Beverly Cleary's overwhelming popularity as a writer for children is attested by the number of state and regional awards voted her by her readers. These have included the Young Readers' Choice Award (1957, 1960, 1968, 1971), the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award (1958), the William Allen White Children's Book Award (1968, 1976), and the Hawaii Association of School Librarians Nene Award (1969, 1971, 1972, 1979). Her recognition from adults was not as immediate but includes such prestigious awards as the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award (1975) for substantial and lasting contribution to children's literature and the American Book Award for paperback (1981). Prior to the naming of Dear Mr. Henshaw as the recipient of the 1984 Newbery Medal, two of her books (Ramona and her Father in 1978 and Ramona Quimby, Age 8 in 1982) were chosen as Newbery Honor Books.

Born 12 April 1916 in McMinnville, Oregon, to Chester Lloyd and Mable Atlee Bunn, Cleary spent her early years on a farm in Yamhill. Although the...