And with Ramona, it propelled her to misbehave or act out. And these observations manifest themselves into emotions and feelings that take over our minds. Somehow Beverly Cleary recognized that children notice things about their parents, their home, and their lives. These emotions existed in Ramona’s world, and they existed in my world too. The desire to feel like she should contribute to the family income when she sees her father worry about money after he loses his job. The envy she felt at watching her neighbor Howie eat his dinner while she sat hungry, waiting for her parents, who were running late, to pick her up. The shame and the embarrassment of having to wear a pair of pajamas instead of a full sheep costume like the other children. They fit so naturally in Ramona’s everyday life because they were not concocted to add elements of drama but rather woven in to show that Ramona’s experiences were real ones. Worries about money, parents’ arguments, feeling unloved were topics that were not ignored or hidden away like in other children’s books. Beverly Cleary managed to include circumstances and issues into her stories that somehow still ring true over 50 years later. She felt things like real children do, and she did it against a backdrop of authenticity. They were about a girl observing, navigating, feeling her way through her world. The stories in the Ramona books didn’t involve mystical creatures, fantasy worlds, or exotic adventures. It should come as no surprise to anyone that my love language is receiving gifts. I completely understood that for Ramona even though the item was inexpensive, it in some ways represented love from her father. I wanted to feel the same anticipation and excitement as Ramona. He tried to give me a dollar but I explained to him that the treat needed to be an item, something small that he had specially chosen for me.

When I learned about “payday” - the day that Ramona’s father brings home a special treat after receiving his paycheck - I insisted my father do the same. And when I discovered the TV series on video at the library, I borrowed it over and over again. I read every single book, multiple times. Of course, I read all of Beverly Cleary’s books and immersed myself in the friendship of Ellen and Austine, and learned about paper routes in Henry Huggins, but the Ramona series was my favorite.

But over 30 years later one character stands out in my mind: Ramona Quimby. I went through all the classics - Nancy Drew, the Boxcar Children, all the Roald Dahl books, the Baby-Sitters Club.

Every week my father and I would go to the library after dinner and I would spend one to two hours choosing more than ten books that would last me until the next visit.

Ramona quimby and henry huggins