That Doggone Dog...

That Ribsy! He may be one of the most agreeable dogs on the face of the planet, but he’s also one of the most likely to get into trouble. In Henry and Ribsy, this spells trouble for his owner, Henry Huggins, who has his heart set on joining his dad on a fishing trip. When he first mentions the possibility, all that his dad says is, “We’ll see.” That sounds like a “yes” to Henry, but when he inquires again, shortly after Ribsy snatches the lunch out of a police officer’s car, Mr. Huggins tells him he can only go if he keeps Ribsy out of mischief. It sounds easy enough, but Henry soon realizes the job is going to be a lot harder than he thought.

To make matters worse, his parents decide to assign Henry the task of taking out the garbage every day. Sure, it means an extra fifteen cents in his allowance each week, but Henry isn’t sure dealing with all that smelly trash is worth it, especially when Ribsy inexplicably frightens the garbage man away, leaving Henry to deal with an overflowing can of extra-gross refuse. Just as unfortunate for Henry is the fact that his mother acquired a pair of clippers in order to give him a home haircut. His worries about his mother’s haircutting skills are realized when he looks in the mirror to discover a head full of chewed up hair, and just before the first day of school, too!

But the book doesn’t only spell disaster for Henry. Ribsy makes up for his recent misbehavior when he impresses Henry’s friends with a spur-of-the-minute stunt, and when he’s accused by the neighborhood busybody of terrorizing Ramona, the sage school principal sees the reality of the situation and defends Ribsy in front of the whole PTA. It looks like Henry will get to go on that fishing trip after all, but with Ribsy along for the ride, Henry endures his most chaotic encounter of the book, emerging with a fish tale he’ll be happy to recount again and again.

I recently re-read these books out of order, but that did not detract from my enjoyment of them. All of Cleary’s chronicles are written with such heart and humor, they are a delight no matter what order they are read in. And while they were written specifically with the juvenile crowd in mind, their appeal does not dim when being read by adults. Three cheers for Beverly Cleary!