Ramona's World (Hardcover)

by Beverly Cleary (Author), Tracy Dockray (Illustrator) "Ramona Quimby was nine years old..." (more)
Key Phrases: kitty condo, Yard Ape, Big Hospital, Moby Dick (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Ramona Quimby is back! Beverly Cleary's best-loved and most exuberant character has been winning friends since the 1950s when she made her first appearance as Beezus's pesky little sister. Now, in Cleary's first Ramona book in 15 years, our beloved spitfire is 9 years old, and she fully intends to make fourth grade the best year of her life. Even with her spelling struggles, a new baby sister, and a fall through her best friend's ceiling, her wish seems to be coming true. Old friends Yard Ape and Howie are still around--and with her new best friend Daisy, Ramona is on top of her world! The ever-popular Cleary has been awarded many honors, including the prestigious Newbery Medal for Dear Mr. Henshaw in 1984. Two books in the Ramona series, Ramona and Her Father and Ramona Quimby, Age 8, were named Newbery Honor Books. Cleary's masterful expression of children's emotions endears her to the hearts of her young readers, time after time. Who else could know just what it feels like to accidentally make a funny face during the school pictures, or the dread of being forced to play with the annoyingly perfect Susan? Happily, Cleary is still teamed up with illustrator Alan Tiegreen, whose simple line drawings capture the most complex of childhood predicaments. (Ages 8 to 12) --Emilie Coulter

From Publishers Weekly
Cleary's first Ramona novel in 15 years opens as this strong-willed heroine enters fourth grade, determined to find herself a best friend. A new girl at school named Daisy fits the bill perfectly and costars in two of the novel's liveliest scenes: she and Ramona vacuum Daisy's cat, and while the two play a game of make-believe in the attic, Ramona's legs break through the floor and dangle over the dining room table. Though the precocious nine-year-old is on relatively firm ground at school ("By the fourth grade she had learned to put up with teachers"), Ramona resents the emphasis that this year's teacher places on correct spelling, tries to tolerate the seemingly perfect Susan andAvery realisticallyAalternately feuds and flirts with classmate Danny (whom she calls Yard Ape because he "acted like an ape on the playground"). On the home front, Ramona stews over her mother's preoccupation with a new baby and rolls her eyes at how sister Beezus (now a high-schooler) tends to integrate her newly acquired French vocabulary into conversation. A couple minor subplots seem dated (e.g., Beezus takes dancing lessons from her father in preparation for her first boy-girl party, to which she wears a blouse with ruffles), but most of Ramona's triumphs and traumas are timeless and convincingly portrayed. "I am a potential grown-up," declares this spunky protagonist on her 10th birthday, proudly trotting out one of her challenge words in spelling. Fans will hope that Cleary has many more growing pains and pleasures in store for Ramona before this potential is realized. 100,000 first printing. Ages 8-up.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (August 25, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688168167
• ISBN-13: 978-0688168162
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #786,947 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ramona's World, April 4, 2000

By A Customer

This book is wonderful! I was the first one to buy it atTarget. I am 12 years old and could not keep my eyes of it. I read itin 2 days flat! I will add this book to my collection. I will alsogive my collection of B. Cleary books to my kids. these books are a treasure to me. I know it sounds silly but these books like "The Paper Route" were all great books that helped me cope threw life where i'm at. These books are so down to earth. Thats why i like them so much! I recommend these books any day to kids my age and even the librarian. If Beverly Cleary is listening keep up the good work your excellant! i would give more stars or thumbs up but they only let me have 5 stars or thumbs up. It would be imposible for me to say that i have a favorate book by her. I admire here corage to keep righting books. keep righting them Beverly. Please if you agree with this statement then vote for me at the bottom of this paragraph. END

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ramona's back -- almost, October 29, 2000

By	Kathleen Chappell (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews

Beverly Cleary's latest foray into Ramona's world is a welcome addition to her series, but the book isn't quite the joyful reunion one might expect. Ramona doesn't seem the same somehow; she still gets into scrapes, but her new adventures don't come across quite as vividly or seem as catastrophic as her old ones did. Having trouble keeping track of a baby and a cat at the same time could happen to anyone, but only Ramona could dye herself blue in Howie's sink or decide to wear her pajamas to school, as she did in previous books. Maybe Cleary is trying to show that Ramona is growing up a little, or maybe she just had trouble getting back inside her head (it has been a long time since the last book).

The whole feel of the book was a little different, maybe because Cleary modernized the setting a bit or even because the Quimbys seem to have gotten past their financial troubles. The older books were a nice mix of Ramona's escapades and her relationship with her family. There was a real "times may be tough but we'll get through it together" sort of feeling in previous books, and while there is a family component to this one (especially Ramona trying to adjust to her new role as the middle child), this book doesn't deal as much with the Quimbys trying to get along as a family. The issues (except for the financial ones) don't seem to have changed, either. Beezus is still trying to deal with her "good" image and grow up at the same time, and Ramona is still trying to deal with the fact that she's not Beezus.

Unfortunately, the school scenes aren't as well developed as they could be, either. Ramona's rivalry with Susan still comes into play, but there aren't any spectacular owl-crushing incidents. She also has to deal with Yard Ape, but he's almost nice now. Her new friend Daisy is not very memorable, and Howie is largely absent from the book. Ramona has a new teacher to deal with, too, which is always important, but she doesn't compare to the others, either in personality or in her run-ins with Ramona. It's Ramona's world, all right, but maybe not quite the way you remember it.

The same goes for the illustrations. Alan Tiegreen, who did most of the other Ramona books, has illustrated this one as well. These drawings are less detailed than some of the earlier ones, at times almost cartoonish. Still, it's great to have Tiegreen back too, because seeing another artist's image of Ramona would be strange at this point.

Although it's not the best of the bunch, _Ramona's World_ is a must read for Cleary fans, old and young. It's great to see Ramona again.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A little dissapointed!, April 11, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Ramona's World (Ramona Series) (Paperback)

I own all the ramona books and have read them over and over again since grade school. Before I read ramonas world, I went through and read all the previous books in order starting from beezus and ramona, when ramona is in nursery school, through to ramona forever and then ramona's world. In Ramona's world, it seems as though Cleary has not delved too deep into Ramona's thought process and feelings as she does in other books. Furthermore, there seems to be a huge jump in personalities among all the characters from ramona forever to ramonas world. In certain parts of the book it almost seems as some of the things ramona and daisy feel/think are almost too mature for 9-10 year olds. Beezus is also much more outgoing and quite a bit more snippy towards ramona then she has been in previous books where she is quiet, sensible, and always with her nose in a book. Although Cleary is trying to show how these kids are growing up, Ramona's world is much too sudden a jump. The book does not introduce a gradual transition for Beezus and Ramona in attitudes and maturity. Also Yard ape, who in Ramona age 8 was a gum smacking, ball kicking, getting into trouble type of kid, is now quiet and very smart, and suddenly very nice.

Lastly, another aspect of the book which sets it apart from the others, is that in previous ramona books, Cleary mostly tells the story in the 3rd person perspective, whereas in Ramona's world, it is mostly in the 2nd person perspective which explains why it reads so differently from previous books.