Say Hello to Henry and Mudge!

The first Henry and Mudge book I ever read, a mere month or so ago, was Henry and Mudge and the Wild Wind, the twelfth book in the easy reader series written by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Sucie Stevenson. Since then, I've bopped back and forth amongst the volumes, reading more than half of the books in the series thus far. But it wasn't until now that I saw how the story began.

Before I got my hands on Henry and Mudge: The First Book, my contemplations as to whether Henry had gotten Mudge as a puppy or an adult were silenced when I happened upon the spin-off series of Puppy Mudge books. I still find this rather surprising, since the third book in the series shows the boy and his dog in the summer, and Mudge is full-grown, but the fourth book tells us that Mudge had not yet enjoyed Thanksgiving with his family. That leaves a window of about seven months, except not really, since this first installment seems to take place in the spring. If Henry lived in the south, this could be January, but that's unlikely since later books show the ground covered with snow. Anyway, all this is to say that when Henry gets Mudge, he's about as tiny as Clifford is when Emily Elizabeth gets him, as we see on one page where he is shown next to a woman's hand, presumably Henry's mother's, and by my calculations, he only has about three months, if that, to grow into a monstrous 180-pound dog, since school is still in session when Mudge is an adult. I must admit I find the chronology suspect.

But other than that, this is a charming book, and it's fun to finally get the beginning of the story. This book is broken up into seven sections, three of which are entitled Mudge and three of which are entitled Henry. The final part is called Henry and Mudge. The books opens with an introduction to Henry, who has no siblings and no other children living in his neighborhood. He is lonely, but his parents can't help him out on the request for a brother or a house in a neighborhood full of kids. Realizing how isolated their son is, however, they agree to buy him a dog, and Henry, who is very particular about what sort of pooch he wants, sees Mudge and knows he is exactly what he has been looking for.

Henry actually does look a little smaller to me here than in other books, and it's funny to see him overwhelmed by the massive Mudge, who has a habit of lying down on top of him or knocking him over. He's also big enough to carry Henry's books to school for him, though if I were Henry I'd be worried about him getting back home by himself. Mudge does get lost towards the end of the book, but not on the way home from escorting Henry to school. He just wanders off, and eventually he wanders too far, much to the displeasure of a very nervous Henry. Where could that big mutt be?

Rylant's simple writing style is perfect for listing Henry and Mudge's individual attributes and the ways in which both of them, but especially Henry, change after they come together. Those who have read any of the other volumes in this popular series will want to have a look at Henry and Mudge: The First Book to see the first chapter in a beautiful friendship.