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.
No comments:
Post a Comment