Hooked by a Book

The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Before there was Remy from Ratatouille, there was Ralph. Ms. Cleary animated his hotel hijinks through the magic of careening creativity and a toy chopper. She managed to make a rodent likable and I wanted him as a pet. This is the book that invited me into a world where our wonderful words whirled into tales. She hooked me into reading and shortly after, writing.
In 1974, my fourth-grade teacher, Mrs. G would dim the lights and read a chapter to us after lunch. It was my favorite part of the day. Beverly Cleary's uncomplicated style and attention to little details drew me in. It was a relaxing way to digest her words--and our midday meal.

From there, I fell in love with Ms. Cleary's books and devoured them on my own. When Ralph's adventure ended, Mrs. G cracked open Ellen Tibbets, another Beverly Clearly classic. We could sympathize with a child taking ballet and suffering through plie`s and pirouettes in itchy wool underwear. (I think we were all thanking our lucky stars our era sidestepped that fashion necessity!) And to add further aggravation to her discomfort is her friend (or foe?) Henry Huggins, which is the title of Beverly Cleary's first book. Henry spins his own series with "Henry and the Paper Route," and his dog "Ribsy" with best friend Beezus, who has an annoying tag-along sister you may know--Ramona!

The early 50s settings always intrigued me, even as I read them in the 70s/80s. Her teen books, like"Sister of the Bride," "The Luckiest Girl", and "Jean and Johnny," echo the notion of innocence and angst of irritating crushes on the brink of coming of age with the old adage, "Sweet Sixteen and never been kissed."

I was enthralled with "Emily's Runaway Imagination," taking place in the 1920s. The cover as I recall featured a girl in a jumping jalopy. Entering a pie contest in the county fair armed with the best crust, creativity carries Emily into all sort of scrapes.
(Maybe this planted my fascination with the roaring '20s.)

Every summer I revisit my favorite childhood pastime- the library! I check out books from my youth that I used to read over and over again. I've read them to my kids when they were little, too. I think I'm due to drop by much sooner now after thinking about these longtime friends.



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