Beverly Cleary was born in McMinnville, which is in Oregon, and until she was old enough to go to school, she lived on a farm in Yamhill, a town that was very small. Her mother talked with the State Library to have books sent to Yamhill and acted as librarian in a lodge room over a bank. There, Beverly learned to love books. But when the family moved to Portland, Beverly then found herself in the grammar school's low reading time, an experience that has given her pity for the problems of not-very-well readers.

Beverly attended junior college in Ontario, California in 1934, graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1938, and got a degree from the School of Librarianship at the University of Washington. She also went to Chaffey College and Grant High School.