When the Lone Star Girl was three years old, I started reading Beverly Cleary's Beezus and Ramona to her. She had a good attention span and the picture books we were reading didn't seem to be enough anymore. She wanted to be read to for a good hour at night before she was ready to go to sleep. I had enjoyed the Ramona books as a child and knew that Ramona was only four in Beezus and Ramona. Since the Lone Star Girl's intellect was definitely up to speed with most four-year-olds, I decided to give it a try. She loved the book. We got through it in just a few days and she begged me to read the next one. Within a few short weeks, we had read the whole series and heard that another was due out that August, even though the original set had been written ages and ages ago. That summer, when we were evacuating due to Hurricane Brett, I picked up Ramona's World in Austin and we read it in the motel room. The Ramona books were a wonderful introduction to chapter books for the Lone Star Girl and the start of a lovely tradition for us - we read a series of good chapter books every year after that until the Lone Star Girl was ten and preferred to read her annual Christmas series on her own, so she could get through it faster.
Last year, I tried to start reading the Ramona books to the Lone Star Baby, but she really didn't have the attention span for it and we didn't get very far. Our read- aloud relationship has been a lot more spotty than the one I had with her sister. I think this is partly because she doesn't like listening for as long, but also partly because we are so much more busy these days and have less time for reading. We tried again in the spring and now she is into it. We have read through the first books and are now reading Ramona Quimby, Age 8, after which there are two more. The Lone Star Baby has really enjoyed them. I have found reading the Ramona books to her to be even more special than it was to read them to her sister because, at three, the Lone Star Girl was a very sweet and pleasant child who was rarely any trouble (but look at her now!). The Lone Star Baby is our spunky gal, just like Ramona is her Daddy's spunky gal. I love the sensitive way that Cleary portrays the little handful that is Ramona, showing her goodness and always respecting her. I highly recommend these books for preschoolers who are beginning to be ready to listen to chapter books, most especially the spirited ones.
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