Drop Everything And Read

Mrs. Whaley printed four big letters on the blackboard, and as she pointed she read out, "D. E. A. R. Can anyone guess what these letters stand for?"

The class thought and thought.

"Do Everything All Right," suggested someone. A good thought, but not the right answer.

"Don't Eat A Reader," suggested Danny. Mrs. Whaley laughed and told him to try again.

As Ramona thought, she stared out of the window at the blue sky, the treetops, and, in the distance, the snow-capped peak of Mount Hood looking like a giant licked ice-cream cone. R could stand for Run and A for And. "Drop Everything And Run," Ramona burst out. Mrs. Whaley, who was not the sort of teacher who expected everyone to raise a hand before speaking, laughed and said, "Almost right, Ramona, but have you forgotten we are talking about reading?"

"Drop Everything And Read!" chorused the rest of the class. Ramona felt silly. She should have thought of that herself.

-- From Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary

April 12 is National Drop Everything And Read Day. A program designed by such organizations as the National Education Association, the American Library Association, and HarperCollins Children’s Books, the day was designed to "remind and encourage families to make reading together on a daily basis a family priority." Celebrating the holiday is simple: take 30 minutes today to read a book!


And why April 12? Simple: it's Beverly Cleary's birthday.

Turning 96 today (she was born in 1916), Cleary is a children's book author who says she got her ideas for her characters and stories merely by a desire to write the sort of books she wanted to read as a child -- but could never find. She wanted to read books about children who were just like herself. And since her books made their first appearance over fifty years ago, they've been loved the world over for their extraordinary "ordinary" characters: Henry Huggins, Ralph S. Mouse, Leigh Botts, Ellen Tebbits, Otis Spofford, and, of course, Ramona Quimby.

Born and raised in Oregon, Clearly was initially a slow reader -- struggling to learn, in part, because she found the books she was assigned to read to be uninspiring. But in third grade, she had a life-changing experience when she tried The Dutch Twins, by Lucy Fitch Perkins. For the first time, a story had hooked her. "In this story, something happened. With rising elation, I read on. I read all afternoon and evening, and by bedtime I had read not only The Dutch Twins but The Swiss Twins as well. It was one of the most exciting days of my life."

Cleary would go on to become a librarian, only to find that she was in agreement with the children of her library that many of the books geared to kids weren't that engaging. So she wrote a book of her own: Henry Huggins. The book was accepted by the first publisher she sent it to, embarking Cleary on a career that has spanned more than half a century. Her books have been adapted into a television series and films, and statues of her most famous trio of characters (Henry, Ribsy, and Ramona) are displayed in a park in Portland, Oregon (Ramona's "hometown").

So what makes Cleary's books so popular?

In some ways, they are among the first of their kind. Cleary did not want to write books with morals and messages, about children who "learn their lesson" by the end of the story and become better-behaved. She wanted to write about realistic children, with problems and situations that real kids could relate to. Her characters don't learn an Important Moral by the last page -- they simply change and grow from their experiences, getting closer to becoming adults. (As Ramona herself notes at the end of one novel, she's "winning at growing up.")

I understand Cleary's connection to The Swiss Twins as the first book that made her love reading. Cleary's Ramona books were the first books I ever read on my own, and were the first "chapter books" I ever loved. I read and reread my Ramona books until the covers fell off, and Ramona herself became both a character I related to and a role model I looked up to. Ramona was stubborn, determined, enthusiastic, curious, confused, wise, and imaginative -- all while tackling the sort of problems any "ordinary" kid could relate to. Ironically, Cleary's determination to write books without "a moral" allowed her to tell stories that inspired.

Such is Cleary's talent that she didn't just make me fall in love with Ramona. She made me fall in love with reading. She's done the same for millions of children -- now adults -- worldwide. So celebrate this former librarian's birthday by taking a few moments today to Drop Everything And Read!

-- Post by Ms. B