Ramona the Brave 4/4
Summary p128-176, Discussion Questions, Project, Writing Prompt
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Thank you for joining us for this month’s book club book on Ramona the Brave by Beverly Cleary. If you would like to read along with your child, encourage them to start of a book club with their friends, or simply strengthen their reading and writing habits and comprehension, then subscribe now for receive weekly discussion questions, lessons, and prompts.
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Here we are. At the end of another lovely book. If you ask me, this one rocketed by. Beverly Cleary is so skilled at presenting a compelling character. But more than that, she is so good at putting that character in situations with the perfect balance of tension where we feel immersed, but not so overwhelming that we resist or cringe.
A great example of this is Ramona’s encounter with a neighbor’s dog. There is a lot of fear and anxiety in this scene. But nothing is over sensationalized. Instead we are left with the feeling of a REAL experience, not an imaginary one. Interestingly for Ramona (maybe it is her bravery…) but she seems more worried about the missing shoe that about an animal related injury.
In the end the shoe is returned. Not in the same condition of course, but there seems to be a symbol here with this shoe, maybe. Having the evidence of her shoe is a clear way people can see her true, brave self. Being able to SHOW her bravery to others seems to be a great source of satisfaction for her. Is the shoe a symbol for Ramona herself, a little battered, but none the worse?
What do YOU think?
Discussion Questions
Why is drawing soothing for Ramona?
How is love no like a cup of sugar according to her parents?
Can you think of another analogy for love? What is it like?
How does the relationship between Mrs. Griggs and Ramona evolve in this section?
If you had to predict, what do you think will happen to Ramona the rest of the year? Will she stay out of mischief?
Project
Make a coloring book!
Pick a theme like animals, space, flowers, or maybe even scene from this book and follow Ramona’s instructions on page 130.
Writing Prompt
Ramona freely admits that she doesn’t always know how to act better, because she doesn’t always understand why her behavior is such an issue. We are lucky. We get to watch Ramona mess up and we get to learn from that.
Books are entertainment and they are enriching. They let us escape, and let us learn from them. Learning how to reflect on a character helps us learn how to reflect on ourselves. And if we can do that, we can make better decisions, have healthier relationships, and feel more balanced and confident and happier as people.
So let’s put this into practice!
For your prompt I would like you to pick a time when Ramona is involved in some kind of conflict and rewrite that scene so that she handles it better. What should she do differently? How should she think about things differently?