Henry Huggins

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This article is about the character created by Beverly Cleary. For the book of the same name, see Henry Huggins (book).
Henry Huggins

Cover of Henry Huggins
Author Beverly Cleary
Country United States
Language English
Series Henry Huggins
Genre(s) Novel
Publisher HarperCollins

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

The Henry Huggins books were all illustrated by Louis Darling.

Cleary, a librarian, wrote the first Henry Huggins book in 1950, 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. Henry Huggins appeared only rarely in the Ramona series as a supporting character.

[edit] Characters in Henry Huggins series

  • Henry Huggins.
  • Ribsy : Ribsy is Henry's dog; the dog was named "Ribsy" 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. In her pre-school days, her favorite TV program was the Sheriff Bud program, an analog of Howdy Doody.
  • Henry's parents.
  • Scooter McCarthy: An older boy with a paper route; Henry is often irritated by Scooter's upper-classman attitudes, covets a paper route as well and once even fills in, using Scooter's customers to promote a paper drive. Scooter, however, has some sense of fair play and in one case set reasonable rules for Henry and Ribsy's former owner to see who should keep the dog.
  • Byron "Murph" Murphy: A boy just a bit older than Henry who is a genius, and fast friends with Henry.
  • The Grumbies: the Huggins' neighbours.
  • Mrs. Peabody: one of Henry's paper route customers, who has a dog named Ranger, and who for a time calls Henry "Harry Higgins".

[edit] Books in the series

.

  • Henry Huggins, published in 1950.
  • Henry and Beezus, published in 1952.
  • Henry and Ribsy, published in 1954.
  • Henry and the Paper Route, published in 1957.
  • Henry and the Clubhouse, published in 1962.
  • Ribsy, published in 1964.
v • d • e
Works by Beverly Cleary
Henry Huggins series:
Henry Huggins • Henry and Beezus • Henry and Ribsy • Henry and the Paper Route • Henry and the Clubhouse • Ribsy
Ramona Quimby series:
The Mouse and the Motorcycle series:
Other books:
Ellen Tebbits • Otis Spofford • Fifteen • The Luckiest Girl • Jean and Johnny • Sister of the Bride • Mitch and Amy • Socks • Dear Mr. Henshaw • Lucky Chuck • A Girl from Yamhill: A Memoir • Muggie Maggie • Strider • Petey's Bedtime Story • My Own Two Feet • The Hullabaloo ABC • Emily's Runaway Imagination
Other characters: