<P> After her graduation from the University of Washington in 1939, she served as a children's librarian in Yakima, Washington, and then as the post librarian at the U.S. Army Hospital in Oakland, California . In 1942 she began working as a full - time writer for children . </P> <P> As a children's librarian, Cleary empathized with her young patrons, who had difficulty finding books with characters they could identify with, and she struggled to find enough books to suggest that would appeal to them . After a few years of making recommendations and performing live storytelling in her role as librarian, Cleary decided to start writing children's books about characters that young readers could relate to . Cleary has said, "I believe in that' missionary spirit' among children's librarians . Kids deserve books of literary quality, and librarians are so important in encouraging them to read and selecting books that are appropriate ." </P> <P> Cleary's first book, Henry Huggins (1950), was accepted for immediate publication and was the first in a series of fictional chapter books about Henry, his dog Ribsy, his neighborhood friend Beezus and her little sister Ramona . Like many of her later works, Henry Huggins is a novel about people living ordinary lives and is based on Cleary's own childhood experiences, the kids in her neighborhood growing up, as well as children she met while working as a librarian . </P> <P> Cleary's first book to center a story on the Quimby sisters, Beezus and Ramona, was published in 1955 . A publisher asked her to write a book about a kindergarten student . Cleary resisted, because she had not attended kindergarten, but later changed her mind after the birth of her twins . She has written two memoirs, A Girl from Yamhill (1988) and My Own Two Feet (1995). During a 2011 interview for the Los Angeles Times, at age 95, Cleary stated, "I've had an exceptionally happy career ." </P>

When was beverly cleary's first book published