BOOKS: Beezus and Ramona

At SixSeeds, we believe in the power of a good story.  The books our children are hearing and reading will move, inspire, and sometimes even shape their lives... even young lives. This week, we take a popular kids' book and examine it. Hopefully, the next time you're browsing though a crowded bookstore, our reviews will help you sort through the thousands of titles…  and you can choose wisely!

Title:  Beezus and Ramona

Author: Beverly Cleary

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Age: 7-12

Cost:  $5.99

Buy It: here.

Rating: 5 out of 6 seeds

Read it for free: here.

The upcoming movie Beezus and Ramona, out Friday, will definitely lead to a renewed interest in Beverly Clearly’s writing, which includes such popular titles as Ramona Quimby, Age 8, Ramona Forever, and Dear Mr. Henshaw.

For such a successful author, reading wasn’t always her passion.  Thankfully, she had an epiphany that would allow her to become one of America’s most beloved story tellers.  Which books you read matter. 

As a child in the 1920’s, Cleary was a struggling reader quite bored with much of the literature of the day. She longed for stories of real people who aren’t always perfect. Later as a young librarian, Cleary noticed kids who came into the library looking for the same thing, and the words of her mom rang in her ear, “The best writing is simple and funny.” That advice is how her first characters -- Ramona, Beezus, and Henry Huggins -- were born.

Beezus and Ramona is the first in the series of eight books featuring Ramona Quimby, which comically capture the relationship between sisters. While the main characters are girls (the father character is relatively flat), there is enough chaos, destruction, and hilarity that boys are also drawn into their world. Void of questionable material (the opposite sex interactions remain refreshingly innocent and language caps with “germy”), parents love it too.

Written from the perspective of Beezus, a stereotypical oldest child, who dutifully helps her mother with the household and with the care of her mischievous four- year old sister. Ramona is the epitome of a free spirit — she doesn’t color in the lines or necessarily even on the paper. While she has some obvious character issues, there is something slightly liberating about the freedom she symbolizes.

Throughout this book, the reader gets to see glimpses of Beezus’s struggle with her exasperating sister. She feels guilty for not loving her all the time. All the while, Beezus semi-idolizes her aunt Beatrice, her namesake and mother’s younger sister (between which a notable sororal parallel exists).

All of these emotions come to a head at Beezus’ birthday dinner. In typical Ramona style, she almost succeeds in ruining the birthday and turning all of the attention onto herself. But at the dinner table, something transpires as Beezus listens to the childhood tales of her mother and Aunt Beatrice.

Family loyalty is woven throughout the story. Ramona can frustrate the daylights out of Beezus. But when the librarian laughs at Ramona’s answer to “what does your father do?” (“He mows the grass of course.”), Beezus feels protectively perturbed. Or as angry and embarrassed as she is when Ramona intrudes into her art class and actually licks another child’s unwrapped sucker, she is again Ramona’s biggest defender when the child retaliates.

Bottom Line:

While there are endearing family interactions, this book is not exactly a sentimental treatise on the importance of sisterhood.  In fact, it’s mainly just funny, and reminds us to lighten up about things that really won’t matter tomorrow. Somehow in the Quimby kitchen, we find humor in rubber dolls baking in cakes, bites taken out of every apple in a bag, and Ramona’s fifteen uninvited party  guests surprising Mother in her bath robe. And as we laugh, a little part of us hopes that maybe next time… we’ll still feel like laughing when it happens in our own home.

To Talk to Your Kids About:

Do you think you are more like Ramona? Or Beezus?  What things did Beezus feel guilty about? What things do you feel guilty about? Are there things that you feel about your brother or sister that aren’t good or that you wish you didn’t feel?

For Mom and Dad to Consider:

Do you have a “do everything by the book child” who may internally be longing for some freedom from all the rigidity like Beezus? Do you know the internal conversation of your child’s heart? What is behind his/ her actions?

Don’t miss the movie by Walden Media coming out July 23^rd. If you hurry, you still have time to read the book – maybe make it a “read-aloud” book this week before your family heads out to the theaters!