FOG BLOG LITERARY LOG: BEVERLY CLEARY , CHILDREN'S WRITER , DEAD AT 104

Children's book author Beverly Cleary died on Thursday in Carmel, California, at 104 years old, her publishing company, HarperCollins Publishers, announced on Friday.

Cleary published her first book, "Henry Huggins," in 1950, and more than 40 other books in years following, according to HarperCollins. Cleary's books have sold more than 85 million copies and were translated into 29 different languages.

Her protagonists were pests, goody-goodies, bullies and daydreamers, sometimes all at once. She mined memories of her youth and the struggles of kids she knew to capture children's views of the adult world, where fathers sometimes lost their jobs and mothers sometimes parented alone.