Readers of all ages have enjoyed reading about Ramona Quimby since she made her debut as a side character in the Henry Huggins series. Beverly Cleary was smart in giving the little lady her own series of novels. The Ramona books are filled with everyday challenges, the pains of growing up, trials of family life, and of course, lots of spunk.
I admit I feel a bit gutsy in proposing a modern-day counterpart to such a well-loved childhood literary figure, but I’m going to do it anyway. I love Sara Pennypacker’s Clementine. Just like Ramona, Clementine finds herself in plenty of tight spots, and just like Ramona, Clementine manages to win us over with her good heart. Both series feature caring, working-class families that are sometimes exasperated by their daughter’s actions, but ultimately know she means well.
If you haven’t yet discovered them, check out the Clementine books, which are full of heart and humor.
modern classics for kids 
I found your blog through the RAR forums and love It! We are great fans of Ramona here, and I am so excited to try reading the Clementine books. I’d never heard of them before. Thank you so much a new Read-aloud recommendation!
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Thanks, Jeanette! Glad you stopped by. As it would turn out, I just finished reading the very last Clementine book a couple days ago. I will admit I was sad to be done with them. You’ll have to let me know what you think of the series.
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Thank you so much for the recommendation. We read the first two and our entire family loves them. They are so much fun, yet clean and portray healthy family relationships. Sarah Pennypacker is a gem of an author.
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So glad you liked them! I actually came to Clementine in a backwards way. I read Pennpacker’s Waylon! One Awesome Thing, which is another chapter book series starring Waylon, who was first introduced in the Clementine series. Since there weren’t too many Waylon books yet, I thought I’d check out the original series, and I’m so glad I did – we love Clementine too!
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I linked to your blog from RAR. Thanks for such great ideas! My daughters loved the Clementine books. We checked out the audiobooks from the library and the reader, Jessica Almasy, is fantastic for this series. They have made many laborious car rides way more fun.
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Thanks for hopping on over, Edie! Yes, we think the audio books for Clementine are great too. We also got ours from the library. I considered getting these on audible, but each book is sold as a separate credit, which seemed a bit pricey to me considering their length. Now that the series is wrapped up, I’m hoping they’ll create a collection like they did for the Ramona books.
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