Welcome to Litsy!

Despite being a huge fan of Ramona Quimby as a kid, and reading all of the Ramona Quimby books to my own kids, today was the first time I read a Henry Huggins book. I loved it! I listened to the audiobook narrated by Neil Patrick Harris and was delighted that it had an intro read by Cleary herself. I‘m planning to read through this whole series as part of the #BacklistReadathon

Deciding to revisit some old childhood favorites on a rainy holiday. Still applicable and adorable. #29-2023

R.I.P. Beverly Cleary
We‘ll miss your stories.

https://www.npr.org/2021/03/26/311881785/beverly-cleary-creator-of-ramona-quimby...

It feels wrong to say that a Beverly Cleary book was just okay for me. But this one just didn't have the charm or zip that other Cleary books I have read . There is a mischief to Ramona, Beezus, Ellen, and Emily that I didn't see in Henry. He was just kind of hapless. I did like seeing his 1949 world...a crazy time when third graders just wandered the city on their own buying horse meat for their dogs from pet shops that sold monkeys.

Happy birthday, Beverly Cleary! It‘s National D.E.A.R. Day—don‘t mind if I do.

Here‘s another series I want my daughter to experience. We don‘t have any featuring Henry but we do own most of the Ramona series.
#cupidgoespostalkids

My 6 year old loved all the pratfalls that henry and ribsy experience in this book. A classic boy and dog tale. It was also fun to see beezus and Ramona as side characters knowing they would later emerge as stars of their own series. Love how in Cleary‘s books girls get in the dirt and play just as much as boys. Here‘s a pic of my boy and his dog when he was a newborn. #raisingreaders #readaloud

Today's author spotlight: Beverly (Atlee) Cleary! At 101(!!!), her writing career has spanned 6 decades, with 91 million copies of her books sold! Amazing! She has a Master's in Library Science and worked as a librarian at different places. Her husband passed away in 2004, and she currently lives in a retirement home in Carmel Valley, California. She has a residential hall named after her at UC, Berkeley. #AuthorPotpourri #TheMoreYouKnow

Charlie's first introduction to Cleary and he loved it! He's requested another one for our next read.

#FunFridayPhoto Eventually, I met Ramona and fell in love with her, but I first met Henry and Ribsy. The kids in these books were some of my best friends. One of the great joys of parenthood is introducing the books and characters you loved as a kid to your children. My kids will more likely remember Harry Potter as their bestie, but we had some great times with the kids on Klickitat Street.

My first introduction to Beverly Cleary's work and all of the residents of Klickitat Street.