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Ellen Tebbits /

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York, N.Y. : HarperTrophy, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, [2008]Copyright date: 1951Description: 180 pages : illustrations ; 19 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780812425055
  • 0812425057
  • 9780062040459
  • 0062040456
  • 9780380709137
  • 0380709139
  • 9780881032857
  • 0881032859
  • 9780688212643
  • 0688212646
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • [Fic] 22
Summary: Ellen's life is free of problems, except for such things as being teased by Otis Spofford and having to wear woolen underwear.
List(s) this item appears in: Realistic Fiction for 4th/5th Grade
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Holdings
Item type Current library Home library Collection Call number Copy number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Standard Loan Coeur d'Alene Library Juvenile Fiction Coeur d'Alene Library Book J CLEARY ELLEN.A BK.1 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) 1 Available 50610023788776
Standard Loan (Child Access) Hayden Library Juvenile Fiction Hayden Library Book - Paperback CLEARY (Browse shelf(Opens below)) 1 Available 50610024164910
Standard Loan St Maries Library Juvenile Fiction St Maries Library Book CLEARY (Browse shelf(Opens below)) 1 Available 50610012475195
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Eight-year-old Ellen makes a best friend and shares a secret.

Ellen's life is free of problems, except for such things as being teased by Otis Spofford and having to wear woolen underwear.

Ages 8-12.

Excerpt provided by Syndetics

Ellen Tebbits MOB Chapter One Ellen's Secret Ellen Tebbitswas in a hurry. As she ran down Tillamook Street with her ballet slippers tucked under her arm, she did not even stop to scuff through the autumn leaves on the sidewalk. The reason Ellen was in a hurry was a secret she would never, never tell. Ellen was a thin little girl, with dark hair and brown eyes. She wore bands on her teeth, and her hair was scraggly on the left side of her face, because she spent so much time reading and twisting a lock of hair around her finger as she read. She had no brothers or sisters and, since Nancy Jane had moved away from next door, there was no one her own age living on Tillamook Street. So she had no really best friend. She did not even have a dog or cat to play with, because her mother said animals tracked in mud and left hair on the furniture. Of course Ellen had lots of friends at school, but that was not the same as having a best friend who lived in the same neighborhood and could come over to play after school and on Saturdays. Today, however, Ellen was almost glad she did not have a best friend, because best friends do not have secrets from one another. She was sure she would rather be lonely the rest of her life than share the secret of why she had to get to her dancing class before any of the other girls. The Spofford School of the Dance was upstairs over the Payless Drugstore. When Ellen came to the entrance at the side of the building, she paused to look anxiously up and down the street. Then, relieved that she saw no one she knew, she scampered up the long flight of steps as fast as she could run. There was not a minute to waste. She pushed open the door and looked quickly around the big, bare room. Maybe her plan was really going to work after all. She was the first pupil to arrive. Ellen's teacher, Valerie Todd Spofford, was looking at some music with Mrs. Adams, the accompanist, at the piano in the comer of the room. She was really Mrs. John Spofford and had a son named Otis, who was in Ellen's room at school. Because she taught dancing, people did not call her Mrs. John Spofford. They called her by her full name, Valerie Todd Spofford. "Good afternoon, Ellen," she said. "You're early." "Good afternoon, Mrs. Spofford," answered Ellen, and hurried past the long mirrors that covered one wall. When Ellen opened the dressing-room door, she made a terrible discovery. Someone was in the dressing room ahead of her. Austine Allen was sitting on a bench lacing her ballet slippers. Austine was a new girl, both in the dancing class and in Ellen's room at school. Ellen knew she had just come 'from California, because she mentioned it so often. She thought the new girl looked good-natured and untidy, but she really had not paid much attention to her. "Oh," said Ellen. "Hello. I didn't know anyone was here." I guess I'm early," said Austine and then added, "but so are you." The girls looked at each other. Ellen noticed that Austine had already changed into the required costume of the Spofford School of the Dance. This was a short full skirt of tulle gathered onto a sateen top that had straps over the shoulders. Austine looked chubby in her green costume. Neither girl spoke. Oh, why doesn't she leave, thought Ellen desperately. Maybe if I wait long enough she'll go into the other room. Ellen removed her jacket as slowly as she could. No, I canwait. The others will be here any minute. This is a silly costume we have to wear , said Austine. "When I took ballet lessons in California we always wore shorts and T shirts." "Well, I think it's pretty" said Ellen, as she took her pink costume from the rack along the wall. Why don't you go away, she thought. She said, "It's almost like real ballerinas wear. When I'm wearing it, I pretend I'm a real dancer." Austine stood up. "Not even real ballerinas practice in full skirts like these. They wear leotards. In California..." "Well, I think leotards are ugly," interrupted Ellen, who was glad she knew that leotards were long tight-fitting garments. "They look just like long underwear and I wouldn't wear one for anything. I like our dresses better." "I don't," said Austine flatly. I don't even like dancing lessons. At least in California. "I don't care what anybody does in California," said Ellen crossly. "I'm tired of hearing you talk about California and so is everyone at school. So there! If you think California is so wonderful, why don't you go back there?" For a second Austine looked hurt. Ellen almost thought she was going to cry. Instead she made a face. "All right for you!"' she said, and flounced out of the dressing room, leaving her clothes in an untidy heap on the bench. Instantly Ellen was sorry. What a terrible thing to say to a new girl! What if she herself were a new girl and someone had said that to her? How would she have felt? She hadn't really meant to be rude,, but somehow it had slipped out. She was so anxious to have Austine leave that she had not thought about what she was saying. But now that Austine was gone and Ellen was alone, there was not a moment to waste, not even in feeling sorry for what she had done. Feverishly she unbuttoned her sweater. She was starting to unfasten her dress when she heard some of the girls coming through the classroom. Frantically Ellen looked around the dressing room for a place to hide. She darted behind the costume rack. No, that wouldn't do. The girls might see her when they took down their costumes... Ellen Tebbits MOB . Copyright © by Beverly Cleary . Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold. Excerpted from Ellen Tebbits by Beverly Cleary All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Booklist Review

Gr. 4-6. Delighting children for almost 40 years, this book introduces Ellen, whose squabbles with her best friend will bring recognition and laughter to readers.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Beverly Cleary was born on April 12, 1916. Her family lived on a small farm in McMinnville, Oregon, before moving to Portland. Ironically, this internationally known author of children's books struggled to learn how to read when she entered school. Before long however Cleary had learned to love books, and as a child she spent a good deal of her time in the public library.

Cleary attended Chaffey Junior College in Ontario, Ca. and went on to earned her first B.A. in 1938 from the University of California at Berkeley. Her second degree, a B.A. in library science, was bestowed by the University of Washington in Seattle in 1939. She worked for a short time as Children's Librarian in Yakima, Washington, before moving to California.

Cleary began her writing career in her early thirties. Her first book, Henry Huggins, was published in 1950. Her stories and especially her characters, Henry Huggins and Ramona Quimby, have proven popular with young readers. Her books have been translated into twenty languages and are available in over twenty countries. Some of her best-known titles are Ellen Tebbits (1951), Henry and the Paper Route (1957), Runaway Ralph (1970), and Dear Mr. Henshaw (1983). Several television programs have been produced from the Henry Huggins and Ramona stories. She also wrote two memoirs, A Girl from Yamhill (1988) and My Own Two Feet (1995).

Cleary has won many awards for her contributions to children's literature, including the American Library Association's Laura Ingalls Wilder Award in 1975, the Catholic Library Association's Regina Medal in 1980, the John Newbery Medal in 1984 and the National Medal of Arts in 2003.

Beverly Cleary died on March 25, 2021 in Carmel, California. She was 104 year old.

(Bowker Author Biography)

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