Henry's Show and Tell: 02/14/10

Nancy Carlson began her "Nancy's Neighborhood" series of books back in 1982 when she transitioned from being an illustrator to an author & illustrator. She started with Harriet and Walt and moved onto to other characters. Loudmouth George and Henry the Mouse seem to be her most popular characters from the sheer number of titles featuring them.

Henry's Show and Tell is one of her most recent books, published this decade and there's a big change in Carlson's illustration style between the Harriet books (from the 1980s) and the Henry books (from the 2000s). They are more colorful but more loosely drawn. My daughter's biggest concern with the book is in spotting Harriet the dog. It took us a little bit to find her because she like all the other characters has changed.

Henry is in kindergarten and he needs to do a show and tell. Unfortunately he's got stage fright. Finally the teacher finds the right pep talk to give him and he comes to school ready to present his pet to the class. There's just one problem, the pet escapes.

In the case of Henry's Show and Tell the escape of the spider is pretty much the end of the book. There's a quick follow up gag to close out the book. The spider though plays a much larger and funnier roll when the show and tell scene is reprised in Henry's 100 Days of Kindergarten.

The Henry books still aren't as fun as the Harriet books (but Harriet and I are naturally biased) but are much better than the Loud Mouth George books in terms of plot and humor.

Other books featuring Harriet and the rest of Nancy's Neighborhood

• ABC I Like Me
• Harriet's Halloween Candy
• Harriet's Recital
• Harriet and the Roller Coaster
• Harriet and the Garden
• Harriet and Walt
• Harriet and George's Christmas Treat
• Loudmouth George and the New Neighbors
• Henry's Show and Tell
• Henry's 100 Days of Kindergarten

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