Heartwarming / Ramona Quimby

At least one per book, usually near the end when whatever has been upsetting Ramona or her sister is resolved.

• Beezus and Ramona:
  • Mrs. Quimby and her sister Bea laughing about how they used to fight all the time as children, because Dorothy was the prim, ladylike one and Bea was the tomboyish one. When Beezus worries that she's a bad sister because she gets fed up with Ramona sometimes, her mother and aunt reassure her that it's perfectly normal to not love Ramona all the time—because when they were girls, they didn't love each other all the time, either.
  • Beezus realizes that most younger sisters act like Ramona, and no matter how angry she is with her, she's glad to have Ramona as a sister.
• Ramona the Pest: Two of these during Ramona's kindergarten dropout phase:
  • Beezus telling Mary Jane not to tease Ramona, the narrative explaining that while Beezus herself picked on her sister she was quick to protect her from others.
  • Miss Binney's letter, and she returns Ramona's baby tooth. It's not exactly an apology for her sending Ramona home over Ramona honestly saying she couldn't behave, since it's Gone Horribly Right that Ramona then refuses to return period, but she sincerely says she wants Ramona to return to the class. There's an implication that Mrs. Quimby told Miss Binney that Ramona wanted to stay away until she was forgotten, and Miss Binney realized she went too far.
• Ramona the Brave:
  • When Ramona explains the paper bag owl situation to her family^{what happened?} Susan copied the paper bag owl she worked so hard on, Mrs. Griggs praised it in front of everyone, and Ramona felt she couldn't say anything because Mrs. Griggs had told the class "Nobody Likes a Tattletale", so she was so angry and frustrated she crumpled her own owl and then Susan's, Mrs. Quimby asks why it was important. Beezus sympathizes, understanding that Ramona wanted her owl to be unique.
  • The kids in Room One being extra nice to Ramona after she's forced to apologize to Susan in front of everyone.
  • The teacher and the kids being understanding and sympathetic when Ramona explains her encounter with the dog in the last chapter. This is especially satisfying after they laughed at her story about the workmen building the room in an earlier chapter.
• Ramona & Her Father: Beezus and Ramona getting their father to give up smoking.
  • Mr. Quimby and Ramona drawing the world's longest picture together. Really, anything that shows the father-daughter bond between the two.
  • In a moment that may cross into Tear Jerker, Ramona comes home from school and discovers she's locked out of the house because Dad is late getting home. It's raining, and Ramona soon becomes frightened of things like strangers, big dogs, and "big hairy men on motorcycles" that might try to "get" her. This makes it especially heartwarming when Dad gets home and profusely apologizes.
  • Before the Nativity pageant starts, Ramona is too embarrassed to join the other sheep because of her poorly-made costume — she just has an ear and tails while having to wear faded white pajamas with bunnies on them— but she gets help from three older girls who dab some mascara on her nose to make her look more like a sheep. When Howie and Davy see it, they don't say anything about Ramona's costume but decide they want black noses too.
  • A minor moment involving supporting characters: when Ramona and Howie make tin can stilts from coffee cans, even though little Willa Jean is usually an Annoying Younger Sibling to Howie, he makes a set of stilts for her too, using tuna cans so they'll be safer for her.
• Ramona & Her Mother:
  • Beezus letting Ramona snuggle next to her in bed when they're both upset about their parents' argument and promising to take care of her if their parents divorce.
  • "How could I get along without my Ramona?" For context, Ramona declared she was going to run away after thinking that her teacher told on her about wearing pajamas to school. Mrs. Quimby then humors her and helps her pack. Then Ramona tries to pick up her suitcase, realizing it's too heavy for her to carry. She then tells her mother happily, "You tricked me!"
• Ramona Quimby, Age 8:
  • Howie lets Ramona try out his bike while she's hanging out with the Kemps. She notes that most boys don't like hanging out with girls.
  • Following the Cool and Unusual Punishment where the parents ask the girls to make dinner one night and expect cornbread since Ramona said she wanted some the day before, the parents make a big show out of liking it. Ramona notes that the cornbread is passable if flat, but the chicken thighs aren't that great though it's edible. Even so, it's showing the Quimbys have no hard feelings about the girls refusing to eat beef tongue the day before since Ramona and Beezus did the hard work their mother does every day.
  • The secretary Mrs. Larson is a Reasonable Authority Figure. When the egg incident happens, she acts like it's not a big deal and helps wash it out, quipping to make Ramona feel better. She even suggests that putting an egg in your hair is actually good for it while advising Ramona to do a proper shampoo at home. After Ramona vomits in class, her first response is to notice that Ramona is crying and gives her a tissue to blow out her nose. Then she lays her down on a cot and calls her mother. When Ramona feels sick again, the lady quickly gets her over the toilet and gives her a cup of water to rinse her mouth while saying it must feel like she's coughing up toenails.
  • Yard Ape gets an Everyone Has Standards moment, after being a jerk to Ramona, when coming to bring her back to class. He knows she's embarrassed about the egg incident and tells her not to worry about "Old Whaley", their teacher. Yard Ape then calls her Egghead affectionately, which her dad later says is slang for a smart person.
  • When Ramona is sick and staying home, she wakes up to find a cartoon on her bedside table drawn by her father, showing her and the family car (which has also been having trouble) both making funny frowny faces. It makes her smile.
  • Ramona receives a whole envelope of get-well cards from her class. She notes that Yard Ape's was one of the few that was original: "Dear Superfoot, get well or I will eat your eraser." It actually makes Ramona smile.
  • Picky Picky normally avoids Ramona because she's usually too loud for his taste. When she falls ill, however, and her mother sets her up on the couch to watch TV during the day, the cat seems to realize she needs company and goes to cuddle with her. Ramona strokes him in thanks.
  • Ramona and Mrs. Whaley making up after Ramona spends a good portion of the book thinking Mrs. Whaley doesn't like her after she overheard herself being called a show-off and a nuisance (after the egg incident). When Ramona talks to her about it, Mrs. Whaley explains that she meant "show-off" in an affectionate way, and that getting the egg out of Ramona's hair was the nuisance, not Ramona herself.
  • Mrs. Quimby refuses to let Beezus go to another of Mary Jane's slumber parties, in the case of Cruel to Be Kind. She mentions to Ramona that Beezus always sleeps late and returns home grumpy, and she needs her beauty rest. Beezus later admits that while she was mad at the time her mother said no, she actually hates using a sleeping bag for the events.
  • When the family arrives at the Whopperburger, an older man asks Ramona if she's been good to her mother. Ramona at the time finds it rude because the man is a stranger. Beezus teases her about it saying that it wasn't dangerous since their parents were watching. Later, that same man is revealed to have paid for the family's meals despite them being total strangers to him.
• Ramona Forever:
  • At dinner, Ramona claims she's never going back to Mrs. Kemp's house again. Instead of yelling, or telling her she’s overreacting, both of her parents just gently asked her what happened.
  • After explaining how she's realized Mrs. Kemp doesn’t like her, Beezus backs Ramona up, agreeing with her and saying Mrs. Kemp doesn’t like either of them, and doesn't blame Ramona for not wanting to go back. It’s sweet to see that Beezus will always help out her sister in her time of need.
  • Ramona and Beezus making up over the death of Picky-Picky. They apologize to each other, with Ramona saying she didn't mean to make fun of Beezus's acne^note She'd called her "Pizzaface", which Beezus thought had to do with likening her acne to pizza sauce, but actually, she was aiming for a variation on "Pieface" because they'd recently eaten pizza.
  • Ramona accepting Hobart as her uncle after spending most of the book either annoyed with him or on the fence.
  • While Mrs. Kemp is usually mean to Ramona, at the wedding she thanks her for finding the lost ring and tells her that her dress looks pretty.
  • Ramona is frightened while Mrs. Quimby is at the hospital giving birth to Roberta. Beezus hugs her and says she remembers when Ramona was born: "You got born and Mother was fine." That night, she lets Ramona sleep in her bed with her, just like they did for comfort back in Ramona & Her Mother.
• Ramona's World:
  • Ramona and Daisy liking each other instantly and deciding to be best friends.
  • Mrs. Kidd comforting Ramona after the accident with the ceiling, not blaming her at all and wanting to make sure she's alright. It's a far cry from how Mrs. Kemp would react at the slightest sign of trouble.
  • When baby Roberta gets her head stuck in a kitty condo, Ramona calms her down enough to free her by singing her favorite nursery rhyme, and afterward she hugs and kisses Roberta, who says her first word: "Mo-Mo," a Baby Talk attempt to say "Ramona".
  • Ramona finally making peace with Susan at her birthday party after finding out that her rival is suffering from constant pressure to be perfect all the time, and finally beginning to understand her.
  • Ramona and Yard Ape's friendly teasing throughout the book, which makes their mutual crush even clearer than it was in Ramona Quimby, Age 8. This culminates in Ramona sharing her birthday cake with Yard Ape and his friends at the park.
  • When Ramona is getting her picture taken, the photographer tells her to "say peas" and she reflexively makes a disgusted face, remembering an incident where Roberta spit up strained peas all over her. Later she gives Yard Ape a photo of her making this face as a valentine, and he gives her an original poem, which she decides she'll keep forever.
    If you are eating peas, think of me before you sneeze.
• One outside the books: In the real Portland, Oregon, the Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden features bronze statues of Henry, Ribsy and Ramona playing together, built in 1991.
• Beverly Cleary stopped writing the Ramona series with Ramona's World, because Ramona was getting older and Cleary didn't want to put her character through the hardships of puberty. Word of God from Cleary when she retired altogether a few years later is that Ramona "grew up okay," likely taking after her father's career as an artist.