I had a bad time in school in the first grade. Because I had been a rather lonely child on a farm, but I was free and wild and to be shut up in a classroom – there were 40 children on those days in the classroom, and it was quite a shock.
BEVERLY CLEARYI was a very observant child. The boys in my books are based on boys in my neighborhood growing up.
More Beverly Cleary Quotes
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If you don’t see the book you want on the shelves, write it.
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As a child, I disliked books in which children learned to be ‘better’ children.
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In seventh grade…I found a place on the [library]shelf where my book would be if I ever wrote a book, which I doubted.
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If she can’t spell, why is she a librarian? Librarians should know how to spell.
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Didn’t the people who made those license plates care about little girls named Ramona?
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I enjoy writing for third and fourth graders most of all.
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Otis was inspired by a boy who sat across the aisle from me in sixth grade. He was a lively person. My best friend appears in assorted books in various disguises.
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I was an only child; I didn’t have a sister, or sisters.
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People are usually surprised to hear this, but I don’t really read children’s books.
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Nothing in the whole world felt as good as being able to make something from a sudden idea.
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The key to writing successful YA is to keep the adults out of the story as much as possible.
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Children should learn that reading is pleasure, not just something that teachers make you do in school.
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I read my books aloud before they were published.
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With twins, reading aloud to them was the only chance I could get to sit down. I read them picture books until they were reading on their own.
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I didn’t start out writing to give children hope, but I’m glad some of them found it.
BEVERLY CLEARY







