Just Like Beverly: A Biography of Beverly Cleary (Growing to Greatness)

A beautifully illustrated and clearly heartfelt look at the life of Beverly Cleary that really does a wonderful job of highlighting Cleary's enthusiasm for life, love of literature, and impact on children's books. I'm super biased because Ramona Quimby was probably the MOST influential book character to me as a young reader, but I adored every page in here and will always love hearing about her and her author.

Intermediate
Tells the true story of children's author Beverly Cleary. She grew up not liking to read, but then, because of a special teacher, she read and discovered she liked to write, too. There's also a timeline of her life in the back.
Helpful for 3-4th grade students to read; it's good to read an inspirational story. I also love Beverly Cleary. It's not complicated to read and the pictures help tell the story well.

This is a quick picture book biography of the GOAT Beverly Cleary. My daughter and I enjoyed seeing all the ways she drew from her own life to create her books. Cute illustrations, too! When Mirah is a little older, we'll read BC's autobiography [b:A Girl from Yamhill|198691|A Girl from Yamhill|Beverly Cleary|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388905681l/198691._SX50_.jpg|2029578].

This is such a lovely picture book biography of Beverly Cleary. The illustrations are sweet and the author takes us all through Beverly's childhood and adult life, showing the formative events that led her to become one of the most beloved children's authors of all time.

Read this book and then hand your kid a stack of Beverly Cleary books!

Just like Beverly is a biography about Beverly Cleary, the beloved children's author. The book tell the story of her childhood and early love for books, and the start of her schooling. Her first teacher made her feel small and incapable with reading. But eventually, she had a teacher that helped her learn to read and she regained her love of stories. She went on to become a published author, and has now written many classics that are beloved today.
This book is age appropriate for Primary students, and would be a great addition in a 1st-3rd grade classroom! I would implement this book in a classroom where students are finding themselves reading Beverly Cleary's books, like Ramona and Beezus, as a way for them to learn more about the show more author. I think this would also be a good book for a unit about Oregon, because Beverly Cleary was born and raised there! show less

Find that teacher, that librarian, who helps you discover books and the confidence to read
Write what you know and long to see in literature

Beverly Cleary does all this and more. This is an excellent picture book biography. HIGHLY recommend!

Booklist review
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Re-read July 2021
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This biography of Beverly Cleary is perfect. The story of her life is presented in a traditional chronological way, with a question running throughout: Where are the books for kids like me? It shows that she loved stories, but struggled with reading and writing (her first teacher forced her to write with her right hand instead of her dominant left, and put her in the "blackbird" reading group). Her next teacher, however, helped her learn to read and regain her love of stories, and her mother started a library in town. Beverly went to college and then put off marriage to Clarence Cleary as she studied to be a librarian and took her first librarian job. After their marriage, she continued to work as a show more librarian and he encouraged her to write; Henry Huggins was her first published book, followed by more than 40 more.

Illustrations are utterly charming and perfectly suited to the subject matter; young Beverly resembles most illustrations of Ramona.

Back matter includes a more detailed biography and a timeline. show less