Genre: Realistic Fiction
Author: Beverly Cleary
Awards: ALA Notable Children's Book
Age Group: 8 to 10 year-olds
Teacher Evaluation: As a teacher, I would have this book available in the class library. I think that third to fourth-grade students would enjoy reading this book. Perhaps students that have read other Beverly Cleary books would have an interest in reading this book. Since the book has many short stories within it, I could possibly read the first chapter in class to introduce it to students and have copies available for students who want to continue to read.
Summary: This book is about a young boy named Henry Huggins. The book has many short stories about Henry written as chapters. The first chapter talks about how Henry Huggins typically has a normal life. Until one day on his way home he meets a skinny dog he names Ribsy. Henry calls his mom to see if he can bring Ribsy home with him. Henry's mom tells him he can keep the dog but he must make it home with the dog on the bus. Henry struggles to get Ribsy on the bus because there are rules about having a dog on the bus. Henry can't get on the first or second bus with Ribsy. Henry finally makes it onto the third bus home by hiding Ribsy in a grocery type bag, until Ribsy breaks out of the bag and causes a scene on the bus. The bus driver pulls over with the intention of throwing Henry and Ribsy off the bus. The police pull up next to the bus asking for Henry, his mother called because she was worried he was not yet home for dinner. The first story ends with Henry getting dropped off at his house with his dad welcoming Ribsy with a bone and his mom asking what will Henry do next. The next chapter is about Henry buying guppies, but the guppies keep having babies and take over his free time. He can't go outside to play like his friends do, Ribsy gets tired of being inside and leave him to go out, and he starts running out of space to put all the guppies. This chapter ends with Henry taking his guppies back to the pet store and getting a catfish instead. The third chapter is about how Ribsy's bark overpowers the sound of an oncoming car and Henry throws a football that doesn't belong to him into the car by accident. Henry has to find a way to make enough money to buy a football to replace the one that got thrown into the moving car. Henry starts to work for his neighbor by collecting "night crawlers", huge worms that come out at night, for a penny a piece. Henry stays out late to collect as many worms as he can to reach the amount he needs to but the football. Henry's parents come out and help him so he won't take longer collecting worms, the family reaches their total and they go home. The next morning, the doorbell rings and it is the owner of the car. The car driver explains he was in a hurry so he couldn't immediately turn around and he has been busy but he has come to return the football. This chapter ends with Henry telling his dad that he's going to buy a football like the one that was returned with the money he has earned. The next chapter is about Henry being in a school play that he doesn't want to be a part of. Ribsy ends up getting Henry out of a very main role in the play by dumping green paint on him. The following chapter is about Ribsy entering a dog competition. Henry tries his best to keep Ribsy well behaved and clean but Ribsy rubs dirt on himself. Henry sees other dog owners rubbing talcum powder on the white of their dogs to make them look cleaner, so Henry rushes home to get talcum powder to do the same. Henry starts rubbing talcum powder on Ribsy only to see his talcum powder isn't white it's pink and it won't rub off. Henry rubs the pink talcum powder on all the white spots on Ribsy so he won't look funny. During the dog competition, Ribsy won't' listen to Henry but they continue to progress on in the competition. The chapter ends with Ribsy winning the award for the most unusual dog. Henry and Ribsy also get their picture in the newspaper for winning. The final chapter of the book is about Ribsy's original owner finding Ribsy's picture in the newspaper. Henry is with his friends when Ribsy's new owner finds them. He explains how Ribsy got lost, but Henry does not want to give up Ribsy. His friend comes up with the idea to let Ribsy chooses. After a long teeter-totter between the boys, Ribsy eventually chooses to stay with Henry.
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