AND THE Happy Cat e Story by Cynthia Rylant Pictures by Sugie Stevenson WINNERS OF THE THEODOR SEUSS GEISEL AWARDHenry and Mudge have had many adventures together and you can read them all! Look for these great stories: Henry and Mudge Henry and Mudge in Puddle Trouble Henry and Mudge in the Green Time Henry and Mudge Under the Yellow Moon Henry and Mudge in the Sparkle Days Henry and Mudge and the Forever Sea Henry and Mudge Get the Cold Shivers Henry and Mudge and the Happy Cat Henry and Mudge and the Bedtime Thumps Henry and Mudge Take the Big Test Henry and Mudge and the Long Weekend Henry and Mudge and the Wild Wind Henry and Mudge and the Careful Cousin Henry and Mudge and the Best Day of Al Henry and Mudge in the Family Trees Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Cracke Henry and Mudge and the Starry Night Henry and Mudge and Annie's Good Move Henry and Mudge and the Snowman Plan Henry and Mudge and Annie's Perfeet Pet Henry and Mudge and the Tall Tree House Henry and Mudge and Mrs. Hopper’s Howse Henry and Mudge and the Wild Goose Chase Henry and Mudge and the Funny Lunch Henry and Mudge and a Very Merry Christmas Henry and Mudge AND THE Happy Cat The Eighth Book of Their Adventures Pictures by Sugie Stevenson Ready-to-Read Aladdin Paperbacks‘To the Peacocks: Nancy, Larry, Aaron and Natalie—CR For Chuck, Kathy and Jack—SS “THE HENRY AND MUDGE BOOKS First Aladdin Paperbacks Edition, 1994 “Text copyright © 1990 by Cynthia Rylant Illustrations copyright © 1990 by Susie Stevenson. Contents Aladdin Paperbacks ‘An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division 1230 Avenue of the Americas ? ‘New York, NY 10020 All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. READY-TOREAD wage patent of Sinn & Shs ne ? ‘Alo avilable in a Sion & Schuster Books fr Young Readers Edition What Is It? 5 Teme oto tate eee ‘A Good Mother 17 Fe cee eee rch Fried and bound inthe United Stats of America A Surprise 29 30 29 28 27 26 25 74 23 “The Library of Congress has catalogued the hardeover edition as follows: Relant, Cynthia. Henry and Mudge and the happy cat: The eighth book oftheir adventures / tory by Cynthia Rylan; pictures by Sugie Stevenson. Pom. ‘Summary: Henry’ family takes in astray ca, the ugliest cat they have ever seen, land an atnaring relationship blossoms between it and their big dog Mudge. [1.Cate—Fiction. 2. Dogg—fiction} I. Stevenson, Susie ill UL Tide, [PZ7.R982Hi 1994) [E}-de20 93-10797 ISBN-13:978-0-689-81012-1 (he.) _ISBN-10: 0.689-81012-1 the.) ISBN-13; 978-0-689-81013-8 (pb) ISBN-10: 0-689-81013-X (pbk)One night Henry and Henry’s father and Henry’s big dog Mudge were watching TV.a | Henry’s father opened Suddenly Mudge ran the door. Sitting to the door on the steps was and barked. (¢ the shabbiest cat Henry had ever seen.It had a saggy belly, skinny legs, and fur that looked like mashed prunes. Henry and Henry’s father and Henry’s big dog Mudge stood in the door and looked at the shabby cat. “Hey kitty,” said Henry. “Are you sure it’s a kitty?” said Henry’s father.“Tt might be a stray,” Henry said, petting it. “It has to be,” said Henry’s father. “That is the shabbiest cat f I have ever seen.” He carried the cat into the house while ( Henry and Mudge followed. Mudge’s tail was wagging hard.“This cat looks like mashed prunes,” said Henry. “But it’s nice.” “Nice for a disaster,” said Henry’s father. The three of them watched as the cat drank three bowls of milk in a row.“Can it stay?” Henry asked. “Only until we find a home for it,” said his father. He looked hard at the cat. Mudge was licking some milk from the visitor's chin. “Mudge doesn’t know,” Henry said. “Mudge likes it.” “Do you think it knows “Yes,” said Henry’s father, it’s that shabby?” Henry’s father asked. “but Mudge also likes turkey gizzards.”A Good Mother In one week the shabby cat turned into a happy cat. It loved three things about Henry’s house. It loved the towel closet. It loved the bathtub.And it loved Mudge. In one week the shabby cat had become Mudge’s mother. It washed Mudge all the time. It washed Mudge’s ears. It washed Mudge’s eyes. It even washed Mudge’s dirty feet. “Yuck,"’ said Henry. 18 19» Mudge had to share his dog toys. The cat also made Mudge use good manners. Mudge even had to share his crackers. But Mudge didn’t mind, because Mudge loved the cat, too. Mudge had to wait his turn at the water dish. 20 21Henry's mother and Henry’s father wondered what they would do Henry’s mother decided to make with the cat. They liked it. But taking care of Mudge posters to find a home for the cat. Henry helped her. was like taking care of five dogs. They didn’t want any more pets. “Don’t put the cat’s picture on them,” said Henry’s father, “or we'll have that cat forever.” 23|g ee yy 2 “TAPE? aioe cae NS } He Cay Low LOW Low | eens: $ prices $ ENTER AL 2 hae Henry and Mudge walked They put a lot of them around town with the posters. on trees. They put one in And Mudge ate one the grocery store by mistake. and one in the drugstore The posters didn’t say and one in the record store. anything about mashed prunes.When Henry and Mudge came home, Henry’s father and Henry’s mother were sitting on the couch with the cat. Henry’s mother said, Mudge climbed onto the couch “Cats are nice.” to be with his new mother. Henty’s father said, Henry climbed on next. “Even shabby ones.” The happy cat purred and purred. z 26 po g & oO 2B = g é e 2 a 3 = z & NS < 7. & a ——_ y g2 | Ni% 3 2 5 RP 854 < & 8 ee (es Reh “a si Qiaxe 3 we <0) x A WrSome of them A lot of people came to see were very rude. the cat because They made fun of the cat. they had lost their own. Mudge watched them, and his fur stood up. But they always said, “Ours is white.” 31No one ever said, _ “Ours looks like mashed prunes.” No one seemed to want the cat.Then one day there was a surprise. A police car parked in front of Henry’s house, and a policeman rang Henry’s bell. Henry and Henry’s father and Henry’s big dog Mudge went to the door. “Can I help you?” Henry’s father asked the policeman. (Henry’s father was wondering if Mudge had eaten somebody's purse.) 3536 But the policeman had seen one of the posters. He was looking for his cat. He said it was different from other cats. He said it was “unique.” He said it looked something like mashed prunes. Henry ran to get the cat. When he came back with it, the policeman cried, “Dave!” Henry and Henry’s father looked at each other. “Dave?” said Henry's father. 37Dave jumped out of Henry’s arms and into the policeman’s arms. The policeman kissed Dave on the nose. “T’m so happy to have him back,” the policeman said. ’ Henry looked at Mudge, who was looking at Dave. “Your cat likes our dog,” Henry told the policeman.The policeman looked at Mudge. “T can see that,” he said. “Your dog has very clean ears.” Suddenly Henry got a lump in his throat. He didn’t want Mudge to lose his mother. Even if Mudge’s mother was named Dave.The policeman said good-bye, and he took his happy cat home. When Dave the cat was gone, Henry and Mudge felt very sad. The towel closet was shut. The bathtub was empty. The dog toys were still. 4BHenry’s father and Henry’s mother had to give them both extra hugs. Henry had to cry a little and take a nap. Mudge had to eat a lot of crackers and take a nap. 44 5The next day a big box was on their porch. The note on it said: TO MUDGE FROM DAVE. Inside the box were thirty giant dog bones! And under those was a gold police badge! 47Mudge kept the dog bones for himself. But he shared the police badge with Henry. Dave the cat had taught him very good manners. in Oregon with my son, Nate, and our two dogs and one large cat. I have always loved pets. Raised in the country in West Virginia, I was surrounded by hound dogs and barn cats. “When I grew up and found myself raising a boy and dogs, I was inspired to write the Henry and Mudge stories. know all about cold shivers, big tests, happy cats, and wild winds. And especially big drooly, lovable dogs.” —Cynthia Rylantt READY-TO a6 a Henry and his 180-pound dog Mudge are best friends forever. And in this eighth book of their adven- tures, they make friends with a scruffy but lovable cat. e “Lively, reassuring, comical—just right for newly independent readers, with cartoon-style illustration: that gallop, skip, and splash right along with the text —The Horn Book oo 83 Ready-to-Read books offer children a world of possibilities at four different reading levels: ‘+ Word repetition ‘+ Familiar words and phrases ‘+ Simple sentences + Rich vocabulary ‘+ More-challenging stories + Longer chapters Visit Henry and Mudge at www.henryandmudge.com L US $3.99 / $4.50 CAN HAW WN y Read Book/Fietion A iii}