Ramona and Her Father

Ramona and Her Father

Ramona and Her Father

Ramona and Her Father

Paperback(Reissue)

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Overview

Beverly Cleary's Newbery Honor Book depicts an average middle-class family dealing with the realities of life. With the perfect mix of humor and warmth, Ramona Quimby shines as a spirited girl with her heart set on helping.

Seven-year-old Ramona world is turned upside-down when her father unexpectedly loses his job. Things grow tense in the Quimby house, but Ramona resolves to help in any way she can—even downsizing her Christmas list. But with bills piling up and her parents constantly stressed, Ramona wonders if life will ever go back to normal.

This beloved Ramona book is as relatable and resonant today as it was when it was written. Boys and girls ages 6-12 will relate to Ramona's funny but real struggles.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780380709168
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication date: 03/17/2020
Series: Ramona Series , #4
Edition description: Reissue
Pages: 192
Sales rank: 101,309
Product dimensions: 5.12(w) x 7.62(h) x 0.38(d)
Age Range: 8 - 12 Years

About the Author

About The Author
Beverly Cleary is one of America's most beloved authors. As a child, she struggled with reading and writing. But by third grade, after spending much time in her public library in Portland, Oregon, she found her skills had greatly improved. Before long, her school librarian was saying that she should write children's books when she grew up.

Instead she became a librarian. When a young boy asked her, "Where are the books about kids like us?" she remembered her teacher's encouragement and was inspired to write the books she'd longed to read but couldn't find when she was younger. She based her funny stories on her own neighborhood experiences and the sort of children she knew. And so, the Klickitat Street gang was born!

Mrs. Cleary's books have earned her many prestigious awards, including the American Library Association's Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, presented to her in recognition of her lasting contribution to children's literature. Dear Mr. Henshaw won the Newbery Medal, and Ramona Quimby, Age 8 and Ramona and Her Father have been named Newbery Honor Books. Her characters, including Beezus and Ramona Quimby, Henry Huggins, and Ralph, the motorcycle-riding mouse, have delighted children for generations.


Jaqueline Rogers has been a professional children's book illustrator for more than twenty years and has worked on nearly one hundred children's books.

Hometown:

Carmel, California

Date of Birth:

April 12, 1916

Place of Birth:

McMinnville, Oregon

Education:

B.A., University of California-Berkeley, 1938; B.A. in librarianship, University of Washington (Seattle), 1939

Read an Excerpt

Chapter One

Payday

"Ye-e-ep!" sang Ramona Quimby one warm September afternoon, as she knelt on a chair at the kitchen table to make out her Christmas list. She had enjoyed a good day in second grade, and she looked forward to working on her list. For Ramona a Christmas list was a list of presents she hoped to receive, not presents she planned to give. "Ye-e-ep!" she sang again.

"Thank goodness today is payday," remarked Mrs. Quimby, as she opened the refrigerator to see what she could find for supper.

"Ye-e-ep!" sang Ramona, as she printed mice or ginny pig on her list with purple crayon. Next to Christmas and her birthday, her father's payday was her favorite day. His payday meant treats. Her mother's payday from her part-time job in a doctor's office meant they could make payments on the bedroom the Quimbys had added to their house when Ramona was in first grade.

"What's all this yeeping about?" asked Mrs. Quimby.

"I'm making a joyful noise until the Lord like they say in Sunday school," Ramona explained. "Only they don't tell us what the joyful noise sounds like so I made up my own." Hooray and wow, joyful noises to Ramona, had not sounded right, so she had settled on yeep because it sounded happy but not rowdy. "Isn't that all right?" she asked, as she began to add myna bird that talks to her list.

"Yeep is fine if that's the way you feel about it," reassured Mrs. Quimby.

Ramona printed coocoo clock on her list while she wondered what the treat would be this payday. Maybe, since this was Friday, they could all go to a movie if her parents could find one suitable. Both Ramona and her big sister,Beezus, christened Beatrice, wondered what went on in all those other movies. They planned to find out the minute they were grown-up. That was one thing they agreed on. Or maybe their father would bring presents, a package of colored paper for Ramona, a paperback book for Beezus.

I wish I could think of something interesting to do with leftover pot roast and creamed cauliflower," remarked Mrs. Quimby.

Leftovers--yuck!, thought Ramona. "Maybe Daddy will take us to the Whopperburger for supper for payday," she said. A soft, juicy hamburger spiced with relish, French fries crisp on the outside and mealy inside, a little paper cup of cole slaw at the Whopperburger Restaurant were Ramona's favorite payday treat. Eating close together in a booth made Ramona feel snug and cozy. She and Beezus never quarreled at the Whopperburger.

"Good idea." Mrs. Quimby closed the refrigerator door. "I'll see what I can do."

Then Beezus came into the kitchen through the back door, dropped her books on the table, and flopped down on a chair with a gusty sigh.

"What was that all about?" asked Mrs. Quimby, not at all worried.

"Nobody is any fun anymore," complained Beezus. "Henry spends all his time running around the track over at the high school getting ready for the Olympics in eight or twelve years, or he and Robert study a book of world records trying to find a record to break, and Mary Jane practices the piano all the time." Beezus sighed again. "And Mrs. Mester says we are going to do lots of creative writing, and I hate creative writing. I don't see why I had to get Mrs. Mester for seventh grade anyway."

"Creative writing can't be as bad as all that," said Mrs. Quimby.

"You just, don't understand," complained Beezus. "I can never think of stories, and my poems are stuff like, 'See the bird in the tree. He is singing to me.'"

"Tee-hee, tee-hee," added Ramona without thinking.

"Ramona," said Mrs. Quimby, "that was not necessary.

Because Beezus had been so grouchy lately, Ramona could manage to be only medium sorry.

"Pest!" said Beezus. Noticing Ramona's work, she added , Making out a Christmas list in September is silly."

Ramona calmly selected an orange crayon. She was used to being called a pest. "If I am a pest, you are a rotten dinosaur egg," she informed her sister.

"Mother, make her stop," said Beezus.

When Beezus said this, Ramona knew she had won. The time had come to change the subject. "Today's payday," she told her sister. "Maybe we'll get to go to the Whopperburger for supper."

Ramona and Her Father. Copyright © by Beverly Cleary. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.

Reading Group Guide

Introduction:

Ramona just wants everyone to be happy. If only her father would smile and joke again, her mother would look less worried, her sister would be cheerful, and Picky-picky would eat his cat food. But Ramona's father has lost his job, and nobody in the Quimby household is in a very good mood.

Ramona tries to cheer up the family as only Ramona can, but her best efforts just make things worse. But when her father admits he wouldn't trade her for a million dollars, Ramona knows everything is going to work out fine in the end.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What changes take place in the Quimby household when Mr. Quimby loses his job in the office of a van-and-storage company? Why does everyone (except Ramona) start to become a little grouchy?
  2. Why does Ramona start to practice giggling, saying "Pop-pop-pop" and crunching loudly on food? Why does she tell her second grade teacher, Mrs. Rogers that her stockings are "wrinkled like an elephant's legs?"
  3. Why doesn't Ramona want anyone to know how she got burrs stuck in her hair. How does she finally get them out?
  4. Usually it's Ramona who has temper tantrums, but when Picky-picky the cat eats part of the jack-o'-lantern for Halloween, Beezus starts an argument with her father. Why?
  5. Mr. and Mrs. Quimby think that Ramona is just upset about the ruined jack-o'-lantern, but in fact she's worried about something else. What? Do you think children worry about adults as much as adults worry about children?
  6. What does Ramona do after she makes up her mind, in the middle of arithmetic, that she is going to save her father's life? What are some of thesigns that she and Beezus put around the house and where do they put them. What is Mr. Quimby's reaction?
  7. When Mr. Quimby isn't at home waiting for her after school, Ramona is afraid he has gone away because she was mean to him. Does this turn out to be true?
  8. Why do you think Mr. Quimby eventually decides to give up smoking? Is he immediately happy about his decision to quit? Why not?
  9. Are the Quimbys a happy family? Are they a perfect family?

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