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From: Ruth I. Gordon <druthgo>
Date: Sat, 6 May 2006 16:15:15 -0700
FYI--Big grandma
Begin forwarded message:
> From: "Big G" <druthgo at sonic.net>
> Date: May 6, 2006 9:24:51 AM PDT
> To: "Big G" <druthgo at sonic.net>
> Subject: SFGate: Beverly Cleary celebrates a banner year with a
> movie adaptation -- her first ever
>
>
> Yes--and we'll hope it's up to snuff
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate.
> The original article can be found on SFGate.com here:
> http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/05/06/
> DDGF3IL8UA1.DTL
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Saturday, May 6, 2006 (SF Chronicle)
> Beverly Cleary celebrates a banner year with a movie adaptation --
> her first ever
> Halima Kazem, Special to The Chronicle
>
>
> Beverly Cleary has a lot going on these days: She celebrated her
> 90th
> birthday in April and is plotting an addition to her enduringly
> popular
> "Ramona Quimby" children's book series. This time it's a movie.
> "Over the years, I have been approached about making Ramona into
> a cartoon
> or movie, but I was afraid that no one could really capture the spunky
> character of Ramona," says the twinkle-eyed author in her home in
> Carmel.
> Cleary, who has been writing about Ramona and other feisty
> characters for
> more than 50 years, is being honored across the country as a living
> legend
> in children's literature. Her publisher, HarperCollins, designated her
> birthday, April 12, as "Drop Everything and Read" or D.E.A.R. Day, a
> concept introduced by Cleary in her Ramona books. The eight titles
> in the
> Ramona series also have been revamped with new illustrations of the
> curious little girl from Klickitat Street.
> "Ramona was originally an accidental character I added to the Henry
> Huggins books because I noticed that none of the characters had
> siblings,"
> says Cleary, as she tucked a lock of silver hair behind her ear. "I
> added
> Ramona as Beazus' pestering little sister."
> Although Cleary's 39 books have not achieved the quick sales
> numbers of
> J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series (120 million copies) or Lemony
> Snicket's books (50 million), they've never gone out of print. And
> since
> 1950, when Cleary's first children's novel, "Henry Huggins," was
> published, she has sold more than 90 million copies.
> But Cleary says she has never worried about her popularity or
> rushed to
> get new work out. She is taking her time in approving the script
> for the
> Ramona movie and making sure her beloved character "doesn't turn
> into a
> plastic miniature inside a kid's fast-food restaurant meal."
> "I haven't been very enthusiastic about the commercialization of
> children's literature," she says. "Kids should borrow books from the
> library and not necessarily be buying them."
> Perched on Cleary's bookshelves are a few stringy-haired dolls and
> sculptures of Ramona that have been sent to her by toy makers and
> fans. "A
> few companies have made prototypes of Ramona dolls for me, but one
> looked
> too grouchy and another just wasn't right," she says.
> Cleary says she understands the impact tie-ins such as dolls,
> stuffed
> animals and other toys can have on books sales, but is "not
> interested in
> making kids into consumers."
> The author turned down many production companies for the Ramona
> movie
> until she met a film producer "who grew up reading Ramona and
> understood
> her," says Barbara Lalicki, Cleary's editor at HarperCollins since
> 1999.
> "When Denise DiNovi Productions submitted their film treatment, the
> producer brought her elementary school book report on 'Ramona and Her
> Father' to prove to Beverly that she was a longtime fan."
> The film is based on the fourth book in the Ramona series,
> "Ramona and Her
> Father," in which Ramona is in the second grade and her father
> loses his
> job.
> "The Quimby family is in an emotional and economic crisis in
> this book,
> and I think a lot of kids today can relate to this time in Ramona's
> life,"
> says Alison Greenspan, president of DiNovi Productions and producer
> of the
> Ramona film.
> Greenspan, who grew up reading Cleary's books, says the script
> is still in
> outline form and that Cleary is part of the script development.
> "She is
> the best equipped to assess how authentic we are to the book."
> Perhaps what's most remarkable about Cleary's Ramona books is that,
> despite being written after World War II, they have appealed to very
> different generations of American children.
> "In 50 years the world has changed, especially for kids," Cleary
> says,
> "but kids' needs haven't changed. They still need to feel safe, be
> close
> to their families, like their teachers and have friends to play with."
> Her books have also crossed borders, selling in 20 countries, in 14
> languages.
> Born in McMinnville, Ore., Cleary spent the first years of her
> life on a
> farm. When she was old enough to attend school, her parents moved to
> Portland, where Cleary found herself at the lower levels of her
> reading
> group.
> "Frustrated, one day I picked up a book to just look at the
> pictures. A
> few minutes later, I realized that I was reading and I never stopped
> afterward," Cleary recalls. "I was borrowing so many books from our
> school
> library that in the third grade, our school librarian told me that I
> should write children's books when I got older."
> After high school, Cleary moved to California and attended UC
> Berkeley,
> where she met her husband, Clarence Cleary, who became an
> accountant and
> with whom she had a twin boy and girl.
> In 1949, after working as a librarian and noticing that there
> weren't any
> "real stories" about little boys to give to her son, Cleary wrote the
> story of Henry Huggins and his dog Ribsy. She sent it to Elizabeth
> Hamilton, one of the leading children's book editors at William Morrow
> Junior Books.
> "I remember the mailman running up my porch waving a brown
> envelope in his
> hands. It was my acceptance letter from the publisher," Cleary
> recalls.
> So started the career of one of America's most popular
> children's authors.
> "Cleary tells sentimental stories with an unsentimental eye --
> the eye of
> the child protagonist, usually, who sees the chaos and worry of the
> world
> but does not succumb to it," says Daniel Handler, a.k.a. Lemony
> Snicket,
> who is a longtime fan.
> Lalicki agrees that Cleary has succeeded because "she can write for
> children in an unaffected and natural way."
> "I love Ramona because she acts like a child and not like the
> perfect
> girls you see in some of the books you read these days," says Felicity
> Connor, 12, of San Jose, who devoured the Ramona books five years ago.
> Felicity still remembers when Ramona put toothpaste on the bathroom
> mirror. "Haven't I done something like that?" she asked her mother,
> who
> stood nearby at the Barnes & Nobles bookstore at Westgate Mall in San
> Jose.
> It's this kind of appeal across generations and nationalities
> that has
> kids and adults coming back to Cleary's books. Lalicki says Cleary
> gets
> about 100 letters a month from children, parents, grandparents and
> teachers
> As for her competition, Cleary says she doesn't read it. She's
> thumbed
> through a Harry Potter book, but didn't finish it. "I immediately
> noticed
> that the pacing of the books is very fast and something was happening
> every minute," she says. "This gets kids reading faster, so they
> can get
> to the end quicker."
> But Cleary, who wrote all of her books in long hand and hardly
> ever uses
> the Internet, says too much too soon for children could have its
> consequences.
> "Kids should be free to learn at their own pace and not in a
> rush to
> become adults."
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Copyright 2006 SF Chronicle
>
>
Received on Sat 06 May 2006 06:15:15 PM CDT
Date: Sat, 6 May 2006 16:15:15 -0700
FYI--Big grandma
Begin forwarded message:
> From: "Big G" <druthgo at sonic.net>
> Date: May 6, 2006 9:24:51 AM PDT
> To: "Big G" <druthgo at sonic.net>
> Subject: SFGate: Beverly Cleary celebrates a banner year with a
> movie adaptation -- her first ever
>
>
> Yes--and we'll hope it's up to snuff
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate.
> The original article can be found on SFGate.com here:
> http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/05/06/
> DDGF3IL8UA1.DTL
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Saturday, May 6, 2006 (SF Chronicle)
> Beverly Cleary celebrates a banner year with a movie adaptation --
> her first ever
> Halima Kazem, Special to The Chronicle
>
>
> Beverly Cleary has a lot going on these days: She celebrated her
> 90th
> birthday in April and is plotting an addition to her enduringly
> popular
> "Ramona Quimby" children's book series. This time it's a movie.
> "Over the years, I have been approached about making Ramona into
> a cartoon
> or movie, but I was afraid that no one could really capture the spunky
> character of Ramona," says the twinkle-eyed author in her home in
> Carmel.
> Cleary, who has been writing about Ramona and other feisty
> characters for
> more than 50 years, is being honored across the country as a living
> legend
> in children's literature. Her publisher, HarperCollins, designated her
> birthday, April 12, as "Drop Everything and Read" or D.E.A.R. Day, a
> concept introduced by Cleary in her Ramona books. The eight titles
> in the
> Ramona series also have been revamped with new illustrations of the
> curious little girl from Klickitat Street.
> "Ramona was originally an accidental character I added to the Henry
> Huggins books because I noticed that none of the characters had
> siblings,"
> says Cleary, as she tucked a lock of silver hair behind her ear. "I
> added
> Ramona as Beazus' pestering little sister."
> Although Cleary's 39 books have not achieved the quick sales
> numbers of
> J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series (120 million copies) or Lemony
> Snicket's books (50 million), they've never gone out of print. And
> since
> 1950, when Cleary's first children's novel, "Henry Huggins," was
> published, she has sold more than 90 million copies.
> But Cleary says she has never worried about her popularity or
> rushed to
> get new work out. She is taking her time in approving the script
> for the
> Ramona movie and making sure her beloved character "doesn't turn
> into a
> plastic miniature inside a kid's fast-food restaurant meal."
> "I haven't been very enthusiastic about the commercialization of
> children's literature," she says. "Kids should borrow books from the
> library and not necessarily be buying them."
> Perched on Cleary's bookshelves are a few stringy-haired dolls and
> sculptures of Ramona that have been sent to her by toy makers and
> fans. "A
> few companies have made prototypes of Ramona dolls for me, but one
> looked
> too grouchy and another just wasn't right," she says.
> Cleary says she understands the impact tie-ins such as dolls,
> stuffed
> animals and other toys can have on books sales, but is "not
> interested in
> making kids into consumers."
> The author turned down many production companies for the Ramona
> movie
> until she met a film producer "who grew up reading Ramona and
> understood
> her," says Barbara Lalicki, Cleary's editor at HarperCollins since
> 1999.
> "When Denise DiNovi Productions submitted their film treatment, the
> producer brought her elementary school book report on 'Ramona and Her
> Father' to prove to Beverly that she was a longtime fan."
> The film is based on the fourth book in the Ramona series,
> "Ramona and Her
> Father," in which Ramona is in the second grade and her father
> loses his
> job.
> "The Quimby family is in an emotional and economic crisis in
> this book,
> and I think a lot of kids today can relate to this time in Ramona's
> life,"
> says Alison Greenspan, president of DiNovi Productions and producer
> of the
> Ramona film.
> Greenspan, who grew up reading Cleary's books, says the script
> is still in
> outline form and that Cleary is part of the script development.
> "She is
> the best equipped to assess how authentic we are to the book."
> Perhaps what's most remarkable about Cleary's Ramona books is that,
> despite being written after World War II, they have appealed to very
> different generations of American children.
> "In 50 years the world has changed, especially for kids," Cleary
> says,
> "but kids' needs haven't changed. They still need to feel safe, be
> close
> to their families, like their teachers and have friends to play with."
> Her books have also crossed borders, selling in 20 countries, in 14
> languages.
> Born in McMinnville, Ore., Cleary spent the first years of her
> life on a
> farm. When she was old enough to attend school, her parents moved to
> Portland, where Cleary found herself at the lower levels of her
> reading
> group.
> "Frustrated, one day I picked up a book to just look at the
> pictures. A
> few minutes later, I realized that I was reading and I never stopped
> afterward," Cleary recalls. "I was borrowing so many books from our
> school
> library that in the third grade, our school librarian told me that I
> should write children's books when I got older."
> After high school, Cleary moved to California and attended UC
> Berkeley,
> where she met her husband, Clarence Cleary, who became an
> accountant and
> with whom she had a twin boy and girl.
> In 1949, after working as a librarian and noticing that there
> weren't any
> "real stories" about little boys to give to her son, Cleary wrote the
> story of Henry Huggins and his dog Ribsy. She sent it to Elizabeth
> Hamilton, one of the leading children's book editors at William Morrow
> Junior Books.
> "I remember the mailman running up my porch waving a brown
> envelope in his
> hands. It was my acceptance letter from the publisher," Cleary
> recalls.
> So started the career of one of America's most popular
> children's authors.
> "Cleary tells sentimental stories with an unsentimental eye --
> the eye of
> the child protagonist, usually, who sees the chaos and worry of the
> world
> but does not succumb to it," says Daniel Handler, a.k.a. Lemony
> Snicket,
> who is a longtime fan.
> Lalicki agrees that Cleary has succeeded because "she can write for
> children in an unaffected and natural way."
> "I love Ramona because she acts like a child and not like the
> perfect
> girls you see in some of the books you read these days," says Felicity
> Connor, 12, of San Jose, who devoured the Ramona books five years ago.
> Felicity still remembers when Ramona put toothpaste on the bathroom
> mirror. "Haven't I done something like that?" she asked her mother,
> who
> stood nearby at the Barnes & Nobles bookstore at Westgate Mall in San
> Jose.
> It's this kind of appeal across generations and nationalities
> that has
> kids and adults coming back to Cleary's books. Lalicki says Cleary
> gets
> about 100 letters a month from children, parents, grandparents and
> teachers
> As for her competition, Cleary says she doesn't read it. She's
> thumbed
> through a Harry Potter book, but didn't finish it. "I immediately
> noticed
> that the pacing of the books is very fast and something was happening
> every minute," she says. "This gets kids reading faster, so they
> can get
> to the end quicker."
> But Cleary, who wrote all of her books in long hand and hardly
> ever uses
> the Internet, says too much too soon for children could have its
> consequences.
> "Kids should be free to learn at their own pace and not in a
> rush to
> become adults."
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Copyright 2006 SF Chronicle
>
>
Received on Sat 06 May 2006 06:15:15 PM CDT
