A Robin Comes to Roost in Annie and Snowball and the Cozy Nest

A few years ago, I discovered Cynthia Rylant, and I quickly discovered that she is one of the most prolific children's book authors in the business. She seems to be constantly publishing something. One reason she writes so often is that she has several different series to juggle, and some have even spawned spin-off series. In the case of Henry and Mudge, the easy reader chronicles of a young boy and his enormous dog, there are two spin-offs: Puppy Mudge, designed for very early readers, and Annie and Snowball, which aims at the same grade level as Henry and Mudge but is geared more toward girls.

Annie and Snowball and the Cozy Nest is the fifth book in this series. It stars Henry's cousin Annie and her fluffy white rabbit Snowball. Of course, because Annie now lives next-door to Henry, the stories in this series tend to involve all four pretty heavily. Annie's dad and Henry's parents also make occasional appearances. This particular volume has a springtime focus. In four short sections, Rylant lets a simple story unfold. There is a robin building a next on Annie's porch, in a secluded spot that can only be seen easily from the swing. Everyone, especially Annie and Henry, is excited to watch the bird's progress, and when five blue eggs appear inside, anticipation increases. Babies are on the way! But oh, what a long time to wait!

Like the other books in this series, this one is designed for independent readers who are still mastering the skill, so there's a bit of complexity to the writing but it's still pretty basic. Rylant sneaks some facts into the story, sometimes with some comical help from illustrator Sucie Stevenson. For instance, there's a silly picture of an elephant in a nest that is dreamed up by Annie, who figures Mudge could furnish enough fur to house an elephant. But Rylant paranthetically points out that elephants don't really build nests. Annie's dad, meanwhile, informs his daughter that she mustn't touch the eggs, though she is welcome to observe them.

There are a couple of small issues I had with the book. First off, it begins with Henry's birthday party, but Rylant only makes brief mention of this as a happy thing occurring in the spring. It seems like a bit of a letdown to show Henry and Annie at his party with a pile of gifts on the floor and cake on the table and not to linger there long enough even to open one present or take one bite of cake. I'm trying to remember if there is a book about Henry's birthday that takes place after the point in the Henry and Mudge series when Annie moves next door. Maybe this is a sly attempt to make this book a jumping-off point into the previous series.

The other slight complaint I have is that when the robins are finally born, they don't look like newborn robins. They're basically just smaller, fuzzier versions of their mother. I've seen baby robins, and when they first hatch, they're not cute and fuzzy. They're gangly and mostly unfeathered, and their beaks are freakishly enormous. Stevenson's depiction isn't very true-to-life.

Otherwise, though, this is a nice installment in a charming series. As usual, ungainly Mudge provides a few laughs, and the children reading Annie and Snowball and the Cozy Nest can learn a lesson in the value of patience right along with Annie and Henry.

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.

Old Friends Have a Great Time in This Inter-Generational Henry and Mudge Adventure

I love Henry and Mudge, the young boy and enormous dog who star in Cynthia Rylant's beginning reader series of the same name. But I love Mr. Putter and Tabby, the main characters in another of Rylant's easy reader series, even more. Rylant just makes the elderly Mr. Putter so endearing, and Arthur Howard's irresistible illustrations sweeten the deal. It's encouraging that a series for young children can focus on grandparent-aged characters and flourish. It's nice to see this inter-generational sensitivity show up in the Henry and Mudge series, and apparently I'm not the only one who thinks so because Henry and Mudge and the Great Grandpas, the twenty-sixth book in the series, received the 2006 Theodore Seuss Geisel Award for the most distinguished beginning reader book.

This 35-page book is broken up into four section: Grandpas, A Pond!, Skivvies and Full and Happy. The beginning explains how Henry's Great-Grandpa Bill lives in a big house with several other grandpas. It doesn't seem to be a nursing home, since we see no one there but the five old men who so look forward to Henry and Mudge's visits; it's evidently more of a Golden Girls situation, with most of the men comparable in age to spit-fire Sophia.

While the men appear to live very comfortably, the visits from Henry's family are especially happy times. Henry is very fond of all five men, and he's considerate, bringing them books, magazines, candy, decks of cards and crossword puzzles when he visits. He often joins them in games of poker or checkers, while Mudge simply drools and lets the grandpas hug him as much as they want. And while Henry's parents sit down to chat with Great-Grandpa Bill and his friends, Henry and Mudge can run off and explore the woods nearby.

Sucie Stevenson once again illustrates this book, and although her style is cartoonish as ever, she does a great job impressing upon us the beauty of the forest where Henry and Mudge go wandering, especially the gently rippling pond. She does an even better job of helping us get to know each of the grandpas as individuals. Though we don't learn the names of the others, each has a distinctive look. One wears a Hawaiian shirt, and his little remaining hair is brown. Another has a long face and a ball cap. The third has dark skin and a bristly white mustache, while the fourth has a dapper green hat, a bow tie and tufts of gray hair. His own grandpa has a long white beard and matching mustache and wears a straw hat. All five sport spectacles. On one page, we get a glimpse of what these men where like when they were young, each with a different job. It's all very much geared toward getting young readers to appreciate that these men are more than just old. They're people, with rich histories and plenty of life still in them.

Their vivacity is best demonstrated toward the end of the book, when Henry's discovery of a pond results in a swimming outing for the whole gang - except Mom, who Henry forbids to come along because the men are swimming in their "skivvies". Though it takes a while for them to walk to the pond, and once they're there, they have to use Mudge as a raft now and then as their strength fades, there's ultimately little difference between this assembly and a crew of rowdy boys playing in the water hole. Incidentally, Henry's parents always seem to give Henry an exceptionally free rein; it's a bit comforting to see where their boundaries are (in this case, "no swimming alone") and how well Henry respects them.

Henry and Mudge and the Great Grandpas is a tender story about respect and affection spanning the generations, and its award is well deserved if it encourages youngsters to seek out the inner child in the elders of their acquaintance.

Henry and Mudge Share a Carol and Cookie-Filled Christmas

I feel a little silly writing a Christmas book review during the first week of spring, especially now that all the snow has melted, perhaps not to return for another seven or eight months. But it only makes sense that in a series that includes nearly 30 volumes, there would be a story about Christmas, so in the interests of making my set of Henry and Mudge reviews as complete as possible, I'll garb myself in seasonal cheer once more and write about Henry and Mudge and a Very Merry Christmas, the twenty-fifth book in the easy reader series by Cynthia Rylant and Sucie Stevenson. (I find it interesting, incidentally, that Stevenson is the illustrator, as several previous books feature another illustrator in her style, as do several following this one...)

As with most books in this series, the story is about 35 pages long and is broken down into three sections:Christmastime, Applause and The Best Present. In the first part, Henry and Mudge make cookies together, which involves Henry shaping batter and baking cookies and Mudge licking the floor clean. I like the fact that Henry selects a different cut-out reflecting the interests of each of the six relatives who will visit, and also the focus on the distinctive smells of Christmas, since Mudge is always intent on sniffing things.

The second part involves a Christmas Eve caroling expedition involving Henry, his parents, his cousin Annie, his uncle Ed and, of course, Mudge. Their efforts seem to be well appreciated by the neighbors - so well, in fact, that somebody even has the consideration to toss Mudge an old shoe while the others munch on cookies and shake off with chill of a heavy snowfall with mugs of hot chocolate. Snowball, Annie's pet rabbit, also arrives in this section, matching Annie's earmuffs, though she doesn't go caroling; if she had, I would have questioned the wisdom of such an inclusion. Leaving her unsupervised in Henry's room is risky enough...

Finally, the book culminates in Christmas morning, with presents (including a silly sweater for Snowball and a pair of fish, which are rather ill-advisedly placed in Henry's stocking) and food (half of which seems to accidentally land in Mudge's mouth). We're treated to all the excitement of relatives and feasting, and when the company leaves, there's a nice quiet walk through the snow-blanketed woods, complete with deer, birds and squirrels.

Families have all sorts of different Christmas traditions, and it's fun to see how Henry and his parents recognize the holiday. The emphasis on food is especially appropriate given Mudge's ravenous appetite, while the gathering of relatives is a nice change for Henry, who's used to a pretty quiet house. Simple and fun to read, Henry and Mudge and a Very Merry Christmas is great for fans of the series or someone just looking for a nice Christmas story.

Don't Read This Henry and Mudge Adventure on an Empty Stomach

Never write a review of a book involving food on an empty stomach. So says Erin after innocently turning to the first page of Henry and Mudge and the Wild Goose Chase, the twenty-third book in the Ready-to-Read series by Cynthia Rylant. This book, which is illustrated by Carolyn Bracken in the style of Sucie Stevenson, who collaborated with Rylant on most of the books in the series, is 35 pages long and divided into three sections: Farm Fresh, Welcome! and The Chase.

It's the Farm Fresh that really got to me, when I opened to the first story to find Henry and his family eating breakfast and Henry's mom mentioning how she would like some farm-fresh eggs, blueberries and corn on the cob while Henry daydreams about all that glorious food, offering an increasing number of "yum"s, and Mudge wags his tail harder and harder, since "yum" is always a word worth wagging for. The only unappetizing thing about this scene is the coffee in the mug Henry's dad is holding. It looks fine the first time we see it, but the second time we see it mid-splatter, and it doesn't appear to be liquid. The stuff seems to be congealed goo. Or Bracken just isn't good at depicting splashing liquids. But she makes up for it with all of those golden-yolked eggs, juicy blueberries and ears of ripe corn. Gulp. Excuse me while I go raid the kitchen...

The food barrage continues when we get to the farm, though we're spared having to stare for long, since Henry and Mudge are given leave to run wild on the farm grounds, where they meet a wide variety of equally free-range animals. While they were still on the road, Henry's dad had to stop to let a white duck and her fuzzy yellow ducklings cross, and Mudge had to content himself with licking Henry instead of the adorable birds. But here he can lick whoever he pleases, and his friendly disposition extends to the goats (even the one that tries to eat Henry's shirt), the sheep, the cows, the cats and the chickens (even the ones that peck Mudge's head). But there is one member of this menagerie he does not like, and that is the extremely ornery goose that honks at them and chases them back toward the farm. Does a big drooly dog have any recourse in such a situation?

One nice thing about this book is the way it includes such a wide range of plant and animal life. Young readers can have fun pointing out the different fruits and vegetables at the farm stand and identify the animals Henry and Mudge meet as they wander around the farm. From mouth-watering first page to funny conclusion, Henry and Mudge and the Wild Goose Chase is a book worth chasing down.

Puppy Mudge Strives to Find What Has Been Lost

My dog Mokey has a blanket that she loves to death. It's folded up in the bottom of her kennel in a snuggly sort of way, and that's where it stays except for those occasions when we pull it out to run it through the wash. She does not have a portable blanket. But Mudge does in Puppy Mudge Loves His Blanket.

Cynthia Rylant, author of many series of children's books including Poppleton, Mr. Putter and Tabby and the original Henry and Mudge series, of which Puppy Mudge is a spin-off, writes this simple tale of a dog's devotion to a well-worn blanket, and Isidre Mones illustrates in the cartoonish style of Sucie Stevenson, who illustrated most of the Henry and Mudge books.

The books in this series are a pre-level 1 on the Ready-to-Read scale, which means that they are intended for children who are just learning how to read. The sentences are simple and only one or two to a page, and there is repetition aplenty. Throughout the 25 pages, for instance, the word "blanket" appears six times and is referenced with the word "it" on another four occasions. Once Rylant establishes how much Mudge adores the titular object, the rest of the book focuses on him trying to find the blanket, as it has gone missing, which evidently is a recurring problem.

Mudge is an enormous dog, so even as a puppy he dwarfs Henry, the happy-go-lucky red-headed boy who shares all his adventures. We also see Henry's parents, Dad with his bushy brown hair and mustache, Mom with her golden locks. But they don't come into the story much. The bigger star is the house, which Mudge explores thoroughly, hoping his blanket will turn up around the next corner.

Puppy Mudge Loves His Blanket is another cute installment in the Puppy Mudge series that will strike a chord with anyone who knows what it's like to have a deeply cherished possession.

Henry Shares His Special Day With More Than Just Mudge

Two of my favorite people have birthdays tomorrow. I'm not sure how they plan to celebrate, but I hope each of them has a day as joyous as Henry's in Henry and Mudge and the Best Day of All. In this fourteenth installment in the series of easy readers by the prolific Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Sucie Stevenson, it's not only Mayday, it's Henry's birthday, and Henry's parents are pulling out all the stops to make sure it's a great one.

As with most of the books in the series, Henry and Mudge and the Best Day of All is 35 pages long and broken up into several sections. In this case, it's four: The First Day of May, A Colorful Morning, Crackers From the Sky and Best Day. The first two parts involve Henry waking up, realizing what day it is and making special note of the occasion with his family. The second half of the book, meanwhile, focuses on the elaborate party his parents throw for him.

In the majority of the Henry and Mudge books, Henry spends a large amount of time with no one but his great big slobbery dog Mudge, so it's a little strange to see so many children eagerly gathered for his party, but I suppose they are friends from school, where Mudge isn't allowed to go. Anyway, he certainly has a big crowd, and there's no shortage of activities to keep them occupied.

They have ring toss, fishing with magnets and potato-sack races, all with fun prizes. They have a pinata in the shape of a blue donkey. Apparently the point of this pinata has much more to do with collecting candy than seeing who can break it because Henry whacks away at it until the candy comes bursting out, and nobody seems to mind. There are plenty of goodies to go around, including lots of crackers for Mudge and the other dogs in attendance. But the kids have to stash their candy rather than eat it because a massive cake decorated like a fish tank is still to come. The party culminates in the opening of Henry's stack of fancily wrapped presents, with a little something for Mudge thrown in.

The odd thing about this book is that while it describes a highly exciting event, while the party is actually happening we feel rather detached from Henry and Mudge, since we don't get a lot of insight into their thought processes. Because of this, I actually prefer the first half of the book because it is more centered on Henry and Mudge, not to mention Henry's parents, who shower the birthday boy with balloons and strawberry pancakes and take all sorts of pictures.

So it is that while Henry has a fantastic birthday party, the best moments of his special day are those in which he is able to quietly appreciate what he already has. With that kind of outlook, each day can be the best day of all.

Yummy Puppy Mudge Story Gives Youngsters Something to Nibble On

Lately I've been enjoying the series by Cynthia Rylant about Henry and Mudge, a likable red-headed kid and his great big drooly dog. When I came across the Puppy Mudge series, I had to snatch up a few of those books too. Though Mudge is identified as a puppy, he looks just as big as ever to me.

The only thing smaller about this series is the number of pages - and sentences and words. While the Henry and Mudge books are a level 2 on the Ready-to-Read scale, indicating that they are intended for independent readers, the Puppy Mudge series is pre-level 1, "recognizing words". This series is for children who are just beginning to learn to read.

In Puppy Mudge Has a Snack, Mudge is hungry. Henry has something yummy with which to occupy himself, but poor Mudge has nothing. Henry knows what Mudge wants, but he is reluctant to relinquish his snack to his hungry young dog. Surely, though, he can get Mudge a snack of his own...

This is a very simple story. With a single exception, there is only one sentence per page, if that. The bulk of the 26-page book focuses on Mudge's varied attempts to get something crunchily delicious out of young Henry. Isidre Mones' illustrations are in the style of Sucie Stevenson, who furnished cartoonish pictures for most of the Henry and Mudge books. Though we don't see either of Henry's parents in this book, Henry is well realized, and Mudge is always entertaining, jumping up on Henry's lap, drooling and trying to look cute.

Puppy Mudge Has a Snack is a great starter story for preschoolers just becoming familiar with the written word, and once they've graduated to more complicated reading material, nearly thirty Henry and Mudge books await.

Puppy Mudge Loves Everything... Except Baths

Mudge is a great big dog, and he doesn't like baths. Not at all. Fans of the Henry and Mudge series by Cynthia Rylant, the prolific author of the Poppleton and Mr. Putter and Tabby series and several others, might well already know this, as Rylant addresses the issue in Henry and Mudge in the Green Time, the third book starring the affable dog and the boy who loves him. In that book, Henry hoses Mudge down outside, despite the slobbery pooch's best attempts to avoid the drenching.

In Puppy Mudge Takes a Bath, Mudge doesn't look a whole lot smaller to me, but evidently he is small enough to be bathed in a tub - though Henry may want to re-think the logic of this arrangement, since in his desperation to get away, Mudge tracks mud all over the house, and once Henry does manage to pin him down in the water, the bathtub becomes a muddy cesspool. The tub is such a mucky mess, in fact, that I find it hard to believe Mudge could get any cleaner in there and even harder to believe that the previously clean Henry, who hops in with his dog, could. Maybe it is the mess caused by this bathing attempt rather than Mudge's size that leads to the outdoor bathing practices.

Henry and Mudge in the Green Time is more involved that Puppy Mudge Takes a Bath because the latter is only a pre-level one on the Ready-to-Read scale, while the former is a level 2. The Puppy Mudge series is written specifically for the most inexperienced of readers; this book is 26 pages long and consists of very short sentences, one or two per page.

The illustrations by Isidre Mones are in the style of Sucie Stevenson, who provided pictures for most of the Henry and Mudge books. These are cartoonish and amusing, especially the pictures of Mudge doing his absolute best to keep away from the boy with the power to get him all wet and soapy. I appreciated the fact that although they do not appear in the text, Mones shows us Henry's parents at one point, and I got a kick out of a little twist near the end that ought to provide some extra giggles for youngsters.

Every experience I've ever had with dog-bathing has been somewhat disastrous, so I find Puppy Mudge Takes a Bath to be both funny and true-to-life. Preschoolers who are fond of dogs are likely to fall in love with cheerful Mudge and sympathize with his plight, even as they allow themselves a laugh at his misfortunes.

Henry and Mudge Roam Free Through the Wild West

Last week, my family returned from a trip to San Diego. We hadn't ever been out west together before; my brother and I had never been out west at all. We took a plane, so we didn't see a whole lot of cowboy country, but it certainly was a change of scenery just as impressive as what young Henry experiences in Henry and Mudge and the Tumbling Trip.

This twenty-seventh volume in the series of easy readers by Cynthia Rylant, author of the Poppleton and Mr. Putter and Tabby books, is illustrated by Carolyn Bracken in the style of Sucie Stevenson, who furnished illustrations for most of the books in the series. The story is about 35 pages in length but broken into three sections: Vacation!, Tumbling Tumbleweeds and Home. In the first, Henry learns his family will be taking a trip out to the wild west, and Mudge gets to go along. In the second, he watches the scenery change and discovers how much fun tumbleweeds can be for a boy and a dog, and in the third, he explores a little more of the west with his parents and Mudge before heading for home sweet home, which may not be quite as novel but is every bit as fun.

Because of my recent trip, this book struck a chord with me. Going away is grand; so is coming back. I like Henry and Mudge's creative use of tumbleweeds and the droll observation that everyone out west is taller (thanks to the cowboy boots). Brightly patterned shirts and sombreros suit Henry well, and it's fun to see the family surrounded by cacti, bighorn sheep and cheesy souvenirs. One thing that seems a little off is the fact that Mudge is running around the desert with no leash. It's great that they found a hotel that would cater to their big dog, but I'd be awfully worried about his well-being in such a strange environment. What if he got lost? There is one picture showing Henry holding him on a leash, but in all the others, Mudge is running free.

Henry and Mudge and the Tumbling Trip is a fun there-and-back-again tale. After reading it, kids may just get a hankering to head west, or at least somewhere unfamiliar. Those sorts of trips sure can be fun. As long as their dogs are on leashes.

See Henry and Mudge Seize Fun By the Sea

Tomorrow, I am headed to sunny San Diego. Sunny, snowless San Diego. I'll be so warm I won't know what to do with myself. I may even go swimming when we stop by one of those sandy beaches, or at least wave-hopping. Young Henry and his dad do their fair share of leaping into the crashing waves in Henry and Mudge and the Forever Sea, the sixth book in the easy reader series by Cynthia Rylant, author of the Poppleton and Mr. Putter and Tabby and Tabby books, and illustrated by Sucie Stevenson. Mudge isn't brave enough to embrace the ocean water of his own free will - at least not at first - but he gets plenty wet watching Henry from a close distance.

This 45-page book is broken up into four sections: To the Beach, The Forever Sea, Brave Dog and Good-bye, Crab. Henry's mom is absent in this book; it's an excursion just for the boys, and each of them is excited, preparing for it in his own way. Henry brings green goggles, a yellow bucket, an orange shovel and a red dump truck. Mudge has a bag containing a blue bowl, a jug of water, half a bone and a tennis ball. And Henry's dad totes a book about shells, six towels, and - my favorite prop in the book - a big red rubber lobster. Henry's dad is such a goofball. (One thing nobody brings along is sunblock; I'm thinking those guys were pretty lucky not to wind up as red as Dad's lobster by the end of the day...)

Once they arrive at the beach, there's plenty of opportunity for fun and adventure, with splashing in the spray, building sand castles and wolfing down hot dogs. And Mudge gets a chance to prove that he's not as big a wimp as he initially appears to be on this first time at the beach. Stevenson's drawings effectively convey all the fun inherent in such a prospect, and as always, Rylant's prose is brief but descriptive.

I live in a city with a peninsula, so once the weather warms up, a jaunt to the beach is not an unlikely possibility. Kids who aren't so geographically lucky can live vicariously through Henry and Mudge until they can take a trip to the beach of their own.

Mudge Changes Henry's Life as Autumn Changes Leaves' Colors

In the fall of 2003, I got a puppy, and we spent the autumn getting to know each other. On Halloween, less than a week after she arrived, I imposed a tiny princess costume on her. We crunched through the leaves together whenever I took her out into the yard. We shivered together when all the power in the neighborhood went out and we were left with no heat. And come Thanksgiving and Christmas, all our guests admired our pretty, if slightly hyper, puppy.

Henry and Mudge Under the Yellow Moon is the fourth book in the series of easy readers by Cynthia Rylant, author of the Poppleton and Mr. Putter and Tabby books, and illustrated by Sucie Stevenson, and as such it is the second-earliest volume I have read. The third book makes no mention of the fact that Mudge is a recent addition to the family, and the other books I've read led me to the conclusion that Mudge has probably been a part of this family since before Henry was born.

Only with this book did I discover that this was not the case. There are several reference throughout the book to Mudge's novelty: "But this year Henry had Mudge. Mudge would be with him. Henry would not be afraid of the ghost stories." "Aunt Sally had not yet seen Henry's dog Mudge. I bet she hates dogs, Henry thought." I really need to read the first installment in the series so I understand the circumstances around Mudge's adoption. I'm guessing he was adopted as an adult at the shelter, and it was probably early in the year, since the third book takes place in summer. This book is around 45 pages long, and it consists of three different but related stories.

Together in the Fall is the shortest, talking about all the things Henry and his great big dog Mudge love to do together this time of year. "Since one was a boy and the other was a dog, they never did things just the same way," Rylant writes, and Stevenson illustrates those differences entertainingly, particularly in the picture in which the wind turns Henry's ears (and cheeks) red and Mudge's ears inside-out.

Under the Yellow Moon is a Halloween story, and Stevenson provides a lot of fun background on this one. Henry's mom just loves this holiday, so she gets the house all decked out with pumpkins, paper bats and candles. Henry helps, and he wears his tiger costume happily. But he's not looking forward to his mother's ghost stories. The boy is a wimp. How will he ever get through it?

Thanksgiving Guest introduces us to a new character, Aunt Sally, who bursts energetically through the door in her big green coat, striped scarf and fuzzy hat. Henry doesn't like her; she talks too much and stays too long, and he's almost sure she won't like Mudge. But is he right?

Henry and Mudge Under the Yellow Moon is a fun collection of stories about the fall and about adjusting to life with a big drooly dog. Things are bound to be different... but better!

Henry and Mudge Take a Sick Day or Two

Being sick isn't terribly fun, but when you're a kid it comes with a couple of upsides. First off, it's an excuse to miss school, and unless you're a Hermione Granger, we all could use a day off once in a while. Plus, you get extra attention, a parent at your beck and call if they're not both working and guaranteed special treatment later in the day if they are. And if you're lucky enough to have a dog or cat, your pet can keep you company, offering comfort throughout the ordeal.

Henry is lucky enough in Henry and Mudge Get the Cold Shivers, the seventh book in the series of easy readers by Cynthia Rylant, author of the Poppleton and Mr. Putter and Tabby books, and illustrated by Sucie Stevenson. And Mudge considers himself lucky too, because when Henry's parents come around to bring Henry popsicles and comic books, they always bring crackers for Mudge.

But one day, Henry wakes up feeling fine and dandy, and he notices that Mudge doesn't look so good. He can't muster the energy to raise his head to drool on Henry's hand. He can barely even manage a feeble thump of the tail. Mudge, who has always been the picture of robust health in the time that Henry's known him, is sick. It's time for a trip to the vet. Mudge doesn't like going to the doctor, and Henry doesn't like taking him. It's hard to tell who is more nervous, the shivering, shedding dog or his worried companion. What if Mudge is really, really sick?

This 45-page book is broken up into three sections: The Sick Day, The Vet and A Big Kiss. Together, Rylant and Stevenson weave a tale that sensitively and humorously deals with the topic of sickness, first in Henry and then in Mudge, helping children to deal with the anxieties of getting sick and of seeing a pet - or any friend, really - sick. Next time your first-grader is down with the sniffly sneezes, Henry and Mudge Get the Cold Shivers might just be the perfect complement to that bowl of chicken soup.

Henry and Mudge Make the Most of a Yucky Weekend

We've reached the part of the winter when all of the snow has been sitting around so long that it scarcely carries a trace of its past sparkling beauty. No, this is just drift after drift of brownish sludge, hardly a sight to inspire any imagination. My dear curmudgeonly Toad would peek out on the disgraceful display and comment, "Blah." Henry, the usually chipper young protagonist of the Henry and Mudge series by Cynthia Rylant - author of the Poppleton and Mr. Putter and Tabby books - and illustrator Sucie Stevenson, would probably describe the scene in the following manner: "Wet yuck."

This is the title of the first section in Henry and Mudge and the Long Weekend, the eleventh book of their adventures. This 35-page book has more sections that usual, five as opposed to the average of three. The other sections include Bored, The Idea, Down in the Basement and A Great Weekend. Henry awakes on a Saturday dismayed by the icky weather, which proceeds to cast gloom over the entire day. Mudge is so bored he falls asleep, and Henry and his father - who teases that Henry has a case of the "February cranks," "winter grumpies" and "pre-spring meanies" - soon follow suit. But then Mom comes up with the perfect plan to keep everyone bright and cheery.

When I was a much more convenient smaller size, I loved changing a card table, a couple of couches and chairs and several blankets and books into a marvelous fortress. The more chairs the better, and sometimes I'd even manage to set up two card tables side by side for the grandest of all possible living room castles. But the best homemade clubhouse I ever had rested in our basement, just like the one Henry's mom proposes. Mine was not a castle like Henry's with fancy towers and flags and battlements. Rather, mine was decked in dots of all colors in order to replicate the Polka Dot Door, the centerpiece of my favorite television show at the time. It sure was fun to decorate that former refrigerator box and turn it into my own magical place. I don't recall if I spent a whole weekend working on it, but it certainly would have been a pleasant pastime for a couple of days.

How could anyone dwell on the mid-winter blahs while so happily engaged? Henry and his parents really go full steam ahead with this project, designing and cutting and painting to their hearts' delight, with breaks figured in for pizza, of course. And while Mudge may not make himself particularly useful, he's thrilled to happen upon a beloved old boot that he thought had disappeared years ago.

For children stuck with a big stretch of time before them and no obvious way to fill it, Henry and Mudge and the Long Weekend may be just the thing to serve up the needed dose of inspiration - perhaps even enough to counteract the "wet yuck" of Erie County in March.

Henry and Mudge Make a Crackin' Good Pair of Detectives

Lately, it seems like I've been catching all my favorite characters in the act of sleuthing. First it was Laura Ingalls sneaking about with her friend Andy trying to catch The Creeper of Walnut Grove. Then it was Piggley drawing inspiration from Barry Trotter, Private Eye, star of his favorite radio show on Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks. Now it's Henry and Mudge, a very recent addition to my canon of beloved characters, donning dark glasses and hats and trying to sniff out a good mystery.

In Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, the sixteenth book in a series of easy readers by Poppleton and Mr. Putter and Tabby author Cynthia Rylant and illustrator Sucie Stevenson, lively young Henry sees a spy kit and decides to buy it. He's thrilled to find a hat, sunglasses, a telescope, a magnifying glass and a secret code just ripe for the cracking. Time to solve a mystery! It's fun enough just pretending the search for clues, but when a mysterious code actually turns up, Henry and Mudge may just have stumbled upon their first big case!

The 35-page story is broken up into three sections: The Spy Kit, Code! and Crackers. What I really enjoy about this particular chronicle is the focus on what Mudge is thinking and how he manages to be a worthy accomplice to Henry without even meaning to: "'Try not to look like you're spying, Mudge,' Henry said. Mudge rolled around in a puddle. 'Hmm,' said Henry. 'Good job.'" And this: "'It's a message, Mudge,' Henry said. 'And we have to crack it.' Mudge wagged. He was good at cracking things. There were things all over the house that Mudge had cracked."

This last sentence is accompanied by two pages' worth of Stevenson's examples: a slashed screen door, a broken heel, a shattered alarm clock, a splintered case and a pair of mangled bath toys. As always, her cartoonish illustrations serve Rylant's prose well, and her pictures of Mudge drooling are especially amusing. Though Henry's parents don't appear in this volume, Henry and Mudge have plenty of fun on their own, and they even get to meet a couple new friends in the process.

Young readers with an interest in the mysterious - and who hasn't ever wanted to be a spy at one time or another? - will get a kick out of this tail-wagging good tale.

It's a Starry, Starry Night and a Sunny, Sunny Day for Henry and Mudge

Every summer my family goes camping. It's usually only once, and only for the weekend, but it's a captivating experience and something to look forward to all year long. We always camp in the same place, where we catch newts, hike up mountain trails, roast marshmallows and sing campfire songs under the stars. We are not allowed to bring our dog.

Luckily, there are no such restrictions in place in Henry and Mudge and the Starry Night, the seventeenth book in the popular series for beginning readers by Cynthia Rylant, author of the Poppleton and Mr. Putter and Tabby books, and illustrated by Sucie Stevenson. Mudge, the massive, slobbery dog, goes practically everywhere with his boy Henry, so it would be a shame to separate them for a trip that promises to be so much fun.

This 35-page story is broken up into three separate sections: Big Bear Lake, A Good Smelly Hike and Green Dreams. This year, Henry's family is headed for Big Bear Lake, where Henry excitedly anticipates seeing deer, raccoons and maybe even bears. On second thought, meeting up with a bear might not be so much fun after all... Bear or no bear, with so much to explore - and in Mudge's case, smell - Henry's family is all set for a stimulating vacation, complete with gorgeous scenery, a cozy campsite (set up by Henry's mom, a former girl scout), plenty of guitar music (provided by his dad) suitable for sing-alongs and a sprinkling of celestial bodies just perfect for star-gazing.

Stevenson's illustrations, while still cartoonish, convey the beauty of nature well, with pictures of a fish leaping out of rippling water with a splash, a fawn nestling in clover-filled grass alongside its mother, a rainbow stretching across the sky above a waterfall, and a serene starry sky settled comfortably on a vista of mountains and lakes. Rylant's writing, meanwhile, is simple but engaging, infecting readers with the excitement of a camping trip from a safe, bear-free distance.

Henry Takes to the Trees, But Can Mudge Follow?

I always wanted a tree house. Blame Swiss Family Robinson or the Elves of Lothlorien or the Ewoks, or all those stories about kids building tree houses in their backyards. Bart Simpson has a tree house. Kevin from Home Alone has a tree house. Doggone it, why can't I? A curse upon our flimsy trees! Ahem. Anyway, given my fondness for leafy tree-top havens, it was easy to get drawn into Henry and Mudge and the Tall Tree House, the twenty-first book in the acclaimed series by Cynthia Rylant, author of the Mr. Putter and Tabby and Poppleton books.

Henry is an energetic, affectionate boy whose best friend in the whole world is a big, slobbery dog named Mudge. They live with Henry's parents, and they're always content to keep each other company. But when a special visitor comes along, both of them are excited. This guest is Uncle Jake, as large for a man as Mudge is for a dog. Henry's father describes him as "burly" - "big, hairy and plaid". I have a cousin who's just as big, hairy and plaid as Uncle Jake, so I know the sort of adventure that comes with these modern-day Davy Crocketts. How could such a visit not bring excitement?

And Henry is rightly psyched when Uncle Jake builds him a tree house - which looks sturdy but quite unfinished, with walls that are almost entirely nonexistent. The floor and ceiling are solid, though, as are the wooden slats nailed to the tree trunk for steps. There's just one problem. Mudge can't climb trees, even when there are stairs. How can Henry have fun in his new tree house if Mudge can't join him?

Like most Henry and Mudge books, Henry and Mudge and the Tall Tree House is a 35-page story broken up into four sections: Uncle Jake, The Tree House, Forgot Something and Very Happy. The sentences are short and only a few to a page, ideal for beginning readers, and the illustrations by Carolyn Bracken - in the style of the series' original illustrator, Sucie Stevenson - are lively and colorful. Henry and Mudge eventually find a way to enjoy Uncle Jake's generosity together, and though most readers might not have a tree house of their own, they may just find that as grand as such a construction is, a friend is even better.

Henry and Mudge Make Moving Day Easier

When I was in second grade, my cousins, who had lived two blocks away from me up to that point, moved to a city five hours away. We were used to seeing each other every day, and now we had to adjust to a prolonged separation. As difficult as it was for me, it must have been much harder for them, leaving everything and everyone that was familiar for a new life in a strange place.

In Henry and Mudge and Annie's Good Move, the eighteenth book in the series of easy readers by Cynthia Rylant, author of the Poppleton and Mr. Putter and Tabby books, and illustrated by Sucie Stevenson, young Henry finds himself in the opposite situation than the one I faced. Instead of watching his cousin move away, he's thrilled to learn that his cousin Annie is moving in next door to him. Now he'll be able to see her as often as he wants instead of just on special occasions. But Annie still has to leave her home, her school, her friends. It's hard to say goodbye - and hard to trust that the movers will be careful with her shimmery dresses and shiny shoes. In fact, she's so nervous when Henry's family comes to help her move that she begins to break out into unsightly splotches. Can kindly Henry and his great big huggable dog Mudge help ease her transition?

The 35-page story is broken up into three sections: Next Door!, Blotchy and The New House. Henry comes off especially well in this volume; though he's always a kind-hearted soul, his compassion is usually directed toward Mudge, who is often the only other major character in the books, with Henry's parents on the sidelines. Here, he focuses his attention on Annie. While he finds her obsessive attention to the condition of her clothing a bit silly, he doesn't sit around and tease her about it. Instead, he tries to increase her confidence, expending every ounce of empathy he has in response to her plight.

Stevenson's illustrations are entertaining, with the addition of dolled-up Annie and her blotchy face and a whole moving van full of beloved belongings. I particularly like the two-page spread depicting the wishes Henry, his parents, Mudge, Annie and her dad make once they are happily settled in their new home, accompanying Rylant's droll text. "One by one they wished. Some wishes were big. Some were small. Some looked like T-bone steak." For children facing anxieties about moving, Henry and Mudge and Annie's Good Move is a wish come true.

Henry and Mudge Make a Splash in the Snow

The snow is finally melting here in Erie, Pennsylvania. It's been here such a long time, clogging up driveways, sloshing up shoes, freezing up fingers, that I'm not all that sorry to see it go. Except that I never built a snowman. It all comes, I suppose, of being in my mid-twenties and already more attracted to bundling up under blankets than wading through mounds of powdery chilliness, especially when my boots and Carhartts have vanished into the abyss of our attic. And not having any brothers around to stir me into action. Still, it would be nice to get in one snowman before all that white melts away into a rainbow of petals, even if it is just a miniature perched atop our picnic table.

In Henry and Mudge and the Snowman Plan, the nineteenth book featuring the lovable boy and dog pair, Henry's town is buried under a blizzard's worth of snow, so it's the perfect time to have a snowman-building contest. When he sees the sign announcing the competition in the park, Henry can hardly wait to get started on his creation. Of course, the event doesn't start for another few days, and he and his dad will need the time to think up an extra-imaginative sculpture...

Like Henry and Mudge and the Funny Lunch, this is a book in which Henry's dad contributes comic relief and assists his son in coming up with an unusual work of art. The appealing prose of Cynthia Rylant, author of the Poppleton and Mr. Putter and Tabby series, sparkles with brevity and wit. She gets us inside the heads of the main characters, particularly Mudge: "Mudge wagged his tail. He always wagged his tail when Henry said, 'Wow!' It meant excitement. And sometimes it meant dessert!"

Sucie Stevenson's illustrations are especially amusing here, from her depiction of Henry's father's exploits in the first section - Contest! - to her illustrations of all the different dogs at the park in the second section - At the Park - and the vast variety of snow sculptures in the third section - Snow Aliens. I particularly enjoyed the picture of a tiny girl in a fur-lined red coat holding a bunch of broccoli up to an inquiring Mudge and the fact that one of the contestants sculpts a life-size figure of Abraham Lincoln.

Henry and Mudge and the Snowman Plan is a funny story that's just right for a wintry sort of day, and it just might inspire its young - and slightly older - readers to go out and create a sculpture of their own while the snow is still on the ground.

Henry and Mudge Have Fun With Their Food

I worked at a calendar kiosk over the winter, and one of the most amusing calendars we had encouraged the buyers, through a series of vivid photographs of fruits and vegetables molded into adorable creatures, to play with their food. In Henry and Mudge and the Funny Lunch, the twenty-fourth book in the easy-to-read series about an only child and his beloved dog, Mother's Day provides the perfect excuse for Henry and his dad to get creative with their cuisine, and they don't even need a calendar to guide them.

Henry's dad is a funny fellow, probably my favorite of the supporting characters in the world of this young boy, so it's little surprise that he would come up with such an amusing way to celebrate his wife's special day. It's a family tradition. Every May, he and Henry go to the grocery store armed with a vision of the artwork they want to create using only edible materials. It's a joint project. Even slobbery Mudge is in on the fun, since the local grocer is an affable relative who doesn't have any problem at all with a lug of a dog wandering down his food-filled aisles. Much as I love dogs, the grocery store doesn't seem like a very good place for a canine, unless we're talking about intensively trained guide dogs. I know for sure if it were my dog, there would be food tumbling from the shelves half-eaten, and she'd be mowing down every customer in sight with an exuberant greeting. But Mudge is on her best behavior, and sabotaging this very special shopping trip doesn't seem to be on his agenda.

Cynthia Rylant, who also authored the Poppleton and Mr. Putter and Tabby series, brings plenty of humor to her short sentences. I especially like the way we get a peek into Mudge's head, such as when Henry's dad announces his intent to make a pineapple sofa. "Mudge wagged and wagged and wagged. 'Juicy' and 'Crunchy' and 'Sofa' were some of his favorite words!" Carolyn Bracken, drawing in the style of original illustrator Sucie Stevenson, has several giggle-inducing pictures of re-structured food, my favorite of which is a depiction of a past Mother's Day offering: a sweet potato made to look like a shoe.

Over the course of 35 pages and three sections - Mother's Day, Shopping and Yum! - Henry and his father come up with a marvelous surprise for Mother's Day, with just a little help from Mudge. Henry and Mudge and the Funny Lunch is great because it encourages both generosity and creativity, and children reading may just be inspired to create some funny food of their own.