At six years old, little Beverly was placed on academic probation after first grade.
Her biggest challenge? Reading.
The books she was assigned were dull, educational stories about overly polite, perfect children — nothing like real life.
Everything changed when a kind and friendly school librarian encouraged her to give reading another try. For the first time, Beverly found a reason to enjoy books.
Years later, after graduating college, Beverly worked as a children\'s librarian.
But her opinion hadn\'t changed:
children\'s books were still boring.
Dick and Jane didn’t resemble the real kids she knew — noisy, curious, stubborn, joyful, mischievous, and messy.
So, she made a decision: she would write books that real children could actually enjoy.
Thus began the career of Beverly Cleary, author of Ramona the Pest, Henry Huggins, Ribsy, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, and over 40 books in total.
Her stories won dozens of awards, sold over 90 million copies, and continue to be beloved by generations of readers.
Not bad for a little girl who once hated reading, right?
As Beverly Cleary once said:
\"Children want to laugh, they want to feel that there are others who also make mistakes and get into trouble.\"