Beverly Cleary
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| Beverly Cleary | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 12, 1916 McMinnville, Oregon |
| Occupation | author, novels and short stories |
| Genres | Children's books, novels |
| Notable work(s) | The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Sister of the Bride |
Beverly Cleary (born Beverly Atlee Bunn on April 12, 1916) is an American author from Oregon. Educated at colleges in California and Washington, she worked as a librarian before writing children's books. Cleary has written over 30 books for young adults and children. Some of her best-known characters are Henry Huggins, Ribsy, Beatrice ("Beezus") Quimby, her sister Ramona, and Ralph S. Mouse. She won the Newbery Medal for her book Dear Mr. Henshaw in 1984. She has won many medals for best children's books.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early Years
Beverly Cleary was born in McMinnville, Yamhill County, Oregon. She was raised on a farm in McMinnville, and grew up in Yamhill, with no local access to a library. Beverly’s mother felt that this was a disadvantage for the students at this small farm school, and she made arrangements to have books sent there from the State Library. As a result, Beverly grew to love books.[1] Not only did she love specific books, but she also learned the love of reading in general.
When Beverly was six years old, her family left the small farm and moved to Portland, Oregon, where she attended elementary and high school. In the new school setting, Beverly appeared to be a struggling reader, which often resulted in her being placed in the lowest reading group. Her early status as a slow learner was blamed partly on her dissatisfaction with the books she was required to read and partly on an unpleasant first grade teacher, Mrs. Falb. Also, after six years of living in the country, on a farm, the city life in Portland apparantly took a toll on Beverly's health, and in her first-grade year she was frequently ill, which set back her schoolwork and reading skills even further.
In the second grade, Beverly studied under her favorite and most-beloved teacher, Miss Marius, and by the third grade, she had greatly improved her reading ability and found a new enjoyment from books. She read The Dutch Twins by Lucy Fitch Perkins, and became a frequent visitor to the library, though she still had difficulty finding the types of books she most wanted to read.
The grammar school librarian was largely responsible for developing Beverly's love of reading. She encouraged Beverly to check out humorous stories and books about subjects to which Beverly could relate. The librarian not only encouraged Beverly to read but also to write her own children’s books, and was a constant source of encouragement and instilled in Beverly the belief that she too could write for children some day.[1] After reading another series titled The Swiss Twins, Beverly grew closer to the creative writing process.
[edit] Professional Life
In 1934, age 19, she moved to Ontario, California, to attend Chaffey College, from which she earned an Associate of Arts diploma. She worked as a substitute librarian at the Ontario City Library. After graduating with a BA in English in 1938 from the University of California at Berkeley, she studied at the School of Librarianship at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, where she earned a degree in library science in 1939.
As college was expensive, and it was the Depression, Beverly had to work to earn money, through the cooperative education program at the University. One afternoon as Beverly took a break from her chores at work she found herself having a sandwich with a young gentleman named Clarence Cleary, her future husband.[2]
The Library Science degree allowed her the desired means to work with young children and also the opportunity to develop a relationship with children at all socioeconomic levels. Her first full-time job as a librarian was in Yakima, Washington, where she met many children who were searching for the same books that she had always hoped to find as a child herself. Beverly had compassion for the children who lacked means and material possessions, and empathized with their feeling that there were no books written about children like themselves.[3] This made Beverly more driven to help provide children with stories to which they could relate.
In response to this experience, she later wrote her first book, Henry Huggins, which was published in 1950. It was about a boy, his dog and their friends, all of whom lived on "Klickitat Street" in Portland (a real street that was only a few blocks from where Cleary grew up as a child). According to Beverly, the boy and his friends represented all the children she grew up with, and the ones who sat in front of her during library story hours.
As she crafted her first novel, she recalled advice from her mother and incorporated her beliefs that the best writing was simple and filled with humor. She also remembered advice from a college professor who emphasized writing about universal human experience. 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.
The opportunity to work with the children as a librarian in Washington State had opened new doors for Beverly Cleary. She wanted to write books for children but still was unsure if she had the experiences needed to write the type of books she wished to write. A publisher wanted her to write a book about a kindergarten student. Cleary felt that she could not write this type book because she had not attended kindergarten as a child. Later, following the birth of her twins, she did feel after much discussion and soul searching that she could write this type of story. She found she could write a story about the simple things in life and help the reader see the humor in those things. She learned to add a little wit and charm to her writing for children, with the hope that this would spark an interest in students and encourage them to want to read more books of this type. She is now an international favorite among children’s authors.[4]
[edit] Personal life
In 1940 she married Clarence T. Cleary and they moved to Oakland, California. They eloped because Cleary's parents were Presbyterians and did not approve of the union even after it occurred because Clarence was Roman Catholic. Beverly and Clarence Cleary had twins, Marrienne Elizabeth and Malcolm James. Clarence Cleary died in 2004. Beverly Cleary currently lives in Carmel, California.
She has also written two autobiographies, A Girl from Yamhill and My Own Two Feet.
Her books are available in 15 languages in over 20 countries.
[edit] Honors and legacies
Cleary has won many awards, including the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award in 1975 and the 1984 Newbery Medal for her book Dear Mr. Henshaw. Cleary received the Library of Congress Living Legends award in the Writers and Artists category in April 2000 for her significant contributions to the cultural heritage of the United States. In 1980, Cleary was awarded the Regina Medal from the Catholic Library Association. Moreover, she received the National Medal of the Arts in 2003.
The Hollywood branch of the Multnomah County Library, near where she lived as a child, commissioned a map that is on its lobby wall of Henry Huggins's Klickitat Street neighborhood. Statues of her beloved characters Henry Huggins; the Huggins's dog, Ribsy; and Ramona Quimby can be found in Grant Park in Portland, Oregon. In June 2008, the two-campus K–8 school of the same neighborhood, Hollyrood-Fernwood, itself the product of a merger of two schools the previous year, was officially renamed Beverly Cleary School. As a child, Cleary attended the former Fernwood Grammar School, one of the two buildings that make up the school that now bear her namesake.[5]
In 2004, the University of Washington's Information School completed fundraising for the Beverly Cleary Endowed Chair for Children and Youth Services to honor her work and commitment to librarianship. In 2008, the school announced that she had been selected as the next recipient of the Universities Alumnus Summa Laude Dignata Award, the highest honor that the University of Washington can bestow on a graduate.[6]
She also has a residential hall at the University of California, Berkeley, named after her.
Beverly Cleary’s books have earned many awards, been published in fourteen different languages, and many of her characters are characters that children can relate to in their own lives. A few examples of awards she has won include a 1984 Newbery Medal for Dear Mr. Henshaw; a 1978 Newbery Honor Book for Ramona and Her Father; a 1982 Newbery Honor Book for Ramona Quimby, Age 8; a 1975 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award from the Association for Library Services to Children of the American Library Association; the Catholic Library Association's 1980 Regina Medal; and the Children's Book Council's 1985 Every Child Award.[7] Cleary’s books are about life on a daily basis, and they have been read on PBS and ABC-TV.[4]
[edit] Bibliography
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[edit] References
- ^ a b The World of Beverly Cleary, Retrieved on April 3, 2009, from http://www.beverlycleary.com/beverlycleary/index.html
- ^ Shaw, Christen, Beverly Cleary. Retrieved on April 4, 2009, Spectrum Home & School Magazine. from http://www.incwell.com/Biographies/Cleary,Beverly.html
- ^ Harper Collins, Retrieved on April 3, 2009, from http://www.harpercollins.com/authors/15297/Beverly_Cleary/index.aspx?authorID=15297
- ^ a b The Book Report Inc. Retrieved on April 3, 2009, from http://www.kidsreads.com/authors/au-cleary-beverly.asp
- ^ "Hurray for Ramona and Ribsy! Northeast Portland School to be named for Beverly Cleary". Willamette Week. http://wweek.com/wwire/?p=12122. Retrieved on 2008-09-01.
- ^ Headlines - Information School | University of Washington
- ^ Scholastic, Retrieved on April 3, 2009, from http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/contributor.jsp?id=2079
- “Cleary, Beverly” Biography Resource Center Gale/Thompson, through Educational Paperback Association, Retrieved on April 4, 2009, from http://www.edupaperback.org/showauth.cfm?authid=21
- Answers about Beverly Cleary, Retrieved on April 3, 2009, from http://www.answers.com/topic/beverly-cleary
[edit] External links
- 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)
- McHenry, Eric (2008-09), Kids Like Us, Columns Magazine, http://www.washington.edu/alumni/columns/sept08/cleary.html
- Works by or about Beverly Cleary in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
- BookPage on Beverly Cleary
