Books
11 Incredibly Inspiring Beverly Cleary Quotes
As a young reader, I didn't take into account how influential the authors and books I read would become as I grew older because, well, I was eight years old, and I was still trying to figure out how long division and boys worked. Authors like Beverly Cleary, the creator of Ramona Quimby, aka a major role model for every '90s girl, are a huge reason why I am such an avid reader today.
Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary, $4.39, Amazon
In honor of Beverly Cleary celebrating her 100th birthday, I revisited some of the Ramona stories and remembered how big of a fan I was. Growing up with both an older and younger sister, l related to these stories endlessly. And as a writer, Cleary's inspiring words of advice ring more true to me than ever before.
Whether she's talking about how important reading is for youngsters, motivating writers to write the stories they want to read, or describing how complicated and wonderful growing up is in her prose, she seems to have a quote for everything. So as you tackle your day today, take one, or even all of Beverly Cleary's wise quotes, and go forth being your awesome, adult-self that you couldn't wait to grow up and become as a kid.
1. "I don't think children themselves have changed that much. It's the world that has changed."
2. "She was not a slowpoke grownup. She was a girl who could not wait. Life was so interesting she had to find out what happened next."
3. "If you don't see the book you want on the shelves, write it."
4. "Problem solving, and I don't mean algebra, seems to be my life's work. Maybe it's everyone's life's work."
5. "One rainy Sunday when I was in the third grade, I picked up a book to look at the pictures and discovered that even though I did not want to, I was reading. I have been a reader ever since."
6. "I wanted to be a ballerina. I changed my mind."
7. "Children should learn that reading is pleasure, not just something that teachers make you do in school."
8. "I think the best teachers had a real interest in the subject they were teaching and a love for children."
9. "Ramona could not understand why grown-ups always talked about how quickly children grew up. Ramona thought growing up was the slowest thing there was, slower even than waiting for Christmas to come. She had been waiting years just to get to kindergarten, and the last half hour was the slowest part of all."
10. "If we finished our work, the teacher would say, 'Now don't read ahead.' But sometimes I hid the book I was reading behind my geography book and did read ahead. You can hide a lot behind a geography book."
11. "Nothing in the whole world felt as good as being able to make something from a sudden idea."
Images: Courtesy of 20th Century Fox; Getty Images (2)
