ABOUT THE AUTHOR Beverly Cleary is known as one of America's most successful living authors. She was born April 12, 1916 and still lives today at the age of 101. She was born in McMinnville, Oregon where she grew up on a farm. Her parents were Chester Lloyd and Mable Attlee Bunn. Beverly was an only child. At a young age she developed a love of reading. The librarian at her school once suggested that she write her own books when she grew up, which she did. At the age of 18 she moved to California to attend college. During this time she worked as a librarian. While working as a librarian, she was able to connect with children and young adult who often complained about not being able to find books they were able to relate to. This is when she decided to start her writing career. She completed her education at the University of California and later went to further her education at the University of Washington. She published her first book in 1950. Since then she has been known for writing children's books. More than 91 million of her books have been sold worldwide.
AUTHOR'S WRITING STYLEBeverly Cleary writes different genres of books. The genres she writes include: picture books, realistic fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, non-fiction, and autobiographies. She has a unique writing style. She writes realistic dialogue, which a lot of young readers like. In most of her books she has recurring characters. This allows readers to build relationships with the characters and grow and develop with them. Her books are also known to be illustrated with black and white sketch-styled pictures. Pictures that help build on and represent the plot.
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Beezus and Ramon is a realistic fiction book. It is the first book in the collection to focus on Ramona Quimbly and her sister Beatrice (Beezus). It is written from nine-year-old Beezus' point of view. The book's theme about sibling relationships is very appealing to children with siblings. In the book Beezus struggles to get along with her four-year-old sister. There was a lot of character development in this book. Although her younger sister may be irritating and hard to like at times, she realizes that she loves her.
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Ramona and Her Father is a realistic fiction book. It is the fourth book in the Ramona Quimbly series. The theme of this book is family hardship. It is told from Ramona's point of view. In the book Ramona's dad loses his job and Ramona thinks of ways to make money. The family is complete chaos and sacrifices are having to be made. In the end they all families have problem but them get through them and become closer to one another.
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Ramona the Pest is a realistic fiction book. It is the second book of the Ramona series. It is written from five-year-old Ramona's point of view. In the book trouble seems to follow her. The kids in her grade are mean to her. She is seen as a "pest" in the book. She is really not a pest but sometimes misunderstood. There was some character development in this book that kind of tied in with the theme. Children should develop a sense of empathy for others.
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