Children's Books Too Cool for School

Ramona Books (Series) by Beverly Cleary (A "Top 50 Post")

A set of books I read so much, they quite literally fell apart.

As far as I was concerned, I was Ramona Quimby for awhile there. I don't know how Cleary does it, but somehow she manages to both remember and communicate not just the behavior of children, but their motivations.

As a somewhat quirky child myself who didn't always have the vocabulary to explain herself (so frustrating!) I resonated with Ramona. A crown of burrs? Having to make a paper towel shoe? A compelling need to make a curl go "boing"? These things made sense to me.

And I liked that Ramona lived a real life where her family had money problems, her father struggled to quit smoking, and sometimes, no one understood Ramona.

I am so glad they are releasing Beezus and Ramona as a movie soon, even if they are calling it Ramona and Beezus and Selena Gomez is a bit too old for the role. It's time these great books gained a new generation of fans, and there's nothing like a film for that!