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Ramona the Brave

 Every few years, the Ramona books are reissued, and a new illustrator is enlisted. I guess this is because certain visual elements--e.g. kitchen design, fashion--are not exactly timeless. The new illustrations give 2021 children a chance to imagine that Ramona is a child *today* .....not a child in the 1970s.

All that said, like many, I value Louis Darling's illustrations above all else. Darling did the first Ramona images. These are engraved on my brain; these pictures are engraved on *many* brains. Ramona has insane hair, and she wears overalls. Sometimes, her arms are thrown wildly over her head; her shoelaces are untied. Sometimes, her expression of disgust makes you think she has just witnessed a Trump speech. (More likely, she has learned that dinner tonight will be meatloaf--or something like this.)

I also enjoy Ramona biking through her kitchen, her head thrown back as if possessed by strange head-spirits; Mrs. Quimby is standing ram-rod straight, and though her back is turned to us, we can imagine what might be happening on her face.

Darling died young, but he made a mark. I love these pictures.







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  1. UnknownJanuary 20, 2021 at 3:13 AM

    Love this! These books were such a staple of my childhood and I see these images in my head when I think of Ramona. I will have to find some of them and read them to my son. I wonder what he will think of them?

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    1. ReaderJanuary 20, 2021 at 5:08 AM

      I think they hold up really well in 2021! Along with "Dear Mr. Henshaw" .... "Henry Huggins" ..... "A Girl from Yamhill" .....Happy to hear from a fellow Cleary fan!

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