Stop whatever you’re doing, pick up a book, and join millions of others celebrating National Drop Everything and Read Day.
The goal of the event is to encourage families to make reading together a priority, and coincides with Beverly Cleary’s birthday – she’s turning 94 today! After receiving letters from readers who participated in the event, Cleary put a scene about D.E.A.R. Day in Ramona Quimby, Age 8, and has been honored with the celebration on her birthday ever since.
D.E.A.R. Day’s 2010 spokesperson is actress Joey King, who plays Ramona in this summer’s Ramona and Beezus.
“The Ramona books have a ton of history,” she told EW in a recent interview. “Lots of kids through all the grades read the Ramona books, and I think they are going to love the movie. It’s exactly like the Ramona books.”
Selena Gomez, who plays Ramona’s big sister Beezus in the movie, is also a longtime fan.
“I read the books when I was in third grade and loved them,” she told EW. “I think every kid wanted to be Ramona at one point.”
I’ve always loved the books, and can clearly remember some of my favorite scenes: when Ramona cracks what she thinks is a hard-boiled egg over her head in class; when, at the end of a long, rainy day, her hard-working parents take the kids to a rare dinner out, and a kind man pays their check; and when Ramona decides to squeeze the entire contents of a fresh toothpaste tube into the sink, just to see how it feels. It’s those simple scenes, so true to life, that stick out.
So, ShelfLifers, are you going to celebrate D.E.A.R. Day? What’s your favorite Beverly Cleary book?
Oh I wish I could, but when you have homework up to your ears because your Professors don’t recognize this holiday…it’s hard to follow through on that “drop everything” portion.
Maybe in a few hours I can enjoy a good book
I will be reading the timeless “Phantom Tollbooth”
I had no interest in watching the news at present…. My boyfriend thinks the same with me. He is eight years older than me, lol. We met online at ~~~Age less Cupid . Com~~ a nice and free place for younger women and older men, or older women and younger men, to interact with each other. Maybe you wanna check out or tell your friends.
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Ah, the irony of complaining about the amount of work you have through a comment page on an entertainment website.
I have another name for reading days – “Days That End In Y”
I just read Where The Wild Things Are with my son. It is one of my favorite childhood books and now it is his as well.
I work in publishing and I didn’t even know this was today! jeez..
Me, too. And I’ve got too much work to do to drop everything and actually read.
I feel the same way. (Smiling) Maybe it’s because I work in education and we do drop everything and read every day. It’s a great idea though.
R.A.Clark, Author of
“When God Stopped Keeping Score”
http://www.AreYouKeepingScore.com
I wish. Stupid job.
I know, right?! Maybe I could cover it with a scientific paper if my boss came by…..
Book 9, Sookie Stackhouse series, just released on paperback! That’s an uber-easy read! WOOHOO! Of course, I don’t need a holiday to tear through these books.
Well then this gives me a perfect excuse to forgo studying and finish off The Girl With Dragon Tattoo.
Ah, I loved the Ramona and Beezus books as a kid…
Today I’ve been reading some from ‘Suttree’ by Cormac McCarthy in my spare time.
From Beverly Cleary to Cormac McCarthy – ya gotta love it. Of course, I ended up there too.
I loved Beverly Cleary! I remember the books about Ribsy!
I’ve read every Ramona book there is! WOW, I can’t believe it’s being made into a movie!
There was a great Ramona movie with Sarah Polly in it, made way back in the 80s!
My favorite Beverly Cleary book is Dear Mr. Henshaw. My daughter and I read 30 Minutes of The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo to today to celebrate D.E.A.R. Day.
I covered D.E.A.R. day on my blog, hope you can check it out: http://www.happybirthdayauthor.com/2010/04/happy-birthday-beverly-cleary-april-12.html.
Can we make DEAR day a holiday where no one goes to work? Or where one can spend the day at work reading? That would make me a happy camper. Today I may be forced to sneak off and DEAR – if so, I’ll be reading the second of Christian Jacq’s books about Ramses II, The Eternal Temple. Awesome series, recommended by a former professor with perfect taste in historical fiction.
I read Maus which is a cartoon about mice in the holocaust today! It was for school and had terrible grammer, but it was still pretty interesting!
Ramona and her Father is my fave, though any ol’ Ramona book will do!