09 September 2013

I am not a pest (Visiting the Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden for Children)

Beverly Cleary grew up in Portland and based many of her books in her childhood neighborhood in Northeast Portland. Grant Park in particular makes an appearance in many of her books. A group of teachers, librarians and business people raised money to create the Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden for Children with three life-sized sculptures of Ramona Quimby, Henry Huggins, and Henry's dog Ribsy. I have to admit my sympathies were often with Beezus due to having younger sisters of my own.

We ventured over to Grant Park to visit the sculptures on Sunday. We managed to take a few photos during a quiet moment when the endless stream of children who came to play in the water were elsewhere.

Mr. N behaved himself and took Beezus as a role model rather than Ramona. He didn't beg and waited patiently (for him) while we ate our picnic snacks. He didn't bark at any dogs (except in play) and posed nicely for the photos while trying his best not to get wet. He was not a pest unlike the toddler who kept trying to chase Mr. N around the off-leash area.

Do you have a favorite Beverly Cleary book?




43 comments:

  1. What a great park and beautiful pictures. Too bad about the kid messing with your fun.

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  2. haha! Love the look on his face in the second picture! That is too cute!

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    1. It was pretty funny. He sniffed the other dog first. Apparently it's a common occurrence.

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  3. Nice public art - the dog scuplture is cute! His expression next to it is priceless!

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    1. I think he's thinking well if this crazy dog wants to get all wet, that's fine. But I'm not getting wet!

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  4. Cool park...I love the sculptures!!

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  5. I love that they're not just statues, but a water park! It really enhances the fun nature of the characters. :)
    www.dogtreatweb.com

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    1. I think it's fitting. And there's a scene of Ramona playing in mud puddles if I remember correctly.

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  6. No mischief Mr N?? You need to try harder! Tee Hee

    I hope you're having a fun day,

    Your pal Snoopy :)

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    1. I don't think he needs encouragement! I'm sure there's mischief afoot.

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  7. OHH!!!! I adored Beverly Cleary books, my favorite was Ribsy, where he gets lost. I always related to Ramona because I was the annoying little sister, I mostly stuck to the Ramona books. I loved how they roamed alone in their safe little neighborhood getting into so many adventures.

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  8. What a great sculpture park - I love the water features, they look like a lot of fun.

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  9. This part looks like so much fun! I love the second picture of Mr. N and the dog fountain.

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  10. Mauja and Atka would have gone nuts at that dog sculpture! Looks like a fun outing!

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  11. Mr. N, you were such a good doggie. We love your photos.

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  12. Great photos - especially that shot with the water!

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  13. What great pics and the park looks amazing, Layla says Mom time to move where there better parks than ours BOL

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  14. Oh! I've been to that park. Not too far from where my sister used to live. I love reading about all of the adventures of Mr N.

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  15. I just love Mr N pictures such a beautiful poser. Loved the picture of the dog statue

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  16. What a cool park. I didn't know she was from Portland! I love outdoor art that you can enjoy with your dogs and kids.

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  17. Poor Mr. N, being chased by children is no fun! I'm not familiar with this author, at least I don't think so!
    Love & biscuits,
    Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them

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  18. I'm not familiar with Beverly Cleary books. The park looks beautiful and I love the photo of Mr. N. with the dog sculpture.

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    1. She's written the Ramona books, Ribsy and the Mouse and the Motorcycle.

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  19. Being from the UK and now in NZ I don't know the lady's books at all, but I will look them up! The gardens look lovely, and, well done Mr N. A great pose AND great tolerance. Letting toddlers run amock is not brilliant even in a children's park (stupid parents - this is an off leash area - what's hard to understand about that Grr).

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    1. Yeah, the parents weren't watching and generally it's not a great idea to go around chasing strange dogs!

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  20. Mr. N is such a cutie! It is funny that he hates getting wet. Many dogs would have jumped right in those fountains! You can just see Mr. N thinking "you don't expect me to touch that, right?" in these photos.
    -Purrs from your friends at www.PlayfulKitty.net

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  21. I always look forward to your photos Mr. N. You might have a stalker... ;)

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    1. Hahaha. Join the crew! We had an actual real life stalker the other day.

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  22. It has to be hard with Mr. N being so small and cute. I'm sure everyone wants to hug him. Still, parents need to teach young children how to behave around animals.

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    1. He really does look like a toy. Mr. N does not mind playing chase with kids but when they're very little, it can be problematic.

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  23. His expressions are priceless! I read (and loved) a lot of Beverly Cleary books when I was a kid. What a fun place to visit!

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