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One of my all-time favorite children’s authors.  I used to read her to the third graders and then the library couldn’t keep up with the readers for her books.

Beverly Cleary is an American writer of children's and young adult fiction. One of America's most successful living authors, 91 million copies of her books have been sold worldwide since her first book was published in 1950. Some of her best known characters are Henry Huggins and his dog Ribsy, Ramona and Beezus Quimby, and Ralph S. Mouse.

She won the 1981 National Book Award for Ramona and Her Mother and the 1984 Newbery Medal for Dear Mr. Henshaw. For her lifetime contributions to American literature, Cleary received the National Medal of Arts, recognition as a Library of Congress Living Legend, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal from the Association for Library Service to Children.

As a children's librarian, Cleary empathized with her young patrons who had difficulty finding books with characters they could identify with and she struggled to find enough books to suggest that would appeal to them.  After a few years of making recommendations and performing live storytelling in her role as a librarian, Cleary decided to start writing children's books about characters that young readers could relate to.

Cleary has said, “I believe in that ‘missionary spirit’ among children’s librarians. Kids deserve books of literary quality, and librarians are so important in encouraging them to read and selecting books that are appropriate.”

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