Beloved children's author Beverly Cleary dies in Carmel at age 104.

There was Beezus and Ramona, the scrappy sister team in which the annoying younger sister (Ramona) played the role of pest to big sister Beatrice Ann (aka Beezus) in their North Portland neighborhood. There was Henry Huggins, the Portland boy who lived not too far from Beezus and Ramona on Klickitat Street, had a dog named Ribsy and a gig as a paper-delivery boy. There was class clown Otis Spofford, whose mom ran a dance studio and who lived to tease good girl Ellen Tebbits.

And behind all of those characters and their stories of wholesome life in the Pacific Northwest in the 1950s and '60s, there was former children's librarian-turned-best-selling—and much beloved—children's author Beverly Cleary. 

Her longtime publisher, HarperCollins, announced via a press release on March 26 that Cleary died on March 25 in Carmel, where she had lived since the 1960s. She was an astounding 104 years old at the time of her death.

Cleary was born in 1916 in McMinnville, Oregon and lived as a young child on the family's farm in Yamhill, where her mother set up a small library in a lodge room upstairs from a local bank. When her family moved to Portland, Cleary found herself in her new school's lowest level reading group, setting up her lifelong empathy for those who struggle with reading. By third grade, the press release states, she conquered reading and grew to love it.

Cleary graduated from UC Berkeley (where a dormitory is named after her) and specialized in librarianship at the University of Washington. While she had considered becoming a children's author, the spark was relit when a boy visiting the library where Cleary worked asked her, "Where are the books about kids like us?"

Henry Huggins, Ribsy, Ramona and Beezus and Ellen Tebbits, along with a host of other characters, are the manifestation of that boy's question. Cleary's books have sold more than 85 million copies and been translated into 29 languages. As for her long list of honors? Here are just a few: There's the National Medal of the Arts, the "Living Legend" honor from the Library of Congress and the Robert Kirsch Award from the Los Angeles Times—the first time a children's book author received the award.

Cleary was predeceased by her husband, Clarence Cleary, and is survived by their children, Malcolm and Marianna, three grandchildren and one great-grandchild. 

Per HarperCollins' announcement, the family offers special thanks to Dr. Richard King and the health center staff at Carmel Valley Manor. Donations in Cleary's name can be made to the Library Foundation of Portland or the Information School at the University of Washington.