It's hard to believe that Henry Huggins was once Beverly Cleary's marquee character, given the later explosion of popularity enjoyed by a character spun off from Henry's world, the legendary Ramona Quimby. When Henry and Beezus first saw the light of day in 1952, preteen Henry was star of the show, with Ramona popping up only now and then to add spice to the comfortable suburban setting of the story. It wouldn't be long before Ramona earned her own series of acclaimed books that would become a large part of the author's legacy, but for now, in reading Henry and Beezus, we can relax in an earlier era of Beverly Cleary's career, when Henry Huggins still ruled the roost. If any female author of the time understood boys, it was Beverly Cleary, as she demonstrates repeatedly in these pages. Pleasantly episodic by nature, the book tells of Henry's preoccupation with getting a bicycle of his own, so he doesn't have to sit on the sideline while bigger kids like Scooter McCarthy have all the fun. Henry's fixation on getting a bike isn't a passing fancy, but it's going to take a lot of trying if he wants to wind up with his shiny red favorite from the bike store as a trophy in his garage. But Henry won't give up on earning his chromatic mount, and luckily for him, his friend Beezus wants to help. Moneymaking schemes, legit job opportunities, one-in-a-million shots...they're all fair game to Henry if they bring him closer to the new bicycle he so desires. If only he can find a way to raise the $59.95 needed to purchase it. Henry and Beezus is a hybrid short-story collection and linear novel, so many of its chapters present narratives and lessons that are primarily self-contained. The basics of supply and demand are laid out succinctly and comprehensively during the bubble gum escapade, when Henry finds forty-nine boxes of gum abandoned by the side of the street, each box holding hundreds of bubble gum balls. Piggybacking on his good fortune in finding the boxes by establishing a temporary retail operation among the kids at school sounds like a great way to earn funds for a bike, but the actual playing out of the scenario goes differently than Henry hoped. Supply and demand is a complicated business, and most of its principles appear in the bubble gum chapter. Henry tries to deliver newspapers, he arranges to attend a fire sale of bikes being auctioned off at the police station, he saves every cent that passes through his hands in hopes of buying even a secondhand bicycle if the chance would come, but the prize he desires manages to elude him most of the way. His plans always seem to derail before arriving at their final destination, and it looks as if Henry may never have the money to pay for his shiny new ride. Is a boy supposed to be without a bike for his entire childhood? Henry's attempts to accrue the requisite cash for his bicycle are the thread that holds Henry and Beezus together, but it's his mini adventures with Beezus and Ramona and his other friends that lends the story memorability. At age four, still pre-kindergarten, Ramona's antics are some of the funniest parts of the book, even when they exasperate Henry and Beezus. Henry is an honest, dependable kid, not given to mischief (see Beverly Cleary's appealingly roguish Otis Spofford), whimsical spending, or forgetting the reason he's saving his funds when tempted to let the money burn a hole in his pocket. Most of the time Henry doesn't even mind hanging out with a girl, as long as she's one like Beezus, more interested in having fun like a typical boy than dabbling in the daintier asides of other girls their age. But their friendship is slowly changing, and Henry balks at spending too much time with Beezus. As they get older there's no telling how their relationship will be affected, but in Henry and Beezus she's still a loyal friend willing to help him in his quest to buy a bike, and there's little of greater satisfaction in this world than finally reaching such a momentous goal after trying so hard for so long to get there. With the wind ruffling his hair and breezing through the raccoon tail of his Daniel Boone hat, Henry Huggins won't ever forget the moment his determination paid off and he soared happily through his neighborhood for the first time on winged wheels. All the hard work and disappointment was worth the trouble, in the end. Beverly Cleary is a dear favorite author of mine, and Henry and Beezus is for sure worth two and a half stars. The two-star rating that shows on here doesn't do justice to my enjoyment of the book. The kids in Henry and Beezus are remarkably realistic, their attitudes and thoughts as authentic as Beverly Cleary could have made them. She understands kids and how to write about them effectively, which is why many of her books have become classics of children's literature. I encourage you, reader, to have a good time with Henry and Beezus during this era of their youth, before the little sister became the main draw. Because once Ramona started kindergarten, life would never be the same! :-)
Well, this is it: the lowest-rated Beverly Cleary book on my "read-out-loud" shelf. Henry was a lot more endearing in Henry Huggins. In Henry and Beezus, he struggles to earn enough money to buy a bike. Beezus offers her encouragement and support along the way, and Henry barely appreciates it. After all, she's a stupid girl with silly, girly ideas. I know Henry is just a kid, and I know it's 1952, but his sexist attitudes got annoying.We read the 1990 edition with new illustrations. The kids wear updated clothing styles and one child even sports a bike helmet. I didn't appreciate this attempt at revising history. Henry has old-fashioned notions about girls and can buy a box of crackers for ten cents, but his friend is somehow half a century ahead on the bike laws? It's confusing.I did like the part in which Beezus and Ramona enter Henry's house gnawing on cabbage cores. That was an odd and somehow delightful little detail!
What do You think about Henry And Beezus (2014)?
Probably 3.5 stars. I think I liked this one a little better than Henry Huggins. My daughter hasn't finished reading it yet, but I went ahead and finished. I like the many sticky situations Henry gets into, and I liked that Ramona is more present in this book. She makes an adorable little sister character.[Some spoilers ahead] I like that this book was realistic in the sense that Henry had to try to save money for the bike he wanted; his parents couldn't just buy a bike because he wanted one. Even though everything amazingly worked out in the end, I like the aspect that kids have to learn that sometimes their parents can't afford the expensive toys they want, and they may have to work for it themselves. I realize the ending where everything basically falls into Henry's lap takes away from that a bit, but I don't care. It's a children's book, and I love a happy ending.I also noticed that this second book seemed to have less of the negative language I noticed in Henry Huggins. I think Scooter called the dog dumb a few times, but that was about it.
—Jocelyn
Beverly Clearly is a fantastic author, but this book hasn't aged as well as the Ramona series. Written in 1952, it feels more modern than that for the most part. However, the casual sexism of Henry really started to grate on my daughter and me when we read it together. By the last couple chapters, I wanted to throw the book across the room if I read "that's what he got for trying to go somewhere with a couple of girls," or, "Beezus was pretty sensible, for a girl" one more time. Which is a shame, because those aspects of the book really are a product of its time, and otherwise the book is classic Cleary storytelling.
—Nicholas
*** Warning: This review contains spoilers! ***Isabelle emphatically wanted to give this book 5 stars, so the 4 star rating is all me.The book it titled Henry and Beezus, and Beezus does have a nice supporting role, but their relationship wasn't exactly a focal point, like the way the relationship between Beezus and Ramona was a central concern in Beezus and Ramona. Scooter McCarthy is probably mentioned more often than Beezus, though Henry's relationship with Scooter is kind of about friendly o
—Irene
