Ramona and Her Father

Ramona Quimby's cozy seven-year-old world changes when her father unexpectedly loses his job. Quickly, Ramona resolves to do her part to help make ends meet, but her grand plan to star in a TV commercial backfires! Despite Ramona's efforts to keep her father--and her family--cheerful, weeks go by as Mr. Quimby is unable to find work, and bills and worries pile up. As Christmas approaches, Ramona crosses out every item on her wish list, keeping only "one happy family" as her heart's desire.

Another Ramona re-read for me. Ramona is back in second grade; and her father has lost his job. Ramona faces her usual grade-school trials and tribulations, but this time her troubles are driven mainly by family dynamics. Everyone is short-tempered, and the cat doesn't like the cheap cat food, so he eats the jack-o-lantern. Beezus fights with the parents, which makes Ramona cry. She's reassured repeatedly that the family will get another pumpkin to carve, but that's not the issue. "Didn't grown-ups think children worried about anything but jack-o-lanterns? Didn't they know children worried about grown-ups?"

It's not all down. Ramona and her friend Howie make coffee-can stilts and delight in stomping all over the sidewalk belting out "99 show more Bottles of Beer on the Wall." It takes them all through the evening through a rain shower, but they make it from 99 down to 1. Huzzah! I love the young Ramona who delights in noise.

And the final episode, where Ramona participates in the church nativity scene dressed in a home-made ragtag sheep costume, is priceless. Ramona Forever! show less

Ramona Quimby wishes her family would perk up. Her cat refuses to eat, her older sister is going through a moody and defiant phase, and her parents worry a lot these days, since her father just lost his job. But if Ramona sets her mind to it, maybe she can find a way to help her father through this rough patch in Ramona and Her Father by author Beverly Cleary.

Just as I remembered from childhood, I found this to be one of the darker Ramona books (although back then, "sadder" is the word I likely would've used.) It's certainly a serious situation for Ramona here, with her family being even more strapped for cash than usual, and her father putting his lungs in danger with cigarettes. (Wow--I'd forgotten all about Ramona's mission against show more her father's smoking habit! My, does that lead to some parts that prick my heart in a whole new way, now that I can better appreciate how Mr. Quimby must feel.)

But there's still patented Ramona humor and fun in the read, with a heroine whose feelings about things like eating out at Whopperburger are so on point. Plus, seeing how an imperfect Mr. Quimby is a good man who loves and gets a kick out of his daughter makes this a winner of a tale.

Oh--and did I mention this book's delightfully Christmassy ending? show less

This is one of the only books I've read for children that address the distress that children feel when there are money worries in the family, and manages to do it with a sense of humor. Ramona's father loses his job, and money is tight. Her mother goes to work full-time, but barely makes enough and everyone is stressed out. Ramona, who is about 6 or 7 now, is also unhappy, but not because of a lack of money, but because everyone is grouchy and just not themselves because of it. Cleary is wonderful at depicting the thought processes of young kids without getting mired in psychological explanation. Excellent!

When Mr. Quimby loses his job, Ramona and her family need to adjust to tighter finances and stress. The family gets grouchy and Ramona, now in second grade, wishes she could do something to help. But through it all, there is trademark humor and a lot of love.

I'm continuing to have a lot of fun rereading this series with adult eyes. I'd forgotten that Mr. Quimby smokes and that Ramona and Beezus go on a campaign to make him quit. I can relate more to the adult stress but still remember the kid stress of tough times like the Quimbys experience here, which adds to the richness of the books.

I sadly deprived myself of Beverly Cleary books as a child, so I'm making up for lost time. In this Ramona Quimby book, her father is laid off meaning that Ramona spends more time than usual with her father at home. There are a lot of sweet father-daughter moments that touch me as a daddy myself. But Ramona's father can also be cranky and short-tempered, especially from being unemployed and forced to quit smoking by his daughters. It's a funny and timeless book about childhood and family.
Favorite Passages:

I’ll bet that boy’s father wishes he had a little girl who finger-painted and wiped her hands on the cat when she was little and who once cut her own hair so she would be bald like her uncle and who then grew up to be seven years

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old and crowned herself with burs. Not every father is lucky enough to have a daughter like that.

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Ramona's father is out of work, which means he's spending a lot more time at home. Unfortunately, it also means he's feeling a bit more irritable and dejected. But life continues for the Quimby family, and Ramona is always working on something, whether it's finding a way to have a real part in the church nativity play, or launching a campaign to get her father to stop smoking.

This is one of my favorite books in the series. The whole thing is just so warm and comforting, like a long hug. It's also a perfect book to read in the fall, as it's set around Halloween through Christmas time.