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Rating: 
Summary: Summer adventures with H&M!
Review: Henry and Mudge are the best of friends. It doesn't matter at all that one of them walks on four legs and drools a lot!! In this third book in the H&M series, summertime has arrived with adventures galore for boy & dog. Divided into chapters, each functioning as a mini story but related to each other, Henry and his 180-pound dog Mudge explore the wide, green world of summer. In one of the most notable chapters, a bee stings Henry, and boy does it HURT!! Fortunately, good ol' Mudge is there to make Henry feel better (a good face-licking by Mudge helps Henry forget his pain at being stung-Mudge likes the salty taste of tears). As a teacher I love the H&M series because the illustrations are always bright, vibrant and immediately draw my students into the story. I also love the short, easy sentences, which are perfect for beginning-to-intermediate readers who feel that they're ready to tackle chapter books. As a parent, I love the way that this series is about the small adventures in life that are right on the level of the reader. Nothing blows up, aliens don't invade the countryside sucking out peoples' innards, and the world isn't narrowly saved from oblivion. Mudge is a wonderfully realistic dog that is completely devoted to Henry, like most real dogs are devoted to the children they live with. As of this writing, there are some 20 H&M books, each a small treasure and each a wonderful read. Though they're numbered, it's not at all necessary to begin with #1 and progress up to #20; readers can grab whichever title catches their whim and follow along with the adventures. I myself have read them all and am not so patiently waiting for the next ones to come out. Each book comes highly recommended.
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Summary: Wonderful easy reader -parents will enjoy it, too.
Review: Henry and Mudge books are some of the best books available to beginning readers, and parents would be hard-pressed not to enjoy them as well. While a few of the books in the series show Henry's idyllically happy parents in a way that might make children from less traditional families sad or "homesick" for that situation, this particular book is purely about a little boy, his big dog, their imaginations, and being a kid in the summer. Cynthia Rylant's writing is fun yet poetic, and Sucie Stevenson's illustrations are charming as always.
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Summary: My favorite of them all...so far
Review: My 4-year-old son, Frank, has 16 of the 18 (?) books that are available in this collection, and although all of them come hightly recommended, I believe Green Time to be the best. This book highlights all that is good about a boy and his dog. Rylant never personifies Mudge too much but depicts their relationship beutifully. When my son read about Mudge getting a bath, he giggled as each part was washed. But the biggest surprise was watching his sheer delight as Mudge shook from head-to-toe. He understands that Henry would cry when he gets stung by a bee, and he laughed when Mudge eats popcorn. These books are simple and kind, and I hope there are more.
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