Beverly Cleary Character Match-Up Quiz

Answer: Ralph

"The Mouse and the Motorcycle", published in 1965, features Ralph S. Mouse, who pursues adventures on his tiny motorcycle and can speak to people. A movie was made from the book in 1986. The book won multiple awards, including the William Allen White Children's Book Award in 1968. "The Mouse and the Motorcycle" book was followed up with "Runaway Ralph" in 1970 and "Ralph S. Mouse" in 1982.

Answer: Beatrice Quimby

Beatrice, who is nicknamed Beezus, first appears in the 1952 novel "Henry and Beezus". The 1955 novel "Beezus and Ramona" focuses on the relationship between the two Quimby sisters. It was made into a movie (with the title reversed to "Ramona and Beezus") in 2010, which starred Joey King as Ramona and Selena Gomez as Beezus. The film draws its plot from several of the Ramona books.

Answer: Ribsy

Beverly Cleary introduced Henry Huggins to readers in 1950 with the children's novel "Henry Huggins". His dog Ribsy got his own book in 1964, a book in which Henry appears only as a minor character. "Ribsy" is the sixth and last book in the Henry Huggins series of books. In it, Henry's dog goes on a variety of small adventures, including sneaking into a high school football game.

Answer: Ellen Tebbits

Published in 1951, "Ellen Tebbits" tells the story of a 3rd grade girl, Ellen Tebbits, who befriends the new girl at her school, Austine Allen. Their friendship, however, is thrown into jeopardy when troublemaker Otis Spofford manages to pit them against each other.

The girls make up in the end, however, when their teacher sends them outside to clean chalkboard erasers. Otis Spofford got his own novel in 1953.

Answer: Henry Huggins

"Henry and Beezus" was published in 1953. In this second book in the Henry Huggins series, Beezus helps Henry find a way to get a new red bicycle he's been trying - and failing - to earn money for. The book was initially illustrated by Louis Darling. The next book in the series, "Henry and the Paper Route", was published in 1957.

Answer: Mitch Huff

The 1967 novel "Mitch and Amy" features a brother-sister twin pair. The twins bicker a lot and have very different personalities and interests, but they share a common enemy - a bully named Alan Hibbler. The novel was illustrated by four different artists. Unlike many of Cleary's books, "Mitch and Amy" was a stand-alone and did not spur a series around the characters.

Answer: Muggie Maggie

Third grader Maggie Schultz doesn't want to learn to write in cursive. "Muggie Maggie", published in 1990, depicts her handwriting struggles, to which a great many children could relate. Eventually, Maggie digs in her heels and simply refuses to learn. To inspire her, her teacher makes her a messenger who must bring notes to different classrooms. Maggie is curious to read the notes, but she has to learn cursive to decipher them.

Answer: Mr. Henshaw

In "Dear Mr. Henshaw", Leigh Bott writes a letter to his favorite author, who then writes back with questions that, when Leigh answers them, cause him to reveal his own struggles and conflicts and his fears over his parents' divorce. The novel, first published in 1983, is called an "epistolary novel" because it consists of letters, or epistles.

In 1984, the book won the Newbery Medal.

Answer: Barbara MacLane

In the 1963 young adult novel "Sister of the Bride", sixteen-year-old Barbara MacLane feels like she'll never catch up to her older sister Rosemary. When Rosemary announces she's going to marry Greg, her college sweetheart, Barbara feels even further left behind.

She's worried about finding a boyfriend, but, in the end, Barbara learns it's better to socialize with a wide group of friends than to obsess over finding a boy.

Answer: Socks

"Socks" was published in 1973. The book is told from the perspective of a tabby cat named Socks because of its four white paws that look like socks. The cat lives with the Brickers, a young married couple. U.S. President Bill Clinton's family took the name of the cat from this book to name their own cat.