I think that’s a fair point you’re making.

At the time, I loved the books - but in hindsight, I wish I never read them at the age I did because they really colored my interpretation of my fellow classmates behavior. Every time someone accidentally slighted me, I figured that it was because they were thinking of ways to plot against me just as Beverly’s characters were always doing.

In hindsight, my classmates were just children behaving as children do - with little thought for anything above the immediate future.

I hear you on this. I loved the Ramona books when I was a kid, but I also got so frustrated with Ramona because she acted so irrationally. My favorite was "Beezus and Ramona" because it was told from Beezus' point of view and I identified with her much better. I think maybe some kids are just Ramonas and some are Beezuses.

Honestly, when I look back at my childhood, I think most of the kids I knew were at least moderately irrational.

Irrational, prone to crumbling under peer pressure, struggling to find a way in a world they didn't understand well, and prone to random acts both good and bad..

I have no idea why you are being downvoted. This is a valid and interesting opinion.

It is, indeed, a valid an interesting opinion; but, given the situation, this might not be the exact time and place to feel the need to express it.

Did you hate them as a kid, or as an adult reading them to kids?

Because a lot of people are soothed by empathy, even as children.

The original comment is right. Cleary's books do often speak about children (and with children's voices) in a very adult manner. So do Roald Dahl's. For me this was fascinating as a kid, to see how we were viewed by adults and, wanting to be an adult, to see how that was viewed.

That’s a solid point. Who’s to say that I did or didn’t benefit from the viewpoint of the books?