Last night some of our family watched the new movie Ramona and Beezus, which is based on the books by Beverly Cleary. This author was one of the first I ever really took note of in grade school. I still feel a certain familiarity with her as though she were a personal friend, and it's probably been over forty years since I read one of her books. (Learn more about her at http://childrensbooks.about.com/cs/authorsillustrato/a/beverlycleary.htm.) We liked the movie very much, by the way, and it was rated G. I've been thinking about how such books shape young lives. 9 yr.old Ramona's view of the world on Klickitat Street in Portland had to have affected me as a quiet, timid 4th grader on my own small, rural street in Centerville. Her antics brought laughter back then as well as now, but most importantly a certain understanding that all can still be right with the world despite lots of well-intentioned things going wrong. I'm so glad we became acquainted early on!