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?
September 9, 2013 11:14 am
What a great park and beautiful pictures. Too bad about the kid messing with your fun.
September 10, 2013 12:53 am
This is why we can't have nice things.
September 9, 2013 1:24 pm
haha! Love the look on his face in the second picture! That is too cute!
September 10, 2013 12:53 am
It was pretty funny. He sniffed the other dog first. Apparently it's a common occurrence.
September 9, 2013 2:53 pm
Nice public art – the dog scuplture is cute! His expression next to it is priceless!
September 10, 2013 12:52 am
I think he's thinking well if this crazy dog wants to get all wet, that's fine. But I'm not getting wet!
September 9, 2013 3:57 pm
Cool park…I love the sculptures!!
September 10, 2013 12:50 am
I do too. The kids playing seemed to have a lot of fun.
September 9, 2013 8:30 pm
I love that they're not just statues, but a water park! It really enhances the fun nature of the characters. 🙂
http://www.dogtreatweb.com
September 10, 2013 12:54 am
I think it's fitting. And there's a scene of Ramona playing in mud puddles if I remember correctly.
September 10, 2013 3:01 am
No mischief Mr N?? You need to try harder! Tee Hee
I hope you're having a fun day,
Your pal Snoopy 🙂
September 10, 2013 5:51 am
I don't think he needs encouragement! I'm sure there's mischief afoot.
September 23, 2016 5:55 am
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.
September 29, 2016 6:53 am
I'm the oldest so I always sided with Beezus!
September 23, 2016 9:29 am
What a great sculpture park – I love the water features, they look like a lot of fun.
September 23, 2016 1:57 pm
This part looks like so much fun! I love the second picture of Mr. N and the dog fountain.
September 29, 2016 6:53 am
Thank you! I think Mr. N had to "inspect" the dog first.
September 23, 2016 3:17 pm
Mauja and Atka would have gone nuts at that dog sculpture! Looks like a fun outing!
September 29, 2016 6:53 am
Mr. N did insist on sniffing his butt first.
September 23, 2016 6:07 pm
Mr. N, you were such a good doggie. We love your photos.
September 23, 2016 7:25 pm
Great photos – especially that shot with the water!
September 23, 2016 8:01 pm
What great pics and the park looks amazing, Layla says Mom time to move where there better parks than ours BOL
September 29, 2016 6:54 am
Portland does have great parks!
September 24, 2016 1:42 am
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.
September 29, 2016 6:54 am
Oh cool! Does she still live around here?
September 24, 2016 6:20 am
I just love Mr N pictures such a beautiful poser. Loved the picture of the dog statue
September 24, 2016 1:29 pm
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.
September 29, 2016 6:54 am
Yup. I think most of her books are based here.
September 25, 2016 3:58 am
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
September 29, 2016 6:54 am
She's written a lot of famous children's books.
September 25, 2016 6:37 pm
I'm not familiar with Beverly Cleary books. The park looks beautiful and I love the photo of Mr. N. with the dog sculpture.
September 29, 2016 6:56 am
She's written the Ramona books, Ribsy and the Mouse and the Motorcycle.
September 25, 2016 6:55 pm
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).
September 29, 2016 6:56 am
Yeah, the parents weren't watching and generally it's not a great idea to go around chasing strange dogs!
September 25, 2016 10:17 pm
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 http://www.PlayfulKitty.net
September 29, 2016 6:52 am
He tries very hard not to get wet. But then he's part cat!
September 26, 2016 1:43 am
I always look forward to your photos Mr. N. You might have a stalker… 😉
September 29, 2016 6:51 am
Hahaha. Join the crew! We had an actual real life stalker the other day.
September 26, 2016 1:45 am
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.
September 29, 2016 6:50 am
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.
September 26, 2016 5:33 am
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!
September 29, 2016 6:50 am
I did too. It was fun seeing the real spots.
September 28, 2016 2:28 pm
Loving these photos! Well done