My girls and I actually listened to Ramona and Her Father last summer, but I never got around to writing the review. This is the fourth book in Beverly Cleary’s Ramona Quimby series.
In this book, Ramona is still struggling to find her place in the world and in her family. Things are somewhat complicated because her father has recently lost his job. They are already on a budget, and now they must become even more frugal.
This book is somewhat dated because a major plot point involves Ramona trying to get her father to quit smoking- both for his health and also because of the money he can save. When I first read this book in the 1980s, I could empathize with Ramona’s plan because my own father smoked cigarettes. But my girls’ experience is vastly different because neither of their parent smoke, nor do we know anyone who smokes cigarettes. They were somewhat surprised at the smoking, but were charmed by Ramona’s attempts to get her father to quit. Read more
I have been reading the Ramona series with my seven year old twins. We are also listening to the Henry Huggins series in the car, so 2016 is officially our Beverly Cleary summer.
A couple of years ago, Audible had a great sale. I was able to purchase most of Beverly Cleary’s most popular books for about $4 apiece. I have been reading the Ramona books to my seven-year-old twins, and now that the girls are out of school, we have been listening to some of the books that we haven’t read.
My twins are going to be seven years old in a couple of weeks, and it’s hard to believe. They are growing up so quickly- what happened to my babies? They have always loved reading and listening to stories, but up until recently, we have always chosen picture books. I thought they were ready for chapter books, so we started reading Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary.