cover image Dirty Henry

Dirty Henry

Lucy Dickens. Viking Children's Books, $13.95 (1pp) ISBN 978-0-670-83578-2

No matter how hard she tries, Lily can't keep her dog Henry clean and combed. The energetic canine happily splashes in muddy ponds, rummages through the trash for bones and rolls in the blackberry patch. One day, Lily's mother puts her foot down and tells Henry he is not to come indoors until he has a shampoo and a haircut. Lily drags the reluctant pooch to visit the aptly named Miss Pink, who gives Henry a bath, clips and curls his hair--and even places him under a salon-style drier. So distressed over his spruced-up appearance that ``he wouldn't come out from under his favorite chair for his supper,'' Henry is back in the blackberries in no time. Accompanying this slight but jaunty story are Dickens's ( Rosy's Pool ) winsome drawings, in which Henry appears as a constantly moving blur of black lines and brown splotches. Ages 2-6. (Aug.)