Henry Huggins

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Henry Huggins is a character appearing in a series of juvenile fiction novels by Beverly Cleary. Henry is a young boy living on Klickitat Street in Portland, Oregon. The novels take place in the 1950s. The books describe several different adventures Henry experiences in his neighborhood as well as Henry's interactions with other neighborhood children.

Cleary, a librarian, wrote the first Henry Huggins book in response to the boys in her library searching for books "about boys like us." After the series had progressed for a time, Cleary launched a new series about one of the supporting characters, Ramona Quimby. The Ramona series ultimately surpassed the Henry Huggins series in popularity, even becoming a PBS television program. Henry appeared only rarely in the Ramona series as a supporting character.

[edit] Characters

• Henry Huggins
• Ribsy: Ribsy is Henry's dog, so named because when Henry found him he was so thin his ribs were showing.
• Beezus Quimby: Beezus, whose real name is Beatrice, is one of the children in Henry's neighborhood. While Henry is still young enough to not be entirely mature about "playing with girls," he still very often encounters her in the neighborhood. Beezus acquired her nickname because her younger sister, Ramona, was unable to say "Beatrice," and everyone in the neighborhood took to using her pronunciation.
• Ramona Quimby: Ramona is Beezus' younger sister. She wants to follow her sister and Henry and do everything they do, but because she is so young the older children perceive her mostly as a pest.
• Henry's parents
• Scooter McCarthy: an older boy with a paper route that Henry covets.

[edit] Books in the series

• Henry Huggins
• Henry and Beezus
• Henry and Ribsy
• Henry and the Paper Route
• Henry and the Clubhouse
• Ribsy