When I read books as a little girl, I always used to imagian the characters running around in their homes, and somehow Their houses always looked exactly like my grandmother's house. It was a way for me to feel involved in the story, and still remain detached. It served me well. Whenever I read a Ramona Quimby book, though, for some reason I always imagianed the Quimby's living their lives in My house. Probably because I always felt like I Was Ramona. The things she did made sense to me -- so much so, in fact, that a lot of the times I wouldn't "get" some of the jokes about some mistake Ramona would have made, because I would have done the same thing!

There aren't an amazing amount of websites devoted to Ramona, or the woman who dreamed her up, Beverly Cleary, but there are a few. The best one I've seen so far is The Unofficial Beverly Cleary Home Page. Check it out if you're interested in learning more about one of (I think) the most underpromoted writers in the world. This woman rocks on so many levels, you can't even see her from some states! She writes simply and vividly (something new for most childrens authors), and doesn't ever talk down to her readers (another new thing for Any kind of author!). My favorite Ramona books were always the ones illustrated by Louis Darling (he's the pip who drew the above picture). He always seemed to capture the spirit of Ramona so brilliantly.

But I digress. My point is, I felt it was high time Ramona had her own little home on the web, so here it is! I've got the first Ramona book up (not the first one she's appeared in, but the first that includes her as a main character), and there are at least two more coming, so make sure you check back in a few weeks and see if that new Ramona book is up yet!


Beezus and Ramona

Beezus tries very hard to be patient with her little sister, but four-year-old Ramona has the habit of doing the most unpredictable, annoying, embarrassing things in the world. How many nine-year-old girls have to put up with a silly little sister in rabbit ears hopping after them and causing all sorts of trouble? Sometimes Beezus doesn't like Ramona very much, and that makes her feel very guilty. Sisters are supposed to love each other, but pesky little Ramona doesn't seem very loveable to Beezus right now.


Ramona The Pest

It is the greatest day of Ramona's life. She is in kindergarten and she loves her teacher, Miss Binney. She likes a little boy named Davy so much she wants to kiss him. She's fascinated by Susan's beautiful reddish brown curls that bounce like springs when she runs. Ramona is thrilled about all the new things to see. So how in the world does Ramona get in trouble? Why is she sitting on a bench when the rest of the class is playing Gray Duck? Why does Davy run as fast as he can when Ramona comes near him? And how does Ramona disrupt the whole class during rest time? Well, anyone who knows Ramona knows that she never tries to be a pest.


Ramona The Brave

Beezus tells her first-grade sister Ramona to "Grow up!" and Ramona really tries. But when goody-goody Susan copies Ramona's owl design and gets all the praise, Ramona has had it. She scrunches up Susan's owl and throws it on the floor . . . then has to apologize to Susan in front of the whole class! Ramona just can't seem to stay out of trouble. And this is only the begining . . . .


Bumbleshoot

It means....nothing.  And everything. Actually, it's just a distortion of an umbrella.


If you notice any typos or spelling mistakes, or any errors at all, please e-mail me and let me know. I can't spot everything, and your help would be very much appreaciated. Thank you!


All characters and stories are copyright © by Beverly Cleary.