I read a book titled “Henry and
Mudge and the Careful Cousin.” It’s an
early independent reader picture book by author Cynthia Rylant and illustrator Suçie
Stevenson originally published in 1994.
The story is about a little girl named Annie and her adjustment to
playing at her cousin Henry’s house.
The characters in the book are
depicted as individuals. It takes place
at Henry’s house where he lives with his mother, father and dog named
Mudge. Annie and her father are visiting
for the night. There are many American
cultural references in this story. For
example, Henry’s family is a single family home with a dog and fish as
pets. For fun Henry plays with his dog,
plays Frisbee and collect baseball cards.
He also wears a baseball cap which is a sport enjoyed by many in
America. At dinner time the family sits
down at the table together with silverware, glasses, plates and napkins while
they eat hot dogs, chips, peas and milk.
The children wear their shoes in the house which is acceptable in most
American homes. These cultural
references create the understanding that Henry has the stereotypical American
family.
Henry had the power and wisdom in
this story. Annie was visiting for the
first time and often it can be difficult to acclimate to a new
environment. Henry expected that Annie
would be excited to play with his messy dog Mudge who brought him so much
enjoyment. Annie wasn’t pleased when
Mudge licked her face and she was disturbed by Henry’s messy room, yet she
remained a polite house guest by not verbalizing her discomfort. Although he did ask Annie what she liked to
do, Henry was the one to choose activities which they engaged in. Henry had the wisdom to know that once Annie
relaxed and participated in things he liked to do, she would also have
fun. He managed to find one activity
which allowed her to open up and play like a kid. In the end, she had a great time.
Consequences of behaviors were
subtle. The conflict was about Henry and
Annie finding something they could do together.
Throughout the story, the parents did not get involved with their
socialization. Henry’s behavior was met
with Annie’s resistance. For example,
Henry liked playing with his dog but when Annie frowned upon it, Henry
stopped. Henry’s parents seemed to be
pretty relaxed about his behavior as evidenced by his messy room and the fact
that he let his dog eat off his plate in the kitchen.
Annie is presented as a “girly”
girl and Henry as a “rough and rowdy” boy.
When Henry first meets Annie he thinks she is clean and dressed up. She is wearing a frilly dress and shiny
shoes. The pictures of her in the book
match her description. She has a pink
hair bow, stockings and is carrying a little purse. Henry looks sloppy. His shoes are untied and his hair is
shaggy.
According to various websites
(cited below), the author and illustrator of the book are inside the groups
they are presenting. They were both once
little girls like Annie. They are also
dog owners like Henry so they likely understand the rewards of having a pet
like Mudge. Both women live in America
therefore understandingly have knowledge of American culture and families.
For the most part the only voices
heard in the book are the children’s. There
is minimal dialog from the parents. The
story is about Henry, his cousin and his dog and their actions and dialog are
primarily what are recorded. There is
some dialog in the beginning where Annie’s dad greets Henry as well as some interaction
at the dinner table between Annie and her dad where her dad asks her questions
and she responds non-verbally. Henry’s
parent’s voices are not heard at all.
The illustrations and story
reveal messages about aspects of the characters’ lives. There are obvious stereotypical
representations of genders. Annie is a
proper girl who wears fancy dresses and doesn’t like getting dirty. Henry’s mom is also wearing a dress, as well
as jewelry and an apron which implies she was the one who prepared the
meal. These are often characteristics
related to the feminine gender. Henry is
a messy little boy who seems to have no concern for his own appearance or the
upkeep of his room. Henry’s dad is also
messy as evidenced by the trash in his car.
These are characteristics often associated with the masculine
gender. All the family members are
Caucasian and everyone but the mom has red hair which may be an indication they
are of Irish decent. The images reveal
the family has modest furniture, vehicles and clothing, running water and a
white picket fence around the yard which could imply they are part of the
working class. The fence, dog, dinner
and single family home are all aspects of American culture. Finally, roles determined by age can be
observed as the mom is inside cooking dinner while the children are outside
playing.
There are also more stereotypes
revealed in the illustrations. Many of
them are gender specific. Annie has
difficulty handling the dog kissing her.
She is grossed out and immediately grabs for a wipe to clean her
face. In some of the pictures she is
holding her purse with both hands in front of her belly making her appear
timid. This is a stereotype associated
with femininity. During dinner she
daintily cuts her hotdog to eat it in pieces which is also something that might
be expected of a lady. Henry on the
other hand is portrayed as a dirty boy.
He walks around with his shoes untied perhaps because he doesn’t know
how to tie them or because he is too lazy to.
He also rolls around on the dirty ground with his dog and eats cookies pulled
out from under his bed in his filthy room.
Henry doesn’t understand why his female cousin Annie does not like the
same things he does. The characteristics
revealed about him match those typically associated with the masculine gender.
The same problem arises over and
over in the story then is finally resolved.
Henry is trying to find something he and his cousin will both enjoy
doing. Annie is not interested in
playing with Mudge as Henry expected she’d be.
So he tries to present her with something else. He thinks she will be interested in his fish,
but she says they stink. So he tries to
interest her in some cookies, but when she sees him pull them out from under
his bed in his messy room, she refuses them. Finally, Henry convinces her to try playing
with a Frisbee. They wind up throwing it
around until it gets dark and Annie allows herself to get dirty and play like
Henry.
I would recommend this book. It is something I think a lot of kids can
relate to. The message I got out of it
is how sometimes we have to try new things to find out we like them. Also, we need to accept that not everyone is
going to like everything we like. Finally,
the book has some humor like when the dog kisses Annie she gets grossed
out. I think children enjoy reading
books like this because it seems like something that might happen in real
life.
Bibliography
"Ohio Reading Road Trip | Cynthia Rylant
Biography." Ohio Reading Road Trip. 2004. Web. 11 Mar. 2012. <http://www.orrt.org/rylant/>.
"Sucie
Stevenson." Sucie Stevenson Fine Artist, Children's Book Illustrator,
Henry and Mudge. 2011. Web. 11 Mar. 2012.
<http://www.suciestevenson.com/bio-artist.html>.
"Welcome
to Live Oak Media." Live Oak Media. Web. 11 Mar. 2012.
<http://www.liveoakmedia.com/contributorinfo.cfm?ContribID=214>.
