Beloved children’s author Beverly Cleary celebrates her 100th birthday Tuesday. The “Beezus and Ramona” writer has penned over 30 books for children and young adults. She started off with “Henry Huggins” in 1950 and ended with “Ramona’s World” in 1999. Cleary hasn’t published a new novel in over a decade, but children continue reading her work. Three of her stories were even reprinted with forewords from Amy Poehler, Judy Blume and Kate DiCamillo earlier this year. However, if you don’t have time to pick up one of her books today, fans can still celebrate Cleary’s centennial birthday with a few quotes.

  • “Quite often somebody will say, ‘What year do your books take place?’ and the only answer I can give is, in childhood.”
  • “Children should learn that reading is pleasure, not just something that teachers make you do in school.”
  • “I didn't start out writing to give children hope, but I'm glad some of them found it.”
  • “My favorite books are a constantly changing list, but one favorite has remained constant: the dictionary. Is the word I want to use spelled practice or practise? The dictionary knows. The dictionary also slows down my writing because it is such interesting reading that I am distracted.”
  • “I haven’t been very enthusiastic about the commercialization of children’s literature. Kids should borrow books from the library and not necessarily be buying them.”
  • “I guess that’s what growing up is. Saying goodbye to a lot of things. Sometimes it is easy and sometimes it isn’t. But it is all right.” — from “The Luckiest Girl”
  • “I think adults sometimes don’t think about how children are feeling about the adult problems.”
  • “The world, Ramona decided, was full of people who used their dictionary skills and probably weren’t any fun.” — from “Ramona’s World”
  • “People are inclined to say that I am Ramona. I’m not sure that's true, but I did share some experiences with her.”
  • “If you don’t see the book you want on the shelves, write it.”
  • “I wrote books to entertain. I’m not trying to teach anything! If I suspected the author was trying to show me how to be a better behaved girl, I shut the book.”

All quotes are from GoodReads and BrainyQuote.

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