December 26, 2007 -- By Becky Anspach

Update: October 3rd, 2009 at 2PM and October 21st, 2009 at 10:30AM there will be a Walking with Ramona tour with Portland walking author, Laura Foster. The tour begins at the Hollywood Library (4040 N.E. Tillamook St).

Think fame is reserved just for California? Not so. Portland gets to claim some as well: Just north of I-84 lies the Hollywood District rich with history and its own celebrity — beloved children's book author Beverly Cleary. Popular among the 8 to 11 year old set, the prolific author and former librarian has written over 35 books, her first published in 1950.

Beverly Cleary was born Beverly Bunn in 1916. She grew up on a farm in McMinnville before moving to Portland with her parents at the age of six. The neighborhood where her family settled? Hollywood.

The Bunn's first house was on NE Hancock Street, and Beverly attended elementary school at what is now Fernwood Middle School and graduated from Grant High School. She eventually left Portland to go to college before settling in Yakima to be a librarian and then California, where she still resides.

But when she was looking for a neighborhood in which to set her first book, her mind returned to Portland. And what better place than the tight knit neighborhood of Hollywood that she knew so well? Renamed Glenwood, you'll still recognize many of the landmarks her characters visit, and so will your kids.

What could today's youth possibly have in common with characters in books written over 50 years ago? That's easy — the simple life of childhood. Neighborhood friends, first days of school and squabbles with big sisters don't change between the generations. It was Beverly Cleary's goal to write books that represented the children that she knew.

Ramona Quimby, arguably Cleary's most popular character, made a minor appearance with her sister Beezus in Cleary's first work Henry Huggins. Too big of a personality, however, to remain in the supporting role, she finally received her own book, Beezus and Ramona, published in 1955. The final Ramona book, Ramona's World, was published in 1999.

If there are Ramona fans in your house, why not take a tour of Ramona Quimby's Portland? Start at the Hollywood Library, where a 12.5' high and 27' wide limestone and travertine map points to 17 landmarks and streets from Beverly Cleary's books. Klickitat Street, Ramona's turf, is a real street in Northeast Portland. Take a stroll down the tree-lined road on your way to visit the Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden in Grant Park, where statues of Ramona Quimby, Henry Huggins and Ribsy play amongst a water fountain (open May - September). Bricks memorialize the names and dates of Cleary's books.

Still want more? Visit the Westminster Church, where Ramona stars as a sheep in the Christmas play, or shop for a dress at Lloyd Center like Ramona did when she needed a dress to wear to her Aunt Bea's wedding. Cleary's own Fernwood School became Glenwood School, where Ramona goes to Kindegarten. She later attends Cedarhurst School, inspired by Laurelhurst School, where Ramona meets “Yard Ape.”

Too rainy right now for the full outdoor field trip? You can explore Beverly Cleary's neighborhood online at www.beverlycleary.com. But don't let a little rain keep you away; instead use it as anopportunity to try out those new rain boots. As Ramona says: “Only grown ups would say boots were for keeping feet dry. Anyone in Kindergarten knew that a girl should wear shiny red or white boots on the first rainy day, not to keep her feet dry, but to show off.”

Now go out and show off like good girls and boys — Beverly Cleary's neighborhood awaits in your own backyard!