About

In Beverly Cleary’s Ramona the Brave, Cleary’s wildly imaginative and limit testing heroine prepares to confront the reality of parents’ night at school:

“Ramona stepped back into her closet, slid the door shut, pressed an imaginary button, and when her imaginary elevator had made its imaginary descent, stepped out onto the real first floor and faced a real problem. Her mother and father were leaving for Parents’ Night.”

My blog is dedicated to exploring children’s books, both classic and contemporary, as well as commenting on issues in children’s literature.  Ramona’s construction of a make-believe elevator transports her from one realm to another, and finally lands her in a place where she is forced to navigate the “real world.”  I hope my blog may start conversations about literary encounters in both these places.

I am a writer and educator living in New York City. My work has appeared in The Forward, Tablet, Jewcy, and Family Reading at The Hornbook.  I also review books for the Jewish Book Council.

—Emily Schneider, eschneider@post.harvard.edu
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