- 8
Tenderness isn't a quality found much these days in the whirring-and-clanging busyness of family movies, which makes this G-rated gem's emphasis on emotion and heart all the more laudable.
—Glenn Whipp Los Angeles Times
- 8
...surprisingly wise and whimsical.
—Dezhda Gaubert E!
- 7
...easily the most wholesome movie of the summer, but its squeaky-cleanness never comes at the expense of honesty or character.
—Josh Bell filmcritic.com
- 7
...a featherweight G-rated comedy of no consequence, except undoubtedly to kids about Ramona's age.
—Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times
- 7
...cute, well-made...
—Lou Lumenick New York Post
- 6
...a sprightly, generic kidpic...
—Justin Chang Variety
- 6
...a sweetened synthesis of stories from the great Beverly Cleary's classic series of kids' books...
—Lisa Schwarzbaum Entertainment Weekly
- 6
The movie is not bad, but it's not much.
—Michael Phillips Chicago Tribune
- 6
...has the undeniably nice, pleasantly uninspired feel of film designed to kill time with the kids on a rainy weekend.
—Keith Phipps Onion AV Club
- 6
The movie depicts a loving family through a a wholesome story that avoids bathroom humor. But for a story about tapping your creative potential, it lacks an innovative sparkle.
—Claudia Puig USA Today
- 6
Parents may also be happy to see a movie for children that doesn?t involve wizards, vampires or action figures that can be bought in the food court. They should be warned, though, that the price of contemporary realism is a story that includes layoffs, bickering and unpaid bills.
—Mike Hale New York Times
- 5
...cheerfully innocuous if generically uninspired...
—Michael Rechtshaffen Hollywood Reporter
- 4
...less Disney than Hallmark Channel, a loose adaptation of Beverly Cleary's first novel in her beloved kid-lit series that's wholesome to the point of being dull.
—Nick Schager Village Voice
- 4
Intermittently spry but problematic...
—Adam Keleman Slant Magazine
- 4
...less Disney than Hallmark Channel, a loose adaptation of Beverly Cleary's first novel in her beloved kid-lit series that's wholesome to the point of being dull.
—Nick Schager LA Weekly