''Emily's Runaway Imagination'' is a children's novel by American writer

Beverly Cleary Beverly Atlee Cleary (née Bunn; April 12, 1916March 25, 2021) was an American writer of children's and young adult fiction. One of America's most successful authors, 91 million copies of her books have been sold worldwide since her first b ...

, first published in 1961. Set in the 1920s, the plot revolves around the experiences of a young, imaginative girl named Emily.

Plot

Emily is a young girl noteworthy throughout her hometown of Pitchfork, Oregon for her great imagination and for the predicaments that she inadvertently manages to create, such as by intoxicating her father's pigs by feeding them rotten

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ances ...

s in order to avoid a chiding from her mother for wasting food, using

Clorox The Clorox Company (formerly Clorox Chemical Company) is an American global manufacturer and marketer of consumer and professional products. As of 2020 the Oakland, California based company had approximately 8,800 employees worldwide. Net sales ...

to bleach a plow horse white in order to impress a visiting cousin, and humiliating herself publicly by correcting the language of a Chinese neighbor after he mispronounces the name of her pet

collie Collies form a distinctive type of herding dogs, including many related landraces and standardized breeds. The type originated in Scotland and Northern England. Collies are medium-sized, fairly lightly-built dogs, with pointed snouts. Man ...

. Novels by Beverly Cleary 1961 American novels Novels set in Oregon William Morrow and Company books Novels set in the 1920s 1961 children's books {{1960s-hist-novel-stub