Cleary's First Foray Into Novels as Brilliant as her Latest

Although Ramona Quimby is probably Beverly Cleary’s most well-known character, she started out as a minor supporting character in the world of Cleary’s first starring child, Henry Huggins. Henry’s adventures stretched across nearly as many books as Ramona’s, and they all began with Henry Huggins, the author’s very first novel, completed after repeated requests by her young library visitors for stories about kids like them. The book was written in 1950, so some of the situations and language feel a bit dated, but the introduction to Henry and all the other residents of Klickitat Street is engaging nonetheless.

When we first meet Henry, he is nearing the end of third grade and bemoaning the fact that nothing exciting ever happens to him. Suddenly, something does. An ordinary trip to the YMCA leads to a chance encounter with a scraggly mutt who latches himself onto Henry. Observing the dog’s slight frame, Henry assigns him the name Ribsy and manages to convince his mother to let him keep him. Now all he has to do is get him home on the bus…

Henry is a nice, sensible boy whose misadventures never stem from a lack of control, as is so often the case with Ramona. He speaks politely to adults, pays for Ribsy’s upkeep with his own money, devotes all his time to feeding his fish when a simple pair of guppies turns into a regular fish factory, readily accepts the challenge of catching 1400 night crawlers to pay for his friend’s lost football, and agrees to an impartial ownership contest when Ribsy’s former master resurfaces to claim his dog. Adults and friends sometimes treat him unfairly, but he seems to take almost everything in stride. He is very different from Ramona but perhaps not far removed from her older sister Beezus, which is not surprising since they are such good friends. Beezus shows up a few times here, most notably agreeing to adopt one of Henry’s guppies, while Ramona’s part is so scant as to scarcely merit mention.

Henry’s adventures throughout the book are entertaining and show Cleary’s understanding of how young children think, while the simple but artistic language contributes to the ease of reading no matter what age the reader is. She is just as adept at getting into a boy’s head as a girl’s. Even though Henry’s speech consists largely of such outdated words as “gee whiz,” “jeepers,” “golly,” and “gosh” and monetary amounts and certain items mentioned in the book clearly place the novel in the 50s, he comes across very realistically, and his exploits are still great fun to read about. Most of the book is a series of funny incidents over the course of a year or so, but the last chapter ends on a slightly somber, heartfelt note that leaves the door open and the reader ready for the many Klickitat chronicles to come.