I know there are readers who find Ramona’s brattiness kind of intolerable, I do understand that, she can be a lot, she is definitely a lot in this one, but that’s just never bothered me. I love Ramona no matter how messy she gets, maybe even because of how messy she gets, and I love these books, I love that Beverly Cleary never felt the need to soften a little girl’s edges the way so many other books do.

This didn’t have as much family time as the first in the series did, and I did miss that, but I was still thoroughly entertained by Ramona’s rocky entry into kindergarten. The dramatic moments, the hissy fits, heels kicking her bedroom wall, feeling sorry for herself, longing for her teacher to her, all that read as real, true to things we’ve all felt at one point or another. Same with the comedy, there’s such an organic feeling to it, a kid misunderstanding the definition of a word or not knowing what time actually is quarter past the hour, etc., these are genuinely funny bits and funnier still because they’re situations you could see actually playing out, that’s why this still holds up strong now, it’s filled with these moments that are still identifiable long past the era they were written in. ( )

Now starting kindergarten, Ramona is looking forward to growing up, learning to read, and riding a bike instead of a tricycle. She's especially sensitive to being called a pest, especially when she's just trying to figure out how this whole growing up thing works, and adults can't understand why certain things are important to her or why she sees life the way she does.

It's rather delightful to reread this series as an adult. As a child, I related so much to Ramona and her confusion about how adults were taking what she said when her thoughts and feelings seem so reasonable to her. And now, of course, I can also see everything from the parents' point of view. Cleary manages to convey both without talking down to her audience or minimizing their feelings. ( )

Ramona Quimby is thrilled to be starting kindergarten. She likes a little boy named Davy so much she wants to kiss him, and she loves Susan's beautiful curls so much she wants to pull them to see them boing. Her teacher even promises her a present just for sitting still! So how does Ramona get in trouble? Well, anyone who knows Ramona knows that she is never a pest on purpose.

Adventure

Ramona Quimby is excited to start kindergarten. No longer does she have to watch her older sister, Beezus, ride the bus to school with all the big kids. She's finally old enough to do it too!
Then she gets into trouble for pulling her classmate's boingy curls during recess. Even worse, her crush rejects her in front of everyone. Beezus says Ramona needs to quit being a pest, but how can she stop if she never was trying to be one in the first place? ( )