Summary
A young mouse named Ralph looked out Of his mousehole in Room 215 of the Mountain View Inn. The new tenant of the room, a boy, was playing with a little motorcycle just the right size for a mouse. Ralph could hardly wait till the boy left the room. Hurriedly he scrambled up the telephone cord to the bedside table, where the motorcycle was parked. With growing excitement, Ralph mounted the handsome machine and grasped its handgrips. Suddenly the telephone rang, and the motorcycle with its rider rolled off the table into the metal wastebasket. Ralph was sure he was doomed to be thrown out with the trash. Instead, the mouse found an unexpected career as a motorcyclist opening up to him. Beverly Cleary's first excursion into fantasy is a real triumph in the world of children's books.
Author Notes
Beverly Cleary was born on April 12, 1916. Her family lived on a small farm in McMinnville, Oregon, before moving to Portland. Ironically, this internationally known author of children's books struggled to learn how to read when she entered school. Before long however Cleary had learned to love books, and as a child she spent a good deal of her time in the public library.
Cleary attended Chaffey Junior College in Ontario, Ca. and went on to earned her first B.A. in 1938 from the University of California at Berkeley. Her second degree, a B.A. in library science, was bestowed by the University of Washington in Seattle in 1939. She worked for a short time as Children's Librarian in Yakima, Washington, before moving to California.
Cleary began her writing career in her early thirties. Her first book, Henry Huggins, was published in 1950. Her stories and especially her characters, Henry Huggins and Ramona Quimby, have proven popular with young readers. Her books have been translated into twenty languages and are available in over twenty countries. Some of her best-known titles are Ellen Tebbits (1951), Henry and the Paper Route (1957), Runaway Ralph (1970), and Dear Mr. Henshaw (1983). Several television programs have been produced from the Henry Huggins and Ramona stories. She also wrote two memoirs, A Girl from Yamhill (1988) and My Own Two Feet (1995).
Cleary has won many awards for her contributions to children's literature, including the American Library Association's Laura Ingalls Wilder Award in 1975, the Catholic Library Association's Regina Medal in 1980, the John Newbery Medal in 1984 and the National Medal of Arts in 2003.
Beverly Cleary died on March 25, 2021 in Carmel, California. She was 104 year old.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Beverly Cleary was born on April 12, 1916. Her family lived on a small farm in McMinnville, Oregon, before moving to Portland. Ironically, this internationally known author of children's books struggled to learn how to read when she entered school. Before long however Cleary had learned to love books, and as a child she spent a good deal of her time in the public library.
Cleary attended Chaffey Junior College in Ontario, Ca. and went on to earned her first B.A. in 1938 from the University of California at Berkeley. Her second degree, a B.A. in library science, was bestowed by the University of Washington in Seattle in 1939. She worked for a short time as Children's Librarian in Yakima, Washington, before moving to California.
Cleary began her writing career in her early thirties. Her first book, Henry Huggins, was published in 1950. Her stories and especially her characters, Henry Huggins and Ramona Quimby, have proven popular with young readers. Her books have been translated into twenty languages and are available in over twenty countries. Some of her best-known titles are Ellen Tebbits (1951), Henry and the Paper Route (1957), Runaway Ralph (1970), and Dear Mr. Henshaw (1983). Several television programs have been produced from the Henry Huggins and Ramona stories. She also wrote two memoirs, A Girl from Yamhill (1988) and My Own Two Feet (1995).
Cleary has won many awards for her contributions to children's literature, including the American Library Association's Laura Ingalls Wilder Award in 1975, the Catholic Library Association's Regina Medal in 1980, the John Newbery Medal in 1984 and the National Medal of Arts in 2003.
Beverly Cleary died on March 25, 2021 in Carmel, California. She was 104 year old.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Horn Book Review
Beverly Cleary's three beloved books featuring the intrepid Ralph Mouse are updated with contemporary-looking black-and-white illustrations. [Review covers these titles: The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Ralph S. Mouse, and Runaway Ralph.] (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Beverly Cleary's three beloved books featuring the intrepid Ralph Mouse are updated with contemporary-looking black-and-white illustrations. [Review covers these titles: The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Ralph S. Mouse, and Runaway Ralph.] (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
