Six-year-old Ramona starts first grade determined to be brave and grown-up, but a strict new teacher and a dark new bedroom test her courage
Brave on the outside
Ramona Quimby is six and ready for first grade. She wants to be brave, and she wants people to stop calling her a pest. But first grade is harder than she expected. Her teacher, Mrs. Griggs, prefers children who sit still and do things the usual way, and Ramona never quite manages that. At home, the family is building a new bedroom, and Ramona is about to sleep alone for the first time.
Who will enjoy it
Young readers starting school, children who sometimes feel misunderstood, and families who enjoy reading the Ramona books in order.
What you will get
A warm, funny story about a lively six-year-old who wants to be brave and grown-up, and finds that first grade and a room of her own are scarier than expected.
Ramona the Brave Facts: Pages, Genre and Setting
Genre
Children’s Books · First grade · Family life · Small fears
Length
208 pages · ≈ 6 h
More about this book
Cleary has an unusual gift for seeing the world exactly as a small child does, and this book shows it at its best. Ramona's frustrations are real: a teacher who does not understand her, a classmate who copies her work, a sister who seems to do everything right. Her reactions are funny, but Cleary never laughs at her, and readers come away on her side.
The family story is just as strong. Mrs. Quimby goes back to work part-time, money is tight, and the new bedroom brings both excitement and night-time fears. A scene in which Ramona faces down a large dog on the way to school is a small, satisfying act of bravery that children love.
There is less slapstick than in Ramona the Pest, and the emotional tone is a little more serious, which suits the growing Ramona. Some school details belong to the nineteen seventies, but the feelings do not. It sits well between Ramona the Pest and Ramona and Her Father, and each book also works on its own. About 208 pages in the HarperCollins paperback; older editions run about 190.
Ramona the Pest
Ramona Quimby, Age 8
Ramona and Her Mother
Ramona Forever
Dear Mr. Henshaw
Shiloh
The Moffats
Lassie Come-Home
The Velveteen Rabbit
Where the Red Fern Grows
The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963
Walk Two Moons