Beezus and Ramona

I loved Beezus and Ramona. Beezus' nature is very much like mine. She is sensible, innocent and kind but the only thing is I do not have a troublesome little sister like Ramona [thank God]. The book made me laugh about the naughty things little Ramona does, like spoiling the game of checkers Beezus and Henry Huggins [Beezus' friend] were playing, locking Henry's dog Risby in the bathroom, eating bits of all the juicy apples in the attic, spoiling two cakes specially made for Beezus' birthday and many more things. I was planning to ask my mother for a little sister but this book saved both me and my mom from a lot of trouble. Thank you Beverly Cleary.

I have two younger sisters and I know the kind of trouble they can cause and how exasperating they can be. When I first read this book, I was in third grade. I'm 22 now, and I have read the book at least 20 times since then. Beverly Cleary's book tend to contain such true-to-life values that they remain timeless. Beezus is the older sister, the responsible and smart one. Ramona is the precocious little sister, creative but messy, cute but needy. Beezus struggles with being nice and trying to entertain Ramona and trying to be firm with her at the same time. There are some great little stories in this book about Ramona's misadventures including her unwavering love for a certain picture book, her locking Henry Huggins' dog in the bathroom, and her deciding that she wants to throw a party for herself without asking her mother. Things finally come to a head at Beezus' birthday party. When attention-starved Ramona gets a little too obnoxious, she shamefully admits that she just doesn't love her little sister all the time.Herein lies the lesson: Beezus' mother explains that Beezus is not expected to love Ramona all the time, that Ramona will do things that get on her nerves sometimes. But there will also be good times when the two will get along, work together, or share a laugh. And those are the moments that count in the sisterly bond. I have stuck to this mantra when trying to deal with my own two younger sisters so I don't go completely insane. This is a great book for little girls who have sisters so that one may understand the other's point of view. It helps you take a great look at your own sibling relationships, or it will at least show you that your own younger sister is not NEARLY as bratty as Ramona. :)

9-year old Beezus has a big problem- her little sister. She knows a lot of people with four-year old sisters, but none of them are nearly as much trouble as Ramona. She is always being an annoyance. She constantly wants her favorite book read to her, and Beezus gets stuck reading it to her. She rides her tricycle around the house and crashes into the table where Beezus and Henry are playing checkers. Then she gets into trouble and sent to her room, then decides to punish Henry's dog Ribsy by locking him in the bathroom. She ruins Beezus's birthday cake- twice!Beezus decides she does not love her little sister. Not one bit. What kind of awful person doesn't love her own sister? She knows that sisters should get along, like her mother and Aunt Beatrice. But then she learns that all sisters fight and do not always love each other- even her mother and Aunt Beatrice.Even though this book is at a quite easy reading level, I would recommend it even to adults because it is a humorous but wise book- Cleary knew how four-year old sisters thought when she wrote this.

I read my daughter Beverly Cleary's Ramona the Pest last year, when she was in kindergarten (because in that book Ramona is also a kindergartner) and she instantly pronounced it her favorite chapter book of all time. We've since been reading all the Ramona books, but we skipped this one for awhile. It's the first in the series, and takes place when Ramona is four years old. I knew from reviews that if focused more on Ramona's older, more serious sister, Beezus, and wasn't a "real" Ramona Quimby book. I somehow thought it would not be as funny as the others.I was wrong. Ramona is even more exuberant in this book than in any of the others we've read, and her antics are hilarious. Seeing everything through the eyes of her serious sister does not make it one bit less funny.But this is not just a funny book. It deals gently and honestly with the difficulty Beezus has in loving her sometimes exasperating little sister. Beezus and Ramona is more than forty years old, but I donÕt think anyone has ever come close to Beverly Cleary's ability to capture and sympathize with children's feelings. Cleary brings everything around to a happy, but entirely believable ending in this warm, wise book.My daughter says this is her second favorite Ramona book (after Ramona the Pest), but so far it's my very favorite.

Even fifty years later there is no stop to the love of this book, and everyone who has read it can relate to it. In this, you might sympathize with Beezus over the trials and tribulations of little Ramona, act like a pest (as Grown-ups called her) like Ramona, and enjoy the ups and downs of having a little sister. When I was twelve, I was fortunate enough to fly across the country with my family just so we could see the "Ramona Setting" in Portland, Oregon. In tow with all the Beverly Cleary books (although in these days, there were not much) I had, I checked out all of the important points in the books. If you ever go to Portland, OR, take a look at Kickalat Street - it's great!