seattle, where she earned a degree in librarianship in 1939. Her first job was as a librarian in Yakima, Washington, where she met many children who were looking for the same books that she had always hoped to find as a child herself. In response, she wrote her first book which was published in 1950. _Beezus and Ramona_, Cleary's first novel to feature the Quimby sisters as the central focus of the story, was published in 1955, although Beezus and Ramona made frequent appearances in the Henry Huggins series as supporting characters.

In 1940 she married Clarence T. Cleary and they moved to Oakland, California. The Clearys became parents to a set of twins, Marianne Elisabeth and Malcolm James, in 1955.  Clarence Cleary died in 2004.

She also wrote two autobiographies, _A Girl from Yamhill_ and _My Own Two Feet_.

Cleary celebrated her 100th birthday on April 12, 2016. On March 25, 2021, Cleary died in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, 18 days before her 105th birthday.

## Career

Her books are available in 14 languages in over 20 countries. She has won many awards, including the 1984 Newbery Medal for her book _Dear Mr. Henshaw_ and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award in 1975. Cleary received the Library of Congress _Living Legends_ award in the "Writers and Artists" category in April 2000 for her major contributions to America's cultural heritage.

## Honors

The Hollywood location of the Multnomah County library, near where she lived as a child, has created a map on their lobby wall of Henry Huggins' Klickitat Street neighborhood. Statues of her beloved characters Ramona, Henry Huggins, and the Huggins' dog Ribsy can be found in Grant Park in Portland, Oregon.

In 2004, the University of Washington's Information School completed fundraising for a Beverly Cleary Endowed Chair for Children and Youth Services to remember her work and commitment to librarianship.

She has a dorm at University of California, Berkeley named after her.

## Books written by Beverly Cleary

- _Henry Huggins_ (illus. by Louis Darling) - (1950)
- _Ellen Tebbits_ (illus. by Louis Darling) - (1951)
- _Henry and Beezus_ (illus. by Louis Darling) - (1952)
- _Otis Spofford_ (illus. by Louis Darling) - (1953)
- _Henry and Ribsy_ (illus. by Louis Darling) - (1954)
- _Beezus and Ramona_ (illus. by Louis Darling) - (1955)
- _Fifteen_ (illus. by Joe and Beth Krush) - (1956)
- _Henry and the Paper Route_ (illus. by Louis Darling) - (1957)
- _The Luckiest Girl_ - (1958)
- _Jean and Johnny_ (illus. by Joe and Beth Krush) - (1959)
- _The Hullabaloo ABC_ (illus. by Earl Thollander) - (1960)
- _Two Dog Biscuits_ (illus. by ? ?) - (1961) (companion to _The Real Hole_)
- _Henry and the Clubhouse_ (illus. by Louis Darling) - (1962)
- _Sister of the Bride_ (illus. by Joe and Beth Krush) - (1963)
- _Ribsy_ (illus. by Louis Darling) - (1964)
- _The Mouse and the Motorcycle_ (illus. by Louis Darling) - (1965)
- _Mitch and Amy_ (illus. by Bob Marstall) - (1967)
- _Ramona the Pest_ (illus. by Louis Darling) - (1968)
- _Runaway Ralph_ (illus. by Louis Darling) - (1970)
- _Socks_ (illus. by Beatrice Darwin) - (1973)
- _Ramona the Brave_ (illus. by Alan Tiegreen) - (1975)
- _Ramona and Her Father_ (illus. by Alan Tiegreen) - (1977)
- _Ramona and Her Mother_ (illus. by Alan Tiegreen) - (1979)
- _Ramona Quimby, Age 8_ (illus. by Alan Tiegreen) - (1981)
- _Ralph S. Mouse_ (illus. by Paul O. Zelinsky) - (1982)
- _Dear Mr. Henshaw_ (illus. by Paul O. Zelinsky) - (1983)
- _Ramona Forever_ (illus. by Alan Tiegreen) - (1984)
- _Lucky Chuck_ (illus. by J. Winslow Higginbottom) - (1984)
- _Two Dog Biscuits_ (illus. by DyAnne Disalvo-Ryan) - (1986) (companion to _The Real Ho_)
- _A Girl from Yamhill: A Memoir_ - (1988)
- _Muggie Maggie_ (illus. by Kay Life) - (1990)
- _Strider_ (illus. by Paul O. Zelinsky) - (1991)
- _Petey's Bedtime Story_ (illus. by David Small) - (1993)
- _My Own Two Feet_ - (1995)
- _The Hullabaloo ABC_ (illus. by Ted Rand) - (1998)
- _Ramona's World_ (illus. by Alan Tiegreen) - (1999)

## Other websites

- Grant Park statues
- The world of Beverly Cleary
- Educational Paperback Assn. author profile
- Beverly Cleary, Age 90 (2006 Newsweek Interview)
- Beverly Cleary, Getting the Best Out of  Her 'Pest' (2006 NPR Interview)

## Infobox (writer)

- **name**: Beverly Cleary
- **birth name**: Beverly Atlee Bunn
- **birth place**: McMinnville, Oregon, U.S.
- **death place**: Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, U.S.
Unknown causes
- **occupation**: Writer, librarian
- **genre**: Realism (arts), Realist children's books, autobiography