“A career that spans two centuries. A voice that children adore, listen to, and are comforted by. An imagination that has been alive and well for 100 years. Bev Cleary is clearly an icon — not just to kids but to writers like me who love seeing the smiles on the faces of youngsters who read our books instead of burying those faces in digital dumpsters,” said children’s author Howard Eisenberg, 89.