Free Republic

Beverly Cleary, the children’s author whose books about Ramona Quimby, Henry Huggins and others captured the spark and struggles of “kids like us,” doesn’t mind if you celebrate her birthday. After all, she turns 100 on Tuesday. Now living in a retirement community in Carmel, California, Cleary plans to celebrate with a slice of carrot cake. But it’s fine if others celebrate, including the “Drop Everything and Read” effort sponsored by her publisher. “Go ahead and fuss,” she told the Washington Post of her centennial birthday. “Everyone else is.”

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS/AP) — As she turns 100, the feisty and witty author Beverly Cleary remembers the Oregon childhood that inspired the likes of characters Ramona and Beezus Quimby and Henry Huggins in the children’s books that sold millions and enthralled generations of youngsters. “I was a well-behaved little girl, not that I wanted to be,” she said. “At the age of Ramona, in those days, children played outside. We played hopscotch and jump rope and I loved them and always had scraped knees.” Ramona, perhaps her best-known character, made her debut in “Henry Huggins” with only a brief mention....