Henry Huggins

Stories about boys and their dogs are often timeless classics, and HENRY HUGGINS is the epitome of both. Celebrating 50 years in print, this story of Henry, how he finds and brings home a lost dog (soon named Ribsy) and several of their adventures, is a classic for many reasons. The simple, easy text makes it a wonderful read-along chapter book that will appeal to boys in elementary school who have a dearth of fiction stories to choose from. The setting and plot promote, without idealizing, the simple, uncomplicated world of the American family involved in good clean fun, such as the dog show, or digging for worms, while subtly imparting values such as responsibility, obedience, manners, and resourcefulness. Neil Patrick Harris presents all this with an innocent, forthright, easy-going Henry. We also meet the other kids on Klickitat Street, all individually voiced, who inhabit the next 50 years of Cleary's works, bringing humor, wholesome values, and a slice of yesterday into the present. W.L.S. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine

Starred review from May 14, 2001
Cleary provides a warm, autobiographical introduction to this excellent adaptation of her first book, which was originally published in 1950. Actor Harris (Doogie Howser, M.D.) has enthusiasm to spare in his lively take on Cleary's endearing and humorous work. Third-grader Henry Huggins, who has hair that "looks like a scrubbing brush," is a pretty ordinary kid—a little too ordinary in his opinion. Henry wants some excitement in his life. One day, excitement arrives in the form of a skinny stray dog that befriends Henry at the drugstore. Boy and pooch bond instantly when Henry offers his ice cream cone to the dog, who downs it in one gulp. Henry calls his four-legged pal Ribsy, for obvious reasons, and with more than a little effort and confusion, brings the lovable pet home to his family's house on Klickitat Street via city bus and then police car. Harris proves a versatile performer taking on a whole community of friendly voices, including Henry's exasperated but supportive parents and memorable neighbors Beezus and Ramona. He nails Henry's sense of innocent wonder and his sweet, honest demeanor in every scene, employing an authentic boyish delivery that can amuse as well as tug at the heart—just like Cleary's writing. Ages 8-12.