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    Henry and the Paper Route
    Henry and the Paper Route
    Henry and the Paper Route
    Ebook133 pages1 hour

    Henry and the Paper Route

    By Beverly Cleary and Jacqueline Rogers

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    About this ebook

    Newbery Medal–winning author Beverly Cleary gives readers a hero they'll relate to, and root for, in this comical and inspiring novel about Henry Huggins's mission to prove himself worthy of his very own paper route.

    All the older kids work their own paper route, but because Henry is not eleven yet, Mr. Capper won't let him. Desperate to change his mind, Henry tries everything he can think of to show he's mature and responsible enough for the job. From offering free kittens to new subscribers, to hauling hundreds of pounds of old newspapers for his school's paper drive, there's nothing Henry won't try.

    But it might just be the irrepressible Ramona Quimby who shows Mr. Capper just how capable Henry is.

    The Henry Huggins books have been beloved touchstone classics for generations. They're funny and fast reads with appealing illustrations, sure to be welcomed by both eager and reluctant readers.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateOct 6, 2009
    ISBN9780061972225
    Author

    Beverly Cleary

    Beverly Cleary is one of America's most beloved authors. As a child, she struggled with reading and writing. But by third grade, after spending much time in her public library in Portland, Oregon, she found her skills had greatly improved. Before long, her school librarian was saying that she should write children's books when she grew up. Instead she became a librarian. When a young boy asked her, ""Where are the books about kids like us?"" she remembered her teacher's encouragement and was inspired to write the books she'd longed to read but couldn't find when she was younger. She based her funny stories on her own neighborhood experiences and the sort of children she knew. And so, the Klickitat Street gang was born! Mrs. Cleary's books have earned her many prestigious awards, including the American Library Association's Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, presented to her in recognition of her lasting contribution to children's literature. Dear Mr. Henshaw won the Newbery Medal, and Ramona Quimby, Age 8 and Ramona and Her Father have been named Newbery Honor Books. Her characters, including Beezus and Ramona Quimby, Henry Huggins, and Ralph, the motorcycle-riding mouse, have delighted children for generations.

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    Reviews for Henry and the Paper Route

    4/5

    21 ratings5 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Henry and the Paper Route is a great book for those who are in Elementary school. This short novel is a great adventure story about a boy named Henry who just can't wait to turn eleven! At the age of eleven he is able to work as the paper boy and it is his chance to prove to Mr. Capper's that he is right for the job. The interview ends up being a complete disaster which lead to Mr. Capper asking Henry to come back in a few years when he was older. Will Henry give up? How will he prove that he is capable of this job? This story is also great for whole group read alouds allowing children to make predictions as well as learn about the importance of professionalism and responsibility.
    • 5/5
      As with the previous books, Henry and the Paper Route is written in chapter book style where each chapter is almost a short story in-and-of-itself and which all wind their way toward the ultimate goal (each book Henry has that ONE thing he's got to get or do) which makes for interesting reading, wondering how each part will ultimately work out with the end goal. It's clear from the title that this volume in the Henry Huggins series is all about Henry and his desire to get a paper route all his own and as the chapters go on, we see how he goes about proving he's ready to do that! With this book we also get to read more about Beezus and Ramona, Scooter, Ribsy and more! Henry and the Paper Route is six chapters of boyishly good adventure geared toward Henry obtaining the paper route of his dreams! We start out with Henry in hot water over bringing home four kittens...this chapter is all about him making an interesting first impression with Mr. Capper (the newspaper guy). The second chapter is about his tireless search to find good homes for those kittens. Chapter three Henry engineers a clever plan to help his class get ahead in the school paper drive and in chapter four we find out if his plan was successful or not! Chapter five Henry meets Murph, boy genius and finds that Murph has transferred into the paper route he's had his eye on! Oh, no...in chapter six will Henry finally get that route or is he destined to only fill in and help Scooter out? Your young reader will love finding out! I give this book five stars...though the Henry Huggins series was written in the 1940's and 50's and have a bit of a Leave It to Beaver feel with regards to the traditional family roles and quaint feel of the daily life of the kids in them...they are also rather timeless. Putting aside the money issues (yea, everything cost WAY less in these books than they do today), Henry Huggins is a clean cut typical boy looking for a bit of fun...but he's also honest, hard working, and clever in thinking of ways to get what he wants (the advertising thing for the paper drive for example)...and he's always respectful even when he's trying to scheme to get what he wants! Henry and the Paper Route (and all the other books in this series) are well worth reading...these are kids classics for a reason, because they are timelessly entertaining!
    • 4/5
      This book was published in 1957 and I would have been Henry's age in 1970, yet much of the action seemed completely contemporary to my childhood.: getting a paper route, kittens being given away from a cardboard box, school paper drives! Do kids even know what a paper drive is anymore? Anyway, a very enjoyable story, wonderful, believable characters and a loving glimpse into what has become another world. A paper route was my first job at the age of 11, when my brother (who was the one who really wanted that job) turned out to be a year too young yet. He convinced me [his bookish older sister] to do it instead and I did -- and it turned out to be a total disaster, I actually LOST money on the deal, but boy, the stories I could tell about that route! I still remember my hands covered in ink from folding the papers and putting rubber bands around them. Recommended to adults for nostalgia factor, and to 8-10 year olds for the joy of reading about a neighborhood you wished you lived in.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      This book delivers more Henry Huggins antics. Henry is earnest, bumbling, and full of affection: he's like a little puppy. Appropriately, his book series is all about childhood life adventures with his best friend, Ribsy (a dog). The latest escapades center around his quest to earn a paper route. As much as he likes football, hanging out with Ribsy, and playing with the neighborhood kids, he feels the need for a more serious occupation. After all, he's getting older. Henry begins to pester Scooter, who is a year older than him and in the enviable position of currently being a paper boy. Scooter asks Henry to cover for him when he has other engagements, and Henry is encouraged by compliments from the paper route manager, but when he and Scooter get in a fight Henry is banished from the job. At least, banished in his own mind. Then, he and Scooter make peace, Henry turns eleven, and he thinks he has a chance to finally get his precious paper route. Until a new boy moves in, who had a route in his old neighborhood and wants to switch over to one by his new house. While his paper boy pursuits face success and defeat, Henry has other problems that seem like colossal issues to his young mind. For instance, the four kittens he saves from a rummage sale and the paper recycling contest at his school that he is determined his class will win. Not to mention the new boy, Murph, who is making an awesome robot, but who also took the paper route Henry wanted. Luckily for Henry, Murph doesn't know how to handle Ramona. When she decides she wants to be just like the new boy - including taking over his paper route - Murph decides that he has had enough. He hands the paper route over to Henry, who finally sees his dream realized.I always enjoy reading Cleary books. Henry is a fun protagonist, and his innocent escapades are charming. I especially like the blend of sweet and mischievous, and the immense creativity, that all of her children characters evince. This entry in the Henry Huggins series has an overarching plot that connects the many unrelated episodes, and ends on a satisfying note. Henry outsmarts Ramona, proving that he deserves the paper route. Ramona Cleary is an easy choice for parents and teachers looking for a book that employs humor, a solid narrative that children will enjoy, and well-rounded lovable characters.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      it is really funny!

    Book preview

    Henry and the Paper Route - Beverly Cleary

    1

    HENRY’S BARGAIN

    One Friday afternoon Henry Huggins sat on the front steps of his white house on Klickitat Street, with his dog Ribsy at his feet. He was busy trying to pick the cover off an old golf ball to see what was inside. It was not very interesting work, but it was keeping him busy until he could think of something better to do. What he really wanted, he decided, was to do something different; but how he wanted that something to be different, he did not know.

    Hi, Henry, a girl’s voice called, as Henry picked away at the tough covering of the golf ball. It was Beatrice, or Beezus, as everyone called her. As usual, she was followed by her little sister Ramona, who was hopping and skipping along the sidewalk. When Ramona came to a tree, she stepped into its shadow and then jumped out suddenly.

    Hi, Beezus, Henry called hopefully. For a girl, Beezus was pretty good at thinking up interesting things to do. What are you doing? he asked, when the girls reached his house. He could see that Beezus had a ball of red yarn in her hands.

    Going to the store for Mother, answered Beezus, as her fingers worked at the yarn.

    I mean what’s that in your hands? Henry asked.

    I’m knitting on a spool, Beezus explained. You take a spool and drive four nails in one end, and you take some yarn and a crochet hook—like this. See? Deftly she lifted loops of yarn over the nails in the spool to show Henry what she was doing.

    But what does it make? Henry asked.

    A long piece of knitting. Beezus held up her work to show Henry a tail of knitted red yarn that came out of the hole in the center of the spool.

    But what’s it good for? Henry asked.

    I don’t know, admitted Beezus, her fingers and the crochet hook flying. But it’s fun to do.

    Ramona squeezed herself into the shadow of a telephone pole. Then she jumped out and looked quickly over her shoulder.

    What does she keep doing that for? Henry asked curiously, as he picked off a large piece of the golf ball cover. He was getting closer to the inside now.

    She’s trying to get rid of her shadow, Beezus explained. I keep telling her she can’t, but she keeps trying, anyway. Mother read her that poem: ‘I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me, and what can be the use of him is more than I can see.’ She decided she didn’t want a shadow tagging around after her. Beezus turned to her sister. Come on, Ramona. Mother said not to dawdle.

    Oh, for Pete’s sake, muttered Henry, as the girls left. Knitting a long red tail that wasn’t good for anything, and trying to get rid of a shadow—the dumb things girls did! They didn’t make sense. Then he looked at the battered golf ball in his hands and the thought came to him that what he was doing didn’t make much sense, either. In disgust he tossed the golf ball onto the lawn.

    Ribsy uncurled himself from the foot of the steps and got up to examine the golf ball. He picked it up in his teeth and trotted to the top of the driveway, where he dropped it and watched it roll down the slope to the sidewalk. Just before it rolled on into the street, he raced down and caught the ball in his mouth. Then he trotted back up the driveway and dropped the ball again.

    Henry watched Ribsy play with the golf ball, and he decided that this afternoon everyone—even his dog—was busy doing something that made no sense at all. What he wanted to do was something that made sense, something important. Something like . . . something . . . Well, he couldn’t think exactly what, but something important.

    Hi there, Henry! A folded newspaper landed with a thump on the grass in front of Henry.

    Oh, hi, Scooter, answered Henry, glad of an excuse to talk to someone, even if it was Scooter McCarthy.

    Scooter was in the seventh grade at Glenwood School, while Henry was only in the fifth. Naturally, Scooter felt pretty superior when Henry was around. Henry looked at Scooter sitting on his bicycle, with one foot against the curb and his canvas bag of Journals over his shoulders. He thought it must be fun to ride down the street tossing papers to the right and to the left, and getting paid for it.

    Say, Henry, said Scooter. "Mr. Capper—he’s in charge of all the Journal boys around here—he’s looking for somebody to take a route. You don’t happen to know anybody around here who would like to deliver papers, do you?"

    Sure, answered Henry eagerly. Me. Talk about opportunity knocking! It was practically pounding on his door. A paper route was important, and Henry knew that delivering the Journal was exactly what he wanted to do. It made sense.

    Scooter looked thoughtfully at Henry, who waited for him to scoff, the way he usually did at almost anything Henry said. But this time Scooter surprised Henry. He did not scoff. Instead, he said seriously, No, I don’t believe you could do it.

    Henry would have felt better if Scooter had said, You deliver papers? Ha! Big joke, or something like that. Then Henry would have known that Scooter was just talking. But to have Scooter say, No, I don’t believe you could do it. . . . Well, Henry knew Scooter really meant it.

    What’s wrong with me delivering papers? Henry demanded. I can throw just as good as you can.

    Well, for one thing, you’re not old enough, Scooter explained. You have to be eleven to have a paper route.

    I’m practically eleven, said Henry. "I have a birthday in a couple of months. Less than that, really. I feel eleven, and if you can deliver papers, I guess I could, too."

    Yes, but you aren’t eleven, Scooter pointed out, as he pulled another Journal out of his bag and pedaled on down the street.

    Henry watched Scooter toss a Journal, with an experienced flip of his wrist, onto the front steps of a house farther down the block. So Scooter really didn’t think he could handle a paper route. And he wasn’t just joking, either.

    Henry began to think. He’d show Scooter; that’s what he’d do. Maybe Scooter was older and did have a paper route, but he would catch up with him somehow. He’d go to Mr. Capper’s house on Knott Street—the house with the horse-chestnut trees in front, where the boys had chestnut fights every fall—and he would ask Mr. Capper for the paper route. He would act so grown-up and so businesslike that Mr. Capper wouldn’t think to ask his age, and even if he did, Henry could say he was practically eleven. After all, if Mr. Capper was asking around for a boy to deliver papers he must be pretty hard up for someone to work for him. Why, the job was as good as Henry’s already. And with a paper route and a birthday, he would be as good as caught up with Scooter.

    Then it occurred to Henry that Mr. Capper might have asked other paperboys besides Scooter if they knew someone who would like to deliver papers. It might be a good idea to go over to Mr. Capper’s house as fast as he could, before some other boy beat him to it. Henry ran into the house and washed his hands as far up as the wrists. He ran a comb through his hair and pulled on his jacket, which he snatched off his bedpost. He was glad his mother was out shopping, so he did not have to stop and persuade her to let him have a paper route. He could do that after the route was his.

    After removing the unbusinesslike raccoon tail from the handlebars, Henry wheeled his bicycle out of the garage and was coasting down the driveway when Ribsy suddenly appeared and started to follow him.

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