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Henry Huggins Chapter Books

Thanks to her masterful ability to capture the essence of childhood, Beverly Cleary’s books have sold over 90 million copies and have delighted readers for over 65 years. If you haven’t yet made the acquaintance of Cleary’s charming Henry Huggins, you’re in for a special treat!

Who Is Henry Huggins?

Book cover of Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary

Henry Huggins is an ordinary boy who lives on an ordinary street, but his adventures are anything but ordinary. “Except for having his tonsils out when he was six and breaking his arm falling out of a cherry tree when he was seven, nothing much happened to Henry.” But all of that changes when Henry brings home a mischievous canine named Ribsy who becomes Henry’s devoted companion. Taking care of Ribsy is sometimes more than Henry bargained for, but luckily he’s up to the challenge.

Henry is an endearing hero with big goals and a tenacious spirit. And even when Henry’s dreams—like getting a bike and building a clubhouse—end up taking a bit of a detour on the way to their fulfillment, it’s always fun to go along for the ride.

Take our free Henry Huggins checklist to your local library!

About the Author and Series

Beverly Cleary is a well-loved Newbery Award-winning author of more than 30 books, including the wildly popular Ramona Quimby series and a delightful series featuring a motorcycle-riding mouse named Ralph S. Mouse. But long before Ramona and Ralph starred in their own series, Cleary was penning tales about an adventurous boy named Henry Huggins. In fact, Henry Huggins, published in 1950, was Cleary’s very first book. It was followed by five more Henry books over the next fourteen years.

As with the Ramona books, the Henry books are set in the fictional world of Klickitat Street, during a picturesque era that transcends time. Ramona and her sister Beezus make frequent appearances throughout the Henry books. And fans of Ramona will recall that Henry is a regular character in the Ramona series. Over time, the Ramona series eclipsed Henry Huggins in terms of widespread recognition, but the Henry books are charming and humorous, and an absolute delight to read aloud.

About the Books

Book cover of Henry and Beezus by Beverly Cleary

In Henry Huggins, readers are introduced to the indomitable young Henry and his dog, Ribsy. Henry has a penchant for turning ordinary activities into something memorable, and Ribsy’s troublesome antics only add to the adventure. Whether he’s gathering night crawlers to sell to fishermen or trying to cope with an overabundance of guppies in his bedroom(!), Henry manages to handle everything that comes his way, all while keeping an eye on Ribsy . . . usually.

In Henry and Beezus, Henry decides that he needs a bicycle. Thankfully, Beezus Quimby—with the “help” of her little sister Ramona—is around to provide ideas and encouragement as Henry looks for ways to add money to his bike fund. A windfall discovery of abandoned bubble gum puts Henry in a sticky situation, but the bubble gum is definitely more flavorful than the can of dog food that Henry almost eats on a dare!

Having happily achieved his bicycle goal, Henry moves on to a new dream in Henry and Ribsy. He wants to go salmon fishing with his father, but there’s a catch: Henry must keep Ribsy out of trouble for nearly two months. As Henry discovers, this is more easily said than done. A Ribsy-related issue involving garbage causes Henry some grief, but all the stress is worth it when Henry embarks on the fishing trip and lands an unexpected surprise.

The Henry Huggins Series at a Glance

Book cover of Henry and Ribsy by Beverly Cleary

Author: Beverly Cleary
Genre: children’s fiction, humor
Interests: friendship, pets, childhood mischief, growing up
Suggested age range: 8 to 12
Gender preference: boys and girls
In the series: 6 books, 192 to 240 pages

Other Books in the Series

Henry and the Paper Route
Henry and the Clubhouse
Ribsy

Henry Huggins Series Checklist

Download the Henry Huggins Series Library List

Do your kids need extra encouragement to read?

Take our Henry Huggins Series checklist to your local library and have your child check off the books as he reads them.

Looking for more great chapter books? We’ve got you covered!

FREE Chapter Book Library Lists

All About Learning Press, Inc. is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. All proceeds from our partnership with Amazon.com will be donated to local libraries.

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Thanks for the reminder about these books. I loved them when I was a kid and I think my students will enjoy them too. I can’t wait to read them to my kids.

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

You’re welcome, Lorraine. One of the joys of parenthood is being able to share things you loved as a child with your own children!

Sarah

says:

Hi… favor… when you do book reviews could you please also suggest what AAR level the book would be appropriate for? Thank you.

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

Sarah,
I will pass this suggestion along, thank you!

Henry Huggins would be a good fit for many students in All About Reading 4, although some students might be ready for it earlier and some might find they need to build up their reading stamina after AAR 4 before finding this book at a comfortable level. However, our book review suggestions are always great for read alouds for you to read to your student too!

Ericka

says:

I will for sure check these books out!

PAULA

says:

We’ve read through several of these books and my girls absolutely love them!!

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

Paula,
Thank you for letting us know these books were well loved by your girls!

Kelly

says:

Great recommendation! Thanks so much!

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

Kelly,
I hope your family enjoys Henry’s adventures!

Nichole B

says:

We are really enjoying your posts about books and have had great fun reading many of the titles! Thank you so much!

Nichole

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

Nichole,
We’re so pleased to hear that you have enjoyed many of the titles we have reviewed! Thank you.

Claire

says:

My son loves the Henry Huggins books. They’re so fun!

Lydia R.

says:

My son likes Ramona, so we’ll check this out, thanks!

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

Lydia,
If he likes Ramona, he’ll like Henry too! Enjoy!

Menke

says:

My son is still a little young for these ones, but I’m pretty sure he’ll like them when he gets older.

Michelle

says:

I have not see the Henry series but we loved Ramona. We will check this out!

Merry

says: Customer Service

Have fun!

Emily

says:

We love Henry!
Thank you for all of the book suggestions!

Jenny L

says:

Looks like a great series!

Merry

says: Customer Service

My kids loved Henry Huggins!

Sarah

says:

My son loves these books!

L Kufeldt

says:

My boys (10 & 7) LOVE the Henry Huggins books. They now look for any and all Beverly Cleary books when we go to the library.

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

It is such a joy to find an author you love! Beverly Cleary is such a great author.

Andrea

says:

Thank you for the suggestion. We have been beginning to search for series’ to introduce our budding reader too.

Kris

says:

We read the Henry Huggins books when my 16 year old son was young and can’t wait to share them with our younger son!

Cris

says:

We are huge Henry Huggins fans!

Bilqees Bano

says:

love it

Julia Thomsen

says:

Thanks for the list and book suggestion?

Melissa

says:

I appreciate the recommendations for reading.

Angie

says:

I’d love to try this out!

Tavia

says:

We just finished these on audiobook! My boys 7&5 loved them, and my 9 yo girls did too!

Melanie Rightmyer

says:

My son loves Henry Huggins!

Deb Powers

says:

My grandson will love these.

Amy

says:

This looks exciting!

HOLLY LYND

says:

We just finished this one a month or so ago! We loved it! We are on the waiting list for the others in his series from the library! Can’t wait!

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

Holly,
We are happy to hear you enjoyed the first book in this series!

Lisa Blankenship

says:

My little one is so close to finishing pre-reading. I can’t wait for her to reach this stage of reading. She loves story time and she is into reading classic chapter books with me.

Thank you for all the book suggestions!

Melisa

says:

This looks like a fun series for my almost 8 year old son who just got a new puppy of his own. We loved the Ramona series, but have never read the Henry books. Thanks for the awesome book suggestions!

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

Melisa,
Oh, with a new puppy in the house you are going to get a kick out of Henry’s dog, Ribsy!

Lori Starr

says:

This is on our read aloud list this year. Looking forward to seeing how the kids enjoy it. Thanks for book suggestions!!

Julia Cosgrove

says:

I was just putting my library together and Henry was one of my books. Great for my boys.