My 9-year-old son wasn't an avid or enthusiastic reader, and when it came time for his first book report, my husband and I panicked. We were afraid we'd never find a book that sparked his interest enough to want to read through to the end.

Thank goodness for Henry Huggins. This story is simply adorable, and I was delighted to see my son laugh out loud as he read the book. After he finished a chaper, he'd run and tell me what new mess Henry and his lovable scoundrel of a dog, Ribsy, had gotten themselves into. In fact, I actually caught my son reading the book on his own, with no prodding from me or his father.

This book was published in 1950 and so my son did have a few questions about why things were so inexpensive in the story, but other than that, "Henry Huggins" is not dated at all and the story is just entertaining now as it was in the 1950s.

I am so thankful that I purchased this book and that it not only kept my son's interest but helped him realize that books could be fun. This story should be a great first "chapter book" for any child who is ready to move past picture books.

One day Henry finds a dog and he tries to take it home on the bus. Henry and Ribsy become best friends. One funny chapter was when they entered a contest and Henry tried to clean up Ribsy and mistakenly put pink powder all over Ribsy and they ended up winning because Ribsy was a pink dog. I am going into 4th grade and I read this book for school summer reading. I liked it a lot.

My all-time favorite book is HENRY HUGGINS. I am a 34-year old mother of 2 boys who are too young to read the book by themselves and not interested in sitting through a book with very few pictures. However, I have been eager to share this wholesome story with them. So, this book on CD was perfect!! I play it in the car and I don't hear a sound out of them for miles--they are so engrossed in the story and don't want to miss a word. (great for long trips!) They love Henry's adventures & his crazy dog, Ribsy. Neil Patrick Harris does the most fantastic job reading this wonderful story. His voice changes so much for each character that you would swear it was more than one person reading the story. From Mrs. Huggins to Mr. Pennycuff, the pet shop owner, Neil Patrick Harris keeps us entertained with his impersonations of the characters. I love this CD set. I'm thrilled to be able to share Beverly Cleary's timeless stories with my children and I know they will love them just as much when they actually learn how to read! I hope they have Neil Patrick Harris record the other Henry Huggins books too. Super job!!

Henry always gets five stars from me, but when I was a kid my favorite thing about this book was the very idea of building a real clubhouse. It seemed like such a fun and cool thing to do. I like that the kids in this book take the initiative to have fun rather than expecting adults to provide all of their amusements, as so often happens today.

I used to read this all the time and sometimes I still do.When i was young like Henry I thought about how girls shouldnt beallowed too, and even though i know its silly now, I remember. And thats why its good. I was a lot like Henry Huggins. And thats good characterisation. But i didnt have a dog. But I had a clubhouse. It was my garage and it smelled like paint.

This book is the best! I will buy it for all my kids someday, if they're boys. Girls arent allowed! ... just kidding girls.

I read Henery and the Clubhouse by Bevrely Cleary.And I want to tell you that it was great! This story is about Henery Huggens and his friends, Robert and Murph who ars building a clubhouse in Henry's backyard. Henry, also has a paper rout to look after. Will Henry be able to build his clubhouse and deliver his papers? Well I am not telling you, you have to find out by reading this book!

This book is about a mouse named Ralph who lives uinder a grandfather clock in a hotel with his families. Ralph is not just an ordinary mouse you see speaking in your attic, he is special. So special, that he has his own red motorcycle. With the motorcycle, he runs away from the hotel and his families because of his families' low trustworthy againist him. He runs away into a campsite with hundreds of boys and girls. Ralph finds himself in trouble with three cats when one of the boys named Gark catches him and keeps him from troubles.
There is no part of this book I disliked. None, because Beverly Cleary keeps yohh into the book. It actually "feels" like your there with Ralph and his ultimult adventures. She keeps you from stop rerading and say, "this book ...!" You rather say, "Gee, I wonder what happens on the next chapter!" I highly recommad you read this book instantly.
"I hab a better idea," said Garf. "I'll take you back to the hotel myself when my family comes to get me. They'll be spending the night there before they come and pick me up the day after tomorrow. The camo doesn't serve us lunch on the day we leave, so I know we'll stop at the Inn for lunchbefore we get home.It's the only place around here. I could easily take you along in my pocket." This quote meant a lot to me. This quote showed me that all Beverly Cleary books had a moral to the story. This book's moral was "the better friendship you have, the better things that you will earn from friendship."
Why this book you ask? Well, because Beverly Cleary is my favorite author. She gives me the reason to read rather then just reading for fun. I really get to learn lots of things when I read her books. Like a history book with games on it so that you learn stuff and hab fun. Read this fabulous book and Runaway Ralph, might be your favorite too.

As a child I remember this book as the first I read and gave me the desire to learn more about the west and the days of the pioneer spirt. As I approach the time of becoming a grandmother I will cherish the time I will spend reading this book to my little ones over and over again.

This was my favorite book as a child. It is meatier than the typical children's tome, and filled with simple yet real life information about the buffalo and its environment toward the end of its heyday in the 1870's. I highly recommend this for any parent who wants to introduce their child to a slightly more challenging story that will stimulate the brain and encourage a more advanced intellect, without sacrificing the charm and innocence that a children's volume also needs.

Ramona reminded me of myself when I was a little girl. She does things that most kids only think of doing because they are afraid to get into trouble. I love the reality aspect that Beverly Cleary brings to the story. Not only does Ramona LA Chinche take me back in time, it allows future generations of kids to see that they aren't the only ones to think up some of the crazy stunts that Ramona pulls off. This story is a hilarious page turner from the very beginning! I'd recommend it to any school teacher and, of course, all students. What a great read!

Poor Beezus. This story is mainly focused about her, and how her little sister, Ramona is always messing everything up for her. Beverly Cleary does a wonderful job of describing how horrible little sisters can be. Beezus feels like a terrible person because there are times when she doesn't love Ramona, but is reassured when she finds out that sisters don't have to love each other all the time. This book is a great read for children (especially those with siblings.)

I read my daughter Beverly Cleary's Ramona the Pest last year, when she was in kindergarten (because in that book Ramona is also a kindergartner) and she instantly pronounced it her favorite chapter book of all time.

We've since been reading all the Ramona books, but we skipped this one for awhile. It's the first in the series, and takes place when Ramona is four years old. I knew from reviews that if focused more on Ramona's older, more serious sister, Beezus, and wasn't a "real" Ramona Quimby book. I somehow thought it would not be as funny as the others.

I was wrong. Ramona is even more exuberant in this book than in any of the others we've read, and her antics are hilarious. Seeing everything through the eyes of her serious sister does not make it one bit less funny.

But this is not just a funny book. It deals gently and honestly with the difficulty Beezus has in loving her sometimes exasperating little sister. Beezus and Ramona is more than forty years old, but I donÕt think anyone has ever come close to Beverly Cleary's ability to capture and sympathize with children's feelings. Cleary brings everything around to a happy, but entirely believable ending in this warm, wise book.

My daughter says this is her second favorite Ramona book (after Ramona the Pest), but so far it's my very favorite.

9-year old Beezus has a big problem- her little sister. She knows a lot of people with four-year old sisters, but none of them are nearly as much trouble as Ramona. She is always being an annoyance. She constantly wants her favorite book read to her, and Beezus gets stuck reading it to her. She rides her tricycle around the house and crashes into the table where Beezus and Henry are playing checkers. Then she gets into trouble and sent to her room, then decides to punish Henry's dog Ribsy by locking him in the bathroom. She ruins Beezus's birthday cake- twice!

Beezus decides she does not love her little sister. Not one bit. What kind of awful person doesn't love her own sister? She knows that sisters should get along, like her mother and Aunt Beatrice. But then she learns that all sisters fight and do not always love each other- even her mother and Aunt Beatrice.

Even though this book is at a quite easy reading level, I would recommend it even to adults because it is a humorous but wise book- Cleary knew how four-year old sisters thought when she wrote this.

The new edition of this book fails to deliver in every aspect. I've used Lonely Planet books in the past, and they've proved to be reliable and useful, but not this one. I live in Banff, and so the observations are from this region.

Firstly, the "new" edition is terribly out of date. I purchased it after seeing the publication date was October 2002. It's accepted and understandable that things change, but there is information that was wrong well over a year before the publication date. A hostel that burnt down in 2000 (Hilda Creek, page 701), and reference to Banff and Jasper as "townsites" (Banff was incorporated in 1991, Jasper in 2001) are examples.

The description of Banff is laughable. There is no possible way anyone could describe the town as a "small, alpine-style village that consists of essentially one main street" (page 686), as this book does. The following history section doesn't get better: "The Bow River forms a class-distinctive boundary that is still evident today." In the first instance, the side of the river that LP tells us "caters to the wealthy crowd" comprises mainly of subsidized housing. And "Many people complain that the townsite is too crowded and argue that more hotels and streets should be built." Aside from the fact a 12 year old could have written the sentence, it's just simply not correct. In an effort to include an environmental slant, the authors have touched on current issues. Readers are informed that a convention center at Lake Louise is controversial because it's "in grizzly bear habitat-good goin' guys" (page 696). Bad goin' I say-it's controversial due to water issues, not bears.

The book is riddled with inaccuacies. Not information that is out of date, but straightforward mistakes. Page 688 talks of canoe rentals at Banff's Central Park. There has never been a canoe rental place here. How could a trained writer even imagine there was? Golden is "just outside the park" (page 692) No, it's over an hour's drive away along a treacherous road. There are literally dozens of similar mistakes in just the few pages on Banff. This is also reflected in the maps: Banff has no "Mamoth St." (page 687). As all Banff streets are named for animals, I guess they meant "mammoth" street, but there is no street of this name either. The mapmakers can't even correctly spell an incorrect name, or something along those lines anyway.

Most surprising for me, the good, solid travel information these books were once renowned for has been replaced by useless, fluffy text that serves no purpose at all. For example, the restaurants listed are not recommendations as such, but simply listings. And where there is a description it does little to inform. Four lines are used to explain the source of the name of an Irish pub (page 694) that has absolutely no relevance to Banff or the mountains, including that the original Guinness Brewery is still open and that it was "founded by 34 year old Arthur Guinness in 1759." The next listing is for Bruno's, named for one of Banff's most famous and respected mountain men. This name isn't explained, just that the restaurant has a "wide-ranging menu." There is an excellent reason why renting a vehicle in Banff, as opposed to Calgary or Canmore, is a bad choice (no unlimited mileage is offered, even by the majors), yet, this important and useful information isn't included (page 696).

My original purpose of buying this book was for travel around my own country, not so much to rely on every word in print but to get a feeling as how Canada is portrayed by these books. The litany of inaccuracies and uselessness seems to continue beyond the Rockies section. On page 34 readers are told brown bears are "actually a black bear but brown in color." I just wish I could ask the author how he came up with this unique theory.

I imagine picking a Lonely Planet book as the guide of choice is habit more than anything for many travelers. It's reflected in the attitude of those I meet on the road and the reviews I see here at Amazon. It seems somehow ironic that Lonely Planet has evolved from the likes of an Africa book I relied on for every word in the 80s, written by a guy whose biography had him living in a hut brewing mango wine somewhere I can't recall, to this worthless tome that relies on name rather than content to generate sales.

Lightbody, Huhti and Ver Berkmoes have produced the definitive travel guide on Canada. Up-front, this review is based on my trips to B.C. and Nova Scotia. To say that Canada is vast is an understatement, but, if these, to polarized Canadian provinces, are typical of the rest of the guide, this is a "must have" purchase.

Lightbody, Huhti and Ver Berkmoes' writing is both engaging and descriptive. "Lonely Planet Canada" has a solid introduction section that covers Norway's history, government, economy, ecology, climate etc. An informative practical travel section and, most important, a reliable and up-to-date listing of recommendations that each of the contributors has checked out (lodging, restaurants, entertainment, places to see and things to do). At the start of each section is a regional map, more maps, and a list of highlights or "must see" for that region. Great!

In my "must have" list to qualify a guide as "excellent", are easy to read maps. This book has the best maps found in a Canada travel guide. High marks go to the city maps that help the reader by numerically locating the recommended restaurants and accommodations on the maps.

The superb information and recommendations are reliable and though the publication date is 1999 (thus the information is pre '99), I did find some restaurants and inns closed or sold. As a whole, accommodations prices have increased an average of 15% to 20%.

A weak area, which I am sure will be corrected in the next edition, is the sparse use of email/web site addresses (Halifax, N.S. had no addresses out of the 20 accommodations listings). As computer users know, website and email addresses are very helpful, especially for hotel quotes and reservations.

Lonely Planet Canada is comprehensive enough to have even if you are just visiting one province and, with its excellent introduction and reliable accommodations and restaurants recommendations, you find that this may be the best buy in Canada Guides. Strongly recommended.

I used this guide while travelling on the east and west coast of Canada. It's most complete and accurate and also fun to read. The recommendations are all very reliable and good. If you don't want to carry around a handful of guide books, this book helps a lot. Even if it might not go as much into detail as a guide that zooms in on a particular city or region. But you'll find everything a backpacker's (and budget traveler's) eye is looking for. Highly recommended.