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Beverly Cleary's many books for young readers have endured the decades with her boisterous heroine Ramona Quimby remaining a perennial favorite for both parents and children. In this episode we examine the original bookends of the Ramona books, beginning with Beezus and Ramona and ending with Ramona Forever. We discuss being the eldest child, the most beautiful doll names, the perils of returning damaged library books, and dead cats.  We also tackle the topic of sibling dynamics by consulting some true experts, our own siblings. 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at [email protected]. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

We cover a lot of ground in this episode and used some books and articles as jumping off points. Here’s a brief list of some of them if you want to do your own further research:

Historical pregnancy weight gain recommendations: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK235249/

Beverly Cleary:
https://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/cleary

Birth order theory:
https://www.webmd.com/parenting/what-to-know-about-birth-order#:~:text=A%20researcher%20named%20Alfred%20Adler,in%20shaping%20a%20child's%20personality.