And not bad for Beverly Cleary, the beloved author of the Ramona books, the Henry Huggins books, "The Mouse and the Motorcycle," and the Newbery Award-winning "Dear Mr. Henshaw." Cleary, who turns 100 on April 12, has created books that have remained outrageously alive and effortlessly entertaining
Cleary spent her early years on a farm in Yamhill, Ore., then moved with her parents to Portland when she was 6. In first grade, she and was placed in the lowest reading group, the Blackbirds, according the Oregon Public Broadcasting documentary "Discovering Beverly Cleary."
In her introduction to a recent edition of "Henry Huggins," Judy Blume writes, "Beverly Cleary is the best. And ... I'm not exaggerating. There's no one else like her. She was my inspiration when I began to write. I'd go to the public library and come home with armloads of books. As I read them I'd
