Beverly Cleary is best known for her Ramona Quimby stories and her Mouse and the Motorcycle books. But she has a repertoire of other stories. One two-book series that my daughter and I found begins with the story of Ellen Tebbits, a very good girl who finally finds a best friend. The sequel book is the story of her nemesis, the troublemaker Otis Spoffard. While I wasn’t really a fan of his antics, it was still fun overall to see the creation of this world, with a dated but different dynamic from the Henry and Ramona books.
Ellen Tebbits
Ellen Tebbits (published 1951) feels dated to someone reading it today. It deals with the embarrassment Ellen feels at having to wear “winter underwear,” her desire to “clap erasers” as a reward for good behavior in school, wearing homemade clothes, and otherwise having little girl adventures quite unlike those that children have today. But my nine-year-old daughter loved Ellen! In the first scene, Ellen is at ballet class, and my daughter loves everything to do with dance. So, although the trouble with wearing woolen underwear was not something she understood (especially at dance class), my daughter did understand the feelings of embarrassment, especially when Otis teases Ellen.
Ellen’s embarrassment is eased when she meets Austine, a new girl who stands up for herself and makes herself known. Secretly, Austine has the same problem: her mother makes her wear “winter underwear” too. Thus begins a new friendship. For much of the book, Ellen and Austine share in adventures. Spoiler! As friends tend to do, the girls have a disagreement that takes time to work out, but the girls end the story as friends once more. It is a sweet book with well-developed unique characters. The two girls are clearly distinct personalities, and their ups and downs are told in a realistic sense, showing real emotions that children will be able to relate to well.
Otis Spofford
Now, Otis. I did not really like Otis Spofford (published 1953), either the book or the character. Otis is a bully, pure and simple. In the cover summary, it states that Otis is always looking for something to stir up. Pretty much every chapter begins with Otis sharing that sentiment: what can he do to get some excitement? With a busy working mother, he is frequently pushed aside. He is smarter than others in his class, so he doesn’t need to work hard in school. Thus, he looks for something to create that sense of “excitement” in his life.
Otis has some clever ideas, such as messing up the teacher’s plan for the “bull fight” demonstration at the parent open house, throwing spit balls, and teasing Ellen Tebbits. But with his well-developed personality comes that lack of caring about other people. Even int he last chapter, where he supposedly gets his “come-upance,” he still doesn’t get a nasty consequence and “awakening” to how to be a better person. After being forced to promise to stop teasing Ellen and Austine, he then turns to the little kindergarten neighbor kid and says, “Well, I won’t tease them as much!”
It was so unsatisfying, feelign as I do about bullying and the need for true consequences. He never truly learned his lesson. Although there were funny moments, I simply didn’t like the deveopment of his story. My nine-year-old daughter really like Otis’ story as well, simply because she loved seeing Ellen and Austine from a different perspective.
Beverly Cleary again did a great job in developing a story that has a child with a distinct personality. Otis is as different from Ribsy as Ramona is different from Ellen Tebbits. They are all their “own” characters. In my mind, it would have been hard to keep the characters apart as I was writing. How does the internal narrative for each child feel so completely different?! They are all different. Even with the dated elements and the stories I didn’t like, these early books of Beverly Cleary show that she is a master at capturing children’s thoughts, worries, and unique qualities. I adore Beverly Cleary!
