Ten years later, the "Harry" books are still read and loved, in particular "Harry by the Sea" and "Harry the Dirty Dog" which are easily our two favourites in this series. I have a vague childhood memory of these books (they're coming up for their 60th birthday fairly soon) and I'm sure I remember more titles, but these are the only ones remaining in print or easy to get hold of so let's have a closer look at them all, as they really are fantastic and have stood the test of time.
In "Harry by the Sea", Harry and his family go to the beach on one of the hottest days of the year. Poor Harry finds it difficult to find shade under the family's tiny beach brolly, so tries a number of ways to keep cool (slightly politically incorrect ways in one case, but remember this is a book from the 60s, things were a little different back then!)
In "Harry the Dirty Dog" Harry behaves a lot like C - ie avoiding baths at all costs. In fact he takes the family scrubbing brush, buries it in the garden and then runs away. Of course being a dog Harry chooses a unique form of revenge for this hideous bath threatening behaviour - he gets as dirty as possible, so dirty in fact that he becomes a black dog with white spots - completely unrecognisable to his family when he crawls back with his tail between his legs as hunger gets the better of him. Will the family realise it's Harry after all?
"No Roses for Harry" is fab for those of you who (like us) have been knitted something by a relative for a birthday or christmas present. Something you really
Thankfully in the end a bird picks at a loose thread and, encouraged by Harry, pulls the whole thing apart and flies off with it. Harry is delighted, but Grandma is very sad!
Harry realises the error of his ways and takes the family on a jumper hunt that ends with quite a delightful surprise.
Fab fun this one!
Finally there's a book that actually did the whole 'middle grade bridging book' years before modern formats claimed to have invented it.
This time Harry's poor ears are being assaulted by a new neighbour who fancies herself as an opera singer. To Harry her sweet singing is like fingernails down a blackboard, so he uses all his canine intelligence to subvert her wailing practice sessions, even enlisting the help of a herd of cows, a brass marching band and a load of frogs.
Harry actually wins out in the end, despite the lady's continued noisemaking, and she wins a singing contest that sees her cruising off into the distance to become a famous singer abroad. I love the neat solution in this one.
These books may or may not still be in print but they're well worth tracking down - they're still brilliant reads even though some of the strange things that crop up in the illustrations may be completely 'of the era' these books were written in.
Original Review Links:
No Roses for Harry
Harry by the sea
Harry the Dirty Dog
Harry and the Lady Next Door - N/A