Ramona and Her Father by Beverly Cleary, Tracy Dockray

From the Publisher

Ramona just wants everyone to be happy. If only her father would smile and joke again, her mother would look less worried, her sister would be cheerful, and Picky-picky would eat his cat-food. But Ramona's father has lost his job, and nobody in the Quimby household is in a very good mood.

Ramona tries to cheer up the family as only Ramona can — by rehearsing for life as a rich and famous star of television commercials, for instance — but her best efforts only make things worse. Her sister, Beezus, calls her a, pest, her parents lose patience with her, and her teacher claims she's forgotten her- manners. But when her father admits he wouldn't trade her for a million dollars, Ramona knows everything is going to work out fine in the end.

Children's Literature

Author Beverly Cleary's book is only one title in a series about a girl named Ramona. This book was first published in the seventies but is now a re-illustrated Harper Trophy edition. Ramona's adventures have been many, but in this book, Ramona tries to come to her father's aid when he loses his job. One day Ramona decides that maybe she can make a million dollars by making a TV commercial. She practices by dressing up and placing a crown on her hair. But her hair becomes entangled in the crown and her dad has to cut her hair. Ramona tells her dad she wants money for him, but dad tells her he would not trade her for a million dollars. That makes Ramona feel good. Ramona is also worrying about something else. Her dad smokes and she wants him to quit. She tapes a picture of a cigarette on the refrigerator and crosses it out with a big black X. Under it she prints in big letters BAD. She is definitely on a campaign to get her father to quiet smoking. One day, Ramona takes her father's cigarettes and throws them in the garbage. Mr. Quimby is not happy about this, but he tries not to smoke. Ramona's father has lots of time on his hands now that he is out of a job, and he and Ramona are spending more time together and not always getting along. But even when Ramona is acting like a brat, her father loves her. When Ramona becomes annoyed with her dad, she makes sure he knows she loves him. Beverly Cleary's books are always funny and insightful. Black-and-white illustrations are included.

Details from Seller

• ISBN: 0380709163
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Pub. Date: May 1990
• Condition:

Comments from the Seller: New York, New York, U.S.A. 1990 Trade Paperback Very Good

• Reading Group Guide
• Read an Excerpt

Reading Group Guide

Ramona just wants everyone to be happy. If only her father would smile and joke again, her mother would look less worried, her sister would be cheerful, and Picky-picky would eat his cat food. But Ramona's father has lost his job, and nobody in the Quimby household is in a very good mood.

Ramona tries to cheer up the family as only Ramona can, but her best efforts just make things worse. But when her father admits he wouldn't trade her for a million dollars, Ramona knows everything is going to work out fine in the end.

1. What changes take place in the Quimby household when Mr. Quimby loses his job in the office of a van-and-storage company? Why does everyone (except Ramona) start to become a little grouchy?
2. Why does Ramona start to practice giggling, saying “Pop-pop-pop” and crunching loudly on food? Why does she tell her second grade teacher, Mrs. Rogers that her stockings are “wrinkled like an elephant's legs?”
3. Why doesn't Ramona want anyone to know how she got burrs stuck in her hair. How does she finally get them out?
4. Usually it's Ramona who has temper tantrums, but when Picky-picky the cat eats part of the jack-o'-lantern for Halloween, Beezus starts an argument with her father. Why?
5. Mr. and Mrs. Quimby think that Ramona is just upset about the ruined jack-o'-lantern, but in fact she's worried about something else. What? Do you think children worry about adults as much as adults worry about children?
6. What does Ramona do after she makes up her mind, in the middle of arithmetic, that she is going to save her father's life? What are some of thesigns that she and Beezus put around the house and where do they put them. What is Mr. Quimby's reaction?
7. When Mr. Quimby isn't at home waiting for her after school, Ramona is afraid he has gone away because she was mean to him. Does this turn out to be true?
8. Why do you think Mr. Quimby eventually decides to give up smoking? Is he immediately happy about his decision to quit? Why not?
9. Are the Quimbys a happy family? Are they a perfect family?

Read an Excerpt

"Ye-e-ep!" sang Ramona Quimby one warm September afternoon, as she knelt on a chair at the kitchen table to make out her Christmas list. She had enjoyed a good day in second grade, and she looked forward to working on her list. For Ramona a Christmas list was a list of presents she hoped to receive, not presents she planned to give. "Ye-e-ep!" she sang again.

"Thank goodness today is payday," remarked Mrs. Quimby, as she opened the refrigerator to see what she could find for supper.

"Ye-e-ep!" sang Ramona, as she printed mice or ginny pig on her list with purple crayon. Next to Christmas and her birthday, her father's payday was her favorite day. His payday meant treats. Her mother's payday from her part-time job in a doctor's office meant they could make payments on the bedroom the Quimbys had added to their house when Ramona was in first grade.

"What's all this yeeping about?" asked Mrs. Quimby.

"I'm making a joyful noise until the Lord like they say in Sunday school," Ramona explained. "Only they don't tell us what the joyful noise sounds like so I made up my own." Hooray and wow, joyful noises to Ramona, had not sounded right, so she had settled on yeep because it sounded happy but not rowdy. "Isn't that all right?" she asked, as she began to add myna bird that talks to her list.

"Yeep is fine if that's the way you feel about it," reassured Mrs. Quimby.

Ramona printed coocoo clock on her list while she wondered what the treat would be this payday. Maybe, since this was Friday, they could all go to a movie if her parents could find one suitable. Both Ramona and her big sister,Beezus, christened Beatrice, wondered what went on in all those other movies. They planned to find out the minute they were grown-up. That was one thing they agreed on. Or maybe their father would bring presents, a package of colored paper for Ramona, a paperback book for Beezus.

I wish I could think of something interesting to do with leftover pot roast and creamed cauliflower," remarked Mrs. Quimby.

Leftovers--yuck!, thought Ramona. "Maybe Daddy will take us to the Whopperburger for supper for payday," she said. A soft, juicy hamburger spiced with relish, French fries crisp on the outside and mealy inside, a little paper cup of cole slaw at the Whopperburger Restaurant were Ramona's favorite payday treat. Eating close together in a booth made Ramona feel snug and cozy. She and Beezus never quarreled at the Whopperburger.

"Good idea." Mrs. Quimby closed the refrigerator door. "I'll see what I can do."

Then Beezus came into the kitchen through the back door, dropped her books on the table, and flopped down on a chair with a gusty sigh.

"What was that all about?" asked Mrs. Quimby, not at all worried.

"Nobody is any fun anymore," complained Beezus. "Henry spends all his time running around the track over at the high school getting ready for the Olympics in eight or twelve years, or he and Robert study a book of world records trying to find a record to break, and Mary Jane practices the piano all the time." Beezus sighed again. "And Mrs. Mester says we are going to do lots of creative writing, and I hate creative writing. I don't see why I had to get Mrs. Mester for seventh grade anyway."

"Creative writing can't be as bad as all that," said Mrs. Quimby.

"You just, don't understand," complained Beezus. "I can never think of stories, and my poems are stuff like, 'See the bird in the tree. He is singing to me.'"

"Tee-hee, tee-hee," added Ramona without thinking.

"Ramona," said Mrs. Quimby, "that was not necessary.

Because Beezus had been so grouchy lately, Ramona could manage to be only medium sorry.

"Pest!" said Beezus. Noticing Ramona's work, she added , Making out a Christmas list in September is silly."

Ramona calmly selected an orange crayon. She was used to being called a pest. "If I am a pest, you are a rotten dinosaur egg," she informed her sister.

"Mother, make her stop," said Beezus.

When Beezus said this, Ramona knew she had won. The time had come to change the subject. "Today's payday," she told her sister. "Maybe we'll get to go to the Whopperburger for supper."