Ramona the Pest

Here's our next Ramona book review,as promised: Ramona the Pest (Ramona Quimby #2) by Beverly Cleary.

The Basics:

Published: First published in 1968

Length: 192 pages

Reading Level:  Age 8-12 (grades 3-7)

Synopsis:

"Ramona Quimby is excited to start kindergarten. No longer does she have to watch her older sister, Beezus, ride the bus to school with all the big kids. She's finally old enough to do it too!

Then she gets into trouble for pulling her classmate's boingy curls during recess. Even worse, her crush rejects her in front of everyone. Beezus says Ramona needs to quit being a pest, but how can she stop if she never was trying to be one in the first place?"

Our Ratings (out of 5 stars):

Guinevere: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

My Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Guinevere's Thoughts:

"I really loved it! I liked it when Ramona met her teacher and when they played Gray Duck."

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed this book a great deal, though not quite as much as the first book.  Ramona, now a kindergarten student, is still charming and true to life in this installment. From her struggles to behave at school, and her wall-kicking tantrum because her family is being "mean" by laughing at her interpretation of the lyrics to "the dawnzer song" that is sung at school (known by most people as the national anthem), to her exuberance about her Halloween costume, and the excitement of losing her first tooth, Ramona could be any typical 5 year old around today.  

This book did not receive 5 stars from me because I felt that the notion of chasing someone every day in order to catch and forcibly kiss them when it's clear they do not wish to be caught or kissed, as Ramona does to Davy, is one that is less likely to resonate today as more parents are trying to reinforce the concepts of consent and bodily autonomy, though this does provide a good discussion opportunity. 

Overall, this was a fun reading experience for Guinevere and I and I'm sure we'll be reading more Ramona books together in the future.

Read it or Leave it?:

Read it! If you enjoyed Beezus and Ramona or any of the other Ramona books, be sure to read Ramona the Pest. Head over to your local library or buy it for your child's collection!

Let me know what you liked or didn't like about this book in the comments!