Henry and Mudge Books

Tales About a Boy and His Dog

• What: Henry and Mudge books by Cynthia Rylant
• When: 4 to 8 years
• Why: Easy to read, short chapters, frequent illustrations
• Where: Amazon

Looking for some simple chapter books to introduce your child to the joys of reading? Check out these lightweight books featuring the lovable duo of Henry And Mudge.

Henry, a young boy, finds friendship in his dog, Mudge. All the books follow the adventures of this oversized yet lovable companion and his person, from sleuthing to enjoying the outdoors and various holiday seasons.

With 28 books to choose from, you can find a story that will appeal to your kid. You can read the books in order, but it doesn’t matter if you pick and choose from availability at the library, either. Each book contains three chapters, or stories, that can be read independently or all together, depending on how much time and patience you and your child have.

The sweet illustrations come every couple of pages to keep young readers interested and help beginning readers figure out the text. The widely spaced text offers lots of repetition and shorter words to help kids build their literary confidence. These books also travel well with their lightweight size and paper pages.