Happy Birthday Beverly Cleary!

Today is a fun day. Today, Monday, April 12th, is National Drop Everything And Read day, and it is also Beverly Cleary's birthday! My oldest is in preschool, so I think this "holiday" might have gone unnoticed in our household if it weren't for Ramona Quimby. A few months ago, I spotted a box set of the first four Ramona books at T.J. Maxx for mere pennies. I figured they were probably going to have to wait a few years to be read, but I went ahead and bought them because I love Ramona so much. But one night, I decided that my daughter would probably get a kick out of Ramona (she is very much a Ramona type), and so we started reading. And now we're on the fourth book, Ramona and Her Father, and my daughter won't let a night go by without reading a few pages about Ramona!

If you'd like to celebrate today, here are a few links:

--D.E.A.R homepage
--D.E.A.R. resources
--The World of Beverly Cleary--a bright, fun website with lots of info and GAMES!
--Ramona and Beezus, the movie trailer

--Ramona on YouTube--No one will ever match Sarah Polley as Ramona. She was perfect! If I ever find this series for sale, I'm buying every copy!
--Bake a Ramona Cake--Bake any cake, and stick a doll pick (the kind you use to make a Barbie cake) in after baking. That was our favorite part of Beezus and Ramona: when Ramona stuck her rubber doll, Bendix, in Beezus' birthday cake while it baked.
--Make Paprika Chicken for dinner--Another classic Ramona move from Ramona Quimby, Age 8: trying to make paprika chicken for dinner, and completely flubbing it, as only Ramona can. Make sure you serve it with applesauce, made memorable by several chapters of Beezus and Ramona.

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And now, for the winner of our beautiful blocks give-away: comment #30, Jaime! Jamie, I will email you shortly about how to collect your prize. A huge thank you to csnstores.com for donating our fabulous prize, and thanks to everyone who entered!