I don't necessarily start with the beginning of the book. I just start with the part of the story that's most vivid… — Beverly Cleary Copy Share Image
I wrote books to entertain. I'm not trying to teach anything! If I suspected the author was trying to show me how… — Beverly Cleary Copy Share Image
One rainy Sunday when I was in the third grade, I picked up a book to look at the pictures and discovered… — Beverly Cleary Copy Share Image
My mother would read aloud to my father and me in the evening. She read mainly travel books. — Beverly Cleary Copy Share Image
If we finished our work, the teacher would say, 'Now don't read ahead.' But sometimes I hid the book I was reading… — Beverly Cleary Copy Share Image
People are usually surprised to hear this, but I don't really read children's books. — Beverly Cleary Copy Share Image
My mother always kept library books in the house, and one rainy Sunday afternoon - this was before television, and we didn't… — Beverly Cleary Copy Share Image
I feel sometimes that in children's books there are more and more grim problems, but I don't know that I want to… — Beverly Cleary Copy Share Image
With twins, reading aloud to them was the only chance I could get to sit down. I read them picture books until… — Beverly Cleary Copy Share Image
I was a very observant child. The boys in my books are based on boys in my neighborhood growing up. — Beverly Cleary Copy Share Image
My favorite books are a constantly changing list, but one favorite has remained constant: the dictionary. Is the word I want to… — Beverly Cleary Copy Share Image
As a child, I disliked books in which children learned to be 'better' children. — Beverly Cleary Copy Share Image
'Dear Mr. Henshaw' came about because two different boys from different parts of the country asked me to write a book about… — Beverly Cleary Copy Share Image
I hope children will be happy with the books I've written, and go on to be readers all of their lives. — Beverly Cleary Copy Share Image
Quite often somebody will say, What year do your books take place? and the only answer I can give is, In childhood. — Beverly Cleary Copy Share Image
Don't stop now. Go ahead! Be readers all of your lives. And don't forget, librarians and teachers can help you find the… — Beverly Cleary Copy Share Image
Otis was inspired by a boy who sat across the aisle from me in sixth grade. He was a lively person. My… — Beverly Cleary Copy Share Image
In seventh grade...I found a place on the [library]shelf where my book would be if I ever wrote a book, which I… — Beverly Cleary Copy Share Image
I particularly enjoy cello music because our daughter plays the cello. I have listened to her practice for so many hours that I am… — Beverly Cleary Copy Share Image
I don't necessarily start with the beginning of the book. I just start with the part of the story that's most vivid in my… — Beverly Cleary Copy Share Image
I think adults sometimes don't think about how children are feeling about the adult problems. — Beverly Cleary Copy Share Image
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,… — Beverly Cleary Copy Share Image
I haven't been very enthusiastic about the commercialization of children's literature. Kids should borrow books from the library and not necessarily be buying them. — Beverly Cleary Copy Share Image
“She was surprised to feel his hand on her arm and still more surprised-almost unbelieving-to see his fingers unclasp his identification bracelet and remove… — Beverly Cleary Copy Share Image
“He seemed grown-up, compared to the boys at school, and although he was not handsome, or even particularly good-looking—there were still some scars on… — Beverly Cleary Copy Share Image
The key to writing successful YA is to keep the adults out of the story as much as possible. — Beverly Cleary Copy Share Image
In my grammar school years back in the 1920s I used my ten-cents-a-week allowance for Saturday matinees of Douglas Fairbanks movies. All that swashbuckling… — Beverly Cleary Copy Share Image
“Well, she thought, I'm certainly bright. She had wanted to meet a new boy and when she finally did meet one she didn't even… — Beverly Cleary Copy Share Image
I wrote books to entertain. I'm not trying to teach anything! If I suspected the author was trying to show me how to be… — Beverly Cleary Copy Share Image