When Henry and his dog Mudge go with Henry's parents to visit Great-Grandpa Bill in the home with lots of other grandpas, they lead them all on a wonderful adventure.

This book is a good example of things the characters go through. Students can talk about the different events and gain knowledge from them. This is a good book for students to use for introducing chapter books and getting them familiar with them.

Henry and Mudge visit Great Grandpa Bill in his nursing home. While off exploring, they find a swimming pond. They invite all the grandpas to go swimming with them!

Henry and Mudge go to visit the old folks' home and hang out with the grandpas. They bring them presents, read books, swim in the pond and have a wonderful day. I think this is a great book for young children to learn about how important it is to appreciate all of their relatives, no matter how physically capable they are or how much you have in common. ( )

Henry and Mudge and the Great Grandpas tells the story of Henry and his dog, Mudge, who go and visit Henry's great-grandpas. The first chapter is called "Grandpas." It talks about the activities that Henry and Mudge do with all the grandpas at the place where Henry's own great-grandpas live. The second chapter is called "A Pond!" In this chapter, Henry and Mudge go exploring and discover a swimming pond in the clearing. However because they cannot break Henry's parents' rule of no swimming alone, they go back to get Henry's dad. The third chapter is called "Skivvies." Henry, Mudge, Henry's father, and all the grandpas decide to go swimming. They listened to stories that the grandpas tell and lay in the sun. Chapter four is called "Full and Happy." Everyone returns to the house and eats spaghetti that Henry's mother made. Some grandpas fall asleep as they are all full and happy.

This book is a great contemporary realistic fiction early chapter book. It contains a lot of content that students can relate to--visiting grandparents, exploring outside, story-telling, and eating. This content enables readers to be exposed to new book structures such as chapters without having to worry about being overwhelmed with new content.

GENRE: Contemporary Realistic Fiction

USES:
- have students discuss and then write stories about what they enjoy doing with their grandparents (if there are students in the class with family issues or without grandparents, this activity may not be appropriate)
- bring students on a field trip to a retirement home to play games or talk with residents