Beverly Cleary, an award-winning children’s author whose work has been read by young readers for more than 70 years, died at 104, said her publisher, HarperCollins, in a statement on Friday.
Cleary, whose books have helped generations of children to deal with the challenging questions of childhood, was inspired to answer the question a boy asked her: “Where are the books about children like us?”
Cleary was born on April 12, 1916 in McMinnville, Oregon, and grew up in Portland and Yamhill, titled her autobiography “A Girl from Yamhill”. She died Thursday in northern California, where she lived.
After his first training as a librarian, Cleary became an author and wrote several children’s books that have been translated into more than a dozen languages, popularizing characters like Ramona Quimby and Henry Huggins.
It was in a library where his initial dream of writing for children was rekindled when “a little boy glared at me across the circulation table and said, ‘Where are the books on children like us?'”
Cleary won the National Book Award in 1981 for “Ramona and Her Mother”, and “Dear Mr. Henshaw” won the John Newbery Medal in 1984.
In an interview with TODAY to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2016, it clearly said: “Well, I didn’t do it on purpose!”
She said TODAY that she is most proud of the “fact that children love my books”.
Shortly after news of his death was released on Friday, many tributes reached the entire Internet.
Florida State Representative Anna V. Eskamani said that Cleary’s books “are the reason I fell in love with reading in the second grade, and since then I have been a lifelong reader!”
Portland Powell’s Books I wrote that Cleary was “a Portland hero”.
“We are deeply saddened by this loss and grateful for the beloved stories that she told us.”
This is breaking news and will be updated.
The Associated Press contributed.