'In childhood,' the vivid years

 

 

“I don't necessarily start with the beginning of the book. I just start with the part of the story that's most vivid in my imagination and work forward and backward from there.” – Beverly Cleary 

 

Cleary, who was born in Oregon on April 12, 1916 lived to be nearly 105.  She created outstanding characters that had a huge impact on generations of young people who might not have had the impetus to pick up a book or listen to a story until they saw or heard something she had written.  

 

 From The Mouse and the Motorcycle to iconic “real life” characters like Beezus and Ramona to Henry Huggins and Mitch and Amy, her characters vividly deal with the fears, joys and “daily minutiae” that children everywhere experience.

 

“Kids,” she once said, “need to feel safe, be close to their families, like their teachers, and have friends to play with.   Quite often somebody will say to me, ‘What years do your books take place?’ and the only answer I can give is, ‘In childhood’.”