Beverly Clearly

Rather than recommending a book this week, I wanted to take a second to talk about the amazing legacy of Beverly Cleary, who passed away last week. Her books are a gateway into the world of reading for so many children, and I know they were important to many of us here at Picturestart. If you haven't read Sarah Larson's 2016 New Yorker essay celebrating Cleary's 100th birthday, it's a great analysis of why her books struck such a chord: "Cleary was an early pioneer of emotional realism in children's writing, respecting young readers enough to write about the feelings provoked by the joys and embarrassments of the world as it was, for children and their allies, animals." We love you Beverly! 

—Julia Hammer, Creative Executive