From: Jean Casey <jcasey>
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2000 09:04:02 -0500

I remember meeting Beezus as a child in the 50s, and loved her. Ramona as a character other than the pesky little sister didn't become my friend until I was working in an elementary library as an adult. On a road trip to Upper Michigan, I was reading as we drove and laughing hysterically at Ramona the Pest. My husband demanded to know what was going on, and I shared Ramona and "the Present". We ended up sharing the entire book, and "Boing, Boing" curls became an inside joke with us. It's a memory I really cherish, even years later.

Megan mentioned Dear Mr. Henshaw and Strider as other items for discussion, and I'd like to add my 2 cents' worth on those. In our school district, Dear Mr. Henshaw has become a trade book studied in about 4th grade. I was very surprised to hear that students generally don't like this book, since I really admired it. Teachers ell me that they don't like the diary format and that "nothing happens" They DO seem to really fall for The Mouse books, so they often come around and read most of the other Cleary books. Children's literature in general owes a great debt to Mrs. Cleary who realized that there was a need for books for children about REAL children. I thank her for those books which have given so many such pleasure

Jean
Received on Thu 10 Aug 2000 09:04:02 AM CDT