Staff Pick
Published by Portland’s beloved Microcosm Publishing and written by Laura O. Foster, known for many popular local walking books, Walking With Ramona: Exploring Beverly Cleary’s Portland is an utterly charming and chock-full-of-facts way to discover Portland through a literary lens that is all its own. Recommended By Gigi L., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
This unique travel guide explores the streets, schools, characters, and neighborhoods of author Beverly Cleary’s Portland. With this new and most unusual guidebook, readers can walk the very sidewalks that Beverly walked and climb the very school steps that Beverly climbed. You'll see the grocery parking lot where Ramona got stuck in the mud, the park lawn where Henry Huggins hunted nightcrawlers, and the real Portland street that became Klickitat Street, their fictional home. Beverly Cleary’s Portland was much different than the Portlandia of today. Walking with Ramona brings to life what 1920s and 1930s Portland was like for the “girl from Yamhill” who went on to become an internationally beloved author. Characters like Ramona and Beezus, Henry and Ribsy, and Ellen and Austine come to life on this hour-long walking route through the Northeast Portland neighborhood where Beverly grew up.
Review
"The journey celebrates what was, what is and what only exists within the pages of Cleary's fictional world...An indispensable tribute." Register Guard
Review
"A quick but fascinating read loaded with details...its charm is as heart-warming as Cleary's creations." Library Journal
About the Author
Laura O. Foster writes about the Portland, Oregon and the nearby Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Portland Stair Walks is her eighth guidebook about the Pacific Northwest. She also writes for Travel Oregon, BikePortland, Friends of the Columbia Gorge, and Portland Parks & Recreation. A former urban-walks guide for the Multnomah Athletic Club, she leads occasional walking tours for nonprofits and local government agencies. Her explorations of Portland's stairs and hidden pathways have been featured on Oregon Field Guide, Oregon Art Beat, and AM Northwest. Her work has been featured in Portland Monthly, Willamette Week, the Portland Tribune, The Oregonian, and KBOO's Between the Covers, and she was featured in the Emmy-winning documentary Discovering Beverly Cleary. Her Portland-based books explore the city's geology, architecture, neighborhoods, and human and natural history. She has been a Portlander since 1989.