Beverly Cleary

“My favorite books are a constantly changing list, but one favorite has remained constant: the dictionary. Is the word I want to use spelled practice or practise? The dictionary knows. The dictionary also slows down my writing because it is such interesting reading that I am distracted.”

“Writers are good at plucking out what they need here and there.”

“Novels by British writers are among my favorites because our family has enjoyed travel in England and because they are written with an economy of words as if they were written with a pen instead of a computer. Penelope Fitzgerald is a favorite.”

“I know that when I was a children's librarian, that was about 1940, boys particularly asked where were the books about kids like us, and there weren't any at that time.”

“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.”

“I write in longhand on yellow legal pads.”

“I was a very observant child. The boys in my books are based on boys in my neighborhood growing up.”

“What interests me is what children go through while growing up.”

“'Dear Mr. Henshaw' came about because two different boys from different parts of the country asked me to write a book about a boy whose parents were divorced, and so I wrote 'Dear Mr. Henshaw,' and it won the Newbery, and I was - it's been very popular.”

“I was an only child; I didn't have a sister, or sisters.”

“One rainy Sunday when I was in the third grade, I picked up a book to look at the pictures and discovered that even though I did not want to, I was reading. I have been a reader ever since.”

“I read my books aloud before they were published.”

“I don't ever go on the Internet. I don't even know how it works.”

“If she can't spell, why is she a librarian? Librarians should know how to spell.”

“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.”

“I wanted to be a ballerina. I changed my mind.”

“I particularly enjoy cello music because our daughter plays the cello. I have listened to her practice for so many hours that I am familiar with the music written for that instrument. I am also fond of the popular music of the 1930s because my future husband and I danced to it so many Saturday nights when we were in college.”

“In 50 years, the world has changed, especially for kids, but kids' needs haven't changed. They still need to feel safe, be close to their families, like their teachers, and have friends to play with.”

“People are inclined to say that I am Ramona. I'm not sure that's true, but I did share some experiences with her.”

“Children want to do what grownups do.”