Ms. Nancy's Library & Technology Blog

“The right book for the right child.”
— motto of children’s librarians, from “My Own Two Feet,” by Beverly Cleary

I recently finished three great books by and about Oregon writer Beverly Cleary — her memoirs, A Girl From Yamhill and My Own Two Feet, and a biography about her from the Story Tellers series.

I still own the first book I ever read by Mrs. Cleary — “Ellen Tebbits.” My other favorites by her are “Henry Huggins,” “Socks” and “Dear Mr. Henshaw,” but “Ellen Tebbits,” with its tattered yellow cover, remains my top favorite.

I loved her memoirs — they are poignant and sometimes painful to read. They will inspire you. She was a reluctant reader who didn’t really enjoy reading until the third grade. She had an extremely critical mother who wasn’t always as supportive as she could have been. Mrs. Cleary grew up during the Great Depression, struggled financially and academically to get through college — but in 1938 did graduate with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English from the University of California at Berkeley. A year later she earned a degree in Librarianship in 1939 from the University of Washington in Seattle.

Yes, Mrs. Cleary was a librarian. She worked first as a librarian in Yakima, Washington, and later on an army base in Oakland, Calif. The children enjoyed her story time readings of “Five Chinese Brothers,” by Claire Hutchet Bishop; Dr. Seuss’s “Horton Hatches the Egg”; and “The Wedding Procession of the Rag Doll and the Broom Handle and Who Was In It,” by Carl Sandburg. Whew! That’s a title, eh?

Mrs. Cleary has written more than thirty books. She began writing with her young readers from Yakima in mind. “Where are the books about kids like us?”

Where indeed? she asked herself. She wrote a sentence: “Henry Huggins was in the third grade.”

Mrs. Cleary turns 93 on April 12th of this year. She lives in Carmel, California.

Happy early birthday, Mrs. Cleary. Thanks for the good books.

Best,

Mrs. Rawley