Reviews

The Ramona books present the raw, often hilarious everyday adventures of a rambunctious kid, Ramona Quimby. First and foremost, the books are funny and fun for kids to read, but they also provide an underlying, meaningful glimpse of childhood. The movie presents the same Ramona, but the emphasis is flipped, with the story focused on bringing out the meaningful picture of childhood -- its difficulties and uncertainties mixed with the innocence, determination and imagination that adults have often lost site of.

By Carey Bryson

As the episodic Ramona and Beezus gradually unfolds, we watch the sisters forge not only a truce but also an understanding of each other as young women negotiating their way through the thickets of childhood. Tenderness isn't a quality found much these days in the whirring-and-clanging busyness of family movies, which makes this G-rated gem's emphasis on emotion and heart all the more laudable.

By Glenn Whipp, from the Los Angeles Times

Parents may also be happy to see a movie for children that doesn't involve wizards, vampires or action figures that can be bought in the food court. They should be warned, though, that the price of contemporary realism is a story that includes layoffs, bickering and unpaid bills.

By Mike Hale, from The New York Times