I read this memoir back in May of 2021.

I just finished reading My Own Two Feet: A Memoir (1995) by Beverly Cleary. It was an absolutely wonderful reading experience! I felt immersed in her voice and in the unfolding of her life. She seems a lot like how I might have imagined her to be, a very kind and sincere person.

Cleary was a well-known author of many children’s books, including stories about Henry Huggins and Ramona Quimby. In this memoir, Cleary relates her life from after high school, through college and various jobs, including work during World War II, to her beginnings as a published author. Cleary has keen insight into people around her and a knack for rendering daily life through the inclusion of little details. The book is quite interesting in regards to both her personal life and what it reveals from a historical point of view. There are all sorts of appealing tidbits here and there for the reader with an appetite for history.

Thanks to the internet, I was able to look up various details mentioned in her narrative. I found pictures of popular chinaware from her youth, listened to music people heard from jukeboxes and played on pianos, and checked out unfamiliar books and authors she references.

This has been an immensely enjoyable book to read. It makes me want to revisit some of her children’s books. It’s a window into her life and into the times in which she lived.

“Most of my evenings I read, read, read. There was so much I needed to learn, so many books to become acquainted with.”