Henry and Mudge and the Bedtime Thumps: Ready-To-Read Level 2

Massive Mudge is much more than a mere mutt. He is a tail-wagger, toenail-chewer, moth-eater, and breaker of grandmother's things. Most importantly however, he is Henry's best friend. Beginning readers will feel right at home amongst the words and illustrations of Rylant's tender story about a boy and his bog on a visit to grandmother's house. Unobtrusively, Stevenson's iluustrations harmonize with Rylant's words. Where Rylant describes grandmother's "strange house with a dark yard," Stevenson contributes a double-page illustration depicting the darkness of the yard where a racoon, owl, and assorted bats live. The images buttress the comprehension and readability of challenging words without suffocating them in a sea of lines and color. For example, as Henry voices his anxieties about a bear, bobcat, moth, and mouse, simplistic cartoon-like pictures of each animal are nearby, offering visual clues. Chapters punctuate the book's action-filled but will not intimidate young readers, for the five-word lines within do not exceed 10per page. Lengthy words like "fingernails" appear repeatedly and readers can dissect protracted sentences into more manageable chunks with assistance from commas and brief lines: "Henry bit his fingernails, (new line) Mudge bit his toenails, (new line)and the car drove on." Inexperienced readers, reassured by the resolution of Henry's realistic woes of sleeping in a strange new setting, will see this young dog-lover and comic-book-reader as a contemporary and as a source of comfort. With confidence in their reading, children will become lost in this Henry and Mudge adventure.

The characters of Henry, a little boy, and his big dog Mudge, a St. Bernard almost as big as Henry, appeal to my four-year-old. The easy-to-read, fun to listen to style that Cynthia Rylant brings to these stories is so welcoming that they invite you in like a warm and cozy home on a cold winter's night. These three short stories are just a few of the everyday adventures in the life of Henry and Mudge, told with catchy phrases and lots of character expressions to expose the loving friendship that they embrace. With bedtime a challenge for a pre-schooler (who has a wild immagination), we find this particular book a comforting and reassuring way to end a long day. We highly recommend this entire series, but expecially this selection. Our next favorite is "Puddle Trouble," but do read them all!