Beverly
Cleary
Researched and Written by Annie
Beverly Cleary was born on April 12, 1916,
at McMinnville Hospital in Oregon. Beverly lived in Yamhill, Oregon
with her mother and father. Her father’s name was Chester Lloyd Bunn
and her mother’s name was Mabel Atlee Bunn. Beverly lived in
Yamhill until the age of six, then she moved to Portland, Oregon.
Beverly went the University of California at Berkeley. In the 1940’s
she studied to be a librarian at the University of Washington in Seattle,
Washington. She obtained a job as a librarian in Yamhill. Later
that year, she married a man named Clarence Cleary. Eventually, Beverly
and Clarence moved to Oakland, California where she soon became a librarian
at the U.S. Hospital. She remained there until the end of World War
II.
Around 1948, she was working at a local
bookstore in Berkeley, California, she decided to try writing books.
She published her first book, Henry Huggins, in 1950.
In 1955 she and Clarence had twin babies.
Their names are Malcolm and Marianne. Beverly’s book The Mouse
And The Motorcycle, was inspired by her son Malcolm.
She and Clarence currently live in
Carmel, California. Beverly enjoys children and writing about events
in her childhood. She seems to be a very creative person. She
has written over 30 books for 3rd - 5th graders and has won many awards,
including the Newberry Medal Award and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award.
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