Happy 100th birthday, Beverly Cleary!

Beverly Cleary, the legendary children’s author who brought the world Ramona Quimby, Henry Huggins and Ralph S. Mouse, turned 100 years old Tuesday.

Just don’t ask her what her secret is. “I didn’t do it on purpose,” she joked to the Associated Press.

The author, who was born before World War I was over, has led a remarkable career, spanning dozens of books, a National Book Award and a Newbery Medal.

In 1950, she published her first book, “Henry Huggins.” The novel introduced not only the title character (and his dog), but also his neighbor Beezus Quimby and her little sister, Ramona.

Cleary talked about Ramona, who became her most beloved character, with The Times in 2011. “She was just a little brat in ‘Henry Huggins.’ She was sort of an accident because it occurred to me that all the children appeared to be only children,” she explained.

“So I tossed in this little sister, and at that moment, a neighbor called out to another neighbor who happened to be named Ramona. So I just named this little girl Ramona. And she kept growing in the Henry books. And my editor said she would like a whole book about Ramona, and I was thinking about it myself.”

Cleary was born in McMinnville, Ore., and moved with her family to Portland six years later. “I was a well-behaved little girl, not that I wanted to be,” she told the AP. “At the age of Ramona, in those days, children played outside. We played hopscotch and jump rope, and I loved them, and always had scraped knees.”

She lived in Portland for 12 years, and the grade school she attended there is now called the Beverly Cleary School. There are also statues of Ramona Quimby and Henry Huggins and his dog Ribsy in Portland’s Grant Park.

After graduating from high school, Cleary moved to California, eventually earning an English degree from UC Berkeley. She attended graduate school and worked as a children’s librarian in Washington state, before later moving to Carmel with her husband.

Ramona went on to appear in many of Cleary’s books, most recently in her final novel, “Ramona’s World,” which was published in 1999.

“If I don’t enjoy what I’m writing, I put it in the wastebasket,” Cleary told The Times. “Because if I don’t enjoy writing it, why would anybody enjoy reading it?”

That philosophy seems to have worked for her. “I’ve had an exceptionally happy career,” she said.

And her fans are exceptionally happy for her. At Jezebel, Kate Dries explains the author’s appeal for her readers. “Cleary’s writing is always matter-of-fact, observant without being unkind,” Dries writes. “Despite her concerns, she was lovely, good, and never forgot to write, all at once.”

Cleary’s admirers on Twitter agree. Novelist Celeste Ng tweeted, “Happy birthday, Beverly Cleary! To this day, I think of Ramona every time I crack a hard-boiled egg or squeeze the toothpaste tube.”

Writer Anne T. Donahue also wished Cleary a happy 100th birthday. “She is the only person better than Ramona Quimby, who gave me hope as an outspoken eight-year-old.”