As a young woman, Beverly Cleary worked as a children's librarian in Yakima, Washington. When lively non-readers from a local school were sent on their weekly trip to check out library books, she struggled to find any with characters like these normal kids, particularly the boys who "did not have scary adventures but who made their own excitement." Several years later this frustration mounted and she decided to write something better—a short story featuring a boy like the ones who visited the library. After sending it off to a publisher, she was encouraged to write several more stories about the boy and link them together into a book. Producing a chapter a week, she wrote out the stories longhand and eventually her first book was published: Henry Huggins. More than 50 years later, this fun book about a boy who gets himself into and out of scrapes still holds its appeal.
In this selection, Henry has entered his dog, Ribsy, into a local dog show. Like most dogs, Ribsy has a keen appreciation for dirt, and just before the show he rolls around in a nice flower bed full of fresh muddy earth. How can Ribsy win a silver cup if he looks like a dirty mutt? When Henry sees a boy sprinkling some white powder on his dog to make him look whiter, he gets an idea to sprinkle talcum powder on Ribsy's white parts to improve his appearance. As usual, Henry's solution doesn't work out quite the way he thought it would. Enjoy this short bit from Henry Huggins and then check out this classic book to see if Ribsy wins the show!
Followed by Ribsy, he ran as fast as he could out of the park and up the hill to his house on Klickitat Street. He rushed into his room and snatched his hairbrush. He tore into the bathroom and grabbed a can of talcum powder. Then he rushed back to the park with Ribsy. The children were still crowded around Maud.
Henry was so hot and sticky that he had to sit down on the grass to catch his breath. Ribsy was panting and his tongue hung out. Henry brushed him with the hairbrush. That helped a little. Then he sprinkled powder on the big white spot on his back.
Henry was horrified. He could scarcely believe what he saw. The talcum powder wasn't white—it was pink! Who ever heard of a dog with pink spots! Quickly he tried to brush the powder off. But Ribsy was still damp and the powder didn't brush off.
Henry decided to make all Ribsy's white parts pink so they would match. Maybe in the bright sunshine the judges wouldn't notice. He sprinkled powder on Ribsy's white ear and left hind paw. He even sprinkled some on his white tail. Yes, Ribsy did look better with all his light parts matching. Maybe the judges would wear dark glasses.
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