'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,… — 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
