What do you think?
Rate this book
Henry Huggins #5
Henry and the Clubhouse
Fiery Ramona Quimby and the well-meaning Henry Huggins may clash, but in this delightful and hilariously told novel by Newbery Medal-winning author Beverly Cleary, an unlikely compromise wins the day.
Henry and his friends are building a no-girls-allowed clubhouse. With a private space of their own away from everyone else—and even a top secret entry password—they're all thrilled with their boy fort. But Henry's about to find out that nothing—not even a sign—will keep gutsy Ramona out of their clubhouse…and her retaliation may just ruin Henry's newspaper career.
Henry and his friends are building a no-girls-allowed clubhouse. With a private space of their own away from everyone else—and even a top secret entry password—they're all thrilled with their boy fort. But Henry's about to find out that nothing—not even a sign—will keep gutsy Ramona out of their clubhouse…and her retaliation may just ruin Henry's newspaper career.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1962
208 people are currently reading
1320 people want to read
About the author
Beverly Cleary
262 books3,347 followersBeverly Atlee Cleary was an American writer of children's and young adult fiction. One of America's most successful authors, 91 million copies of her books have been sold worldwide since her first book was published in 1950. Some of her best known characters are Ramona Quimby and Beezus Quimby, Henry Huggins and his dog Ribsy, and Ralph S. Mouse.
The majority of Cleary's books are set in the Grant Park neighborhood of northeast Portland, Oregon, where she was raised, and she has been credited as one of the first authors of children's literature to figure emotional realism in the narratives of her characters, often children in middle-class families. Her first children's book was Henry Huggins after a question from a kid when Cleary was a librarian. Cleary won the 1981 National Book Award for Ramona and Her Mother and the 1984 Newbery Medal for Dear Mr. Henshaw. For her lifetime contributions to American literature, she received the National Medal of Arts, recognition as a Library of Congress Living Legend, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal from the Association for Library Service to Children. The Beverly Cleary School, a public school in Portland, was named after her, and several statues of her most famous characters were erected in Grant Park in 1995. Cleary died on March 25, 2021, at the age of 104.
The majority of Cleary's books are set in the Grant Park neighborhood of northeast Portland, Oregon, where she was raised, and she has been credited as one of the first authors of children's literature to figure emotional realism in the narratives of her characters, often children in middle-class families. Her first children's book was Henry Huggins after a question from a kid when Cleary was a librarian. Cleary won the 1981 National Book Award for Ramona and Her Mother and the 1984 Newbery Medal for Dear Mr. Henshaw. For her lifetime contributions to American literature, she received the National Medal of Arts, recognition as a Library of Congress Living Legend, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal from the Association for Library Service to Children. The Beverly Cleary School, a public school in Portland, was named after her, and several statues of her most famous characters were erected in Grant Park in 1995. Cleary died on March 25, 2021, at the age of 104.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 263 reviews
September 14, 2019
This one was the second best from the series. Besides, more of Ramona. I can read anything where Ramona even just walks the street.
August 15, 2014
Henry books are not as endearing as the Ramona series. Through Henry's eyes, Ramona is nothing more than a pest. I admire his pluck and his work ethic, and I'm happy to report that Henry is not as sexist as he was in Henry and Ribsy. Once again, though, I was bothered that a 1962 book got re-illustrated in 2007. So a kid who rides in a bathtub tied to a trailer hitched to a car . . . wears a bicycle helmet on his paper route?! Either make the drawings historically accurate or strive for a kind of vague agelessness! So many details tie this story to its era; I'm not sure why the drawings can't reflect that.
I started reading this out loud to my seven-year-old, but she ended up reading the last chapters on her own. (I then had to finish it myself, so I could review it in good conscience!)
I started reading this out loud to my seven-year-old, but she ended up reading the last chapters on her own. (I then had to finish it myself, so I could review it in good conscience!)
December 13, 2015
As part of My Big Fat Reading Project, I am reading my way through Beverly Cleary's books. The Henry series are for young readers aged 8-12.
Good old Henry, the youngest paper boy in town, decides to build a clubhouse in his backyard, along with his friends Robert and Murph. But Murph doesn't like girls so he insists it be a "Boys Only" clubhouse.
Henry as usual is juggling multiple problems: One of his good friends is Beezus, who is a girl. He has to keep his paper route going while also working on building the clubhouse. The paper route includes collecting from customers and he is trying to get up the guts to sign up new customers.
Then there is Ramona, the troublesome younger sister of Beezus. She begins following Henry around on his route. Then one day she locks him in the clubhouse and won't let him out until her tells her the secret password. He has to get out so he can do his route that day.
Henry's number one worry is that he wants his father to be proud of him. He bungles his way through and comes out a winner all around.
What I liked best about this one is the way it shows how much kids worry. Harry Potter is a top worrier in children's fiction but here Henry takes second place as the world's most worried boy.
July 25, 2020
I Love the anniversary edition with the classic illustration! Wish the publisher would do the same for the whole Ramona series! I love the language in these books, none of the bratty talk and mundane scenarios that plague contemporary children's fiction. Beverly Cleary really remembers what it is like to be a child.
November 9, 2022
"Pretty good for a children's book. Storyline was kinda OK." - Rosie
"Why, that was just keen, swell, and gee-whiz super-duper! Sorta." - Me
Although I think Beezus and Ramona are my favorites...and I could only read so much detail about folding newspapers...and she loves the word "protested," which drove me nuts after a while...
"Why, that was just keen, swell, and gee-whiz super-duper! Sorta." - Me
Although I think Beezus and Ramona are my favorites...and I could only read so much detail about folding newspapers...and she loves the word "protested," which drove me nuts after a while...
January 21, 2022
This is my 9 year old's favorite series. Fun stories.
May 11, 2012
I was planning to give this four stars, but by the end of the book, I loved it so much that I decided to give it five stars. I knew there was a reason Beverly Cleary was my favorite author when I was kid. It is not actually not that much about the clubhouse--it is more about the paper route and dealing with Beezus and Ramona. I just love Henry's resourcefulness and can-do attitude.
Some things will seem outdated but hey, it was written in 1962. Back in the days when it was actually conceivable than an adult would allow a kid to ride in a bathtub tied to a trailer.
EDITTED TO ADD: I miss the old illustrations. However, I can understand why they decided to update the illustrations. BUT!!!!!!!! Why, oh, why is it stil an all-white world that Henry lives in? There is nothing in Cleary's books that say all the characters are white. It just doesn't make sense.
Some things will seem outdated but hey, it was written in 1962. Back in the days when it was actually conceivable than an adult would allow a kid to ride in a bathtub tied to a trailer.
EDITTED TO ADD: I miss the old illustrations. However, I can understand why they decided to update the illustrations. BUT!!!!!!!! Why, oh, why is it stil an all-white world that Henry lives in? There is nothing in Cleary's books that say all the characters are white. It just doesn't make sense.
August 7, 2019
Want to do a reread so will review at that time.
April 9, 2017
Four stars BECAUSE the book allowed some good conversation about Halloween costumes (culture is not a costume!) and the "no girls allowed" rule.
May 30, 2018
My favorite part in this book is when Henry grows five inches taller in 5 minutes. I love the Klickitat Street kids. Planning a reread of the 2 series very soon!
June 7, 2020
به گمانم بچه هایی که خانم کلیری براشون می نوشت از این یکی بیشتر از بقیه کتاب های این مجموعه خوششون بیاد.
May 23, 2021
Earlier this year, on the day of her death, I ran over to the Chicago Public Library website and checked out as many random ebook titles by children's author Beverly Cleary that I could get my hands on, which turned out to be eight volumes spanning her entire career that I got done reviewing a little while ago (full list at the bottom of this review). But I realized that my middle-aged reassessment of Cleary would never be truly complete without revisiting the entire series of the one character I cared about as a kid way more than any other, which is our perpetually put-upon tween hero Henry Huggins. He was the protagonist of her very first book, after all, written while working as a public librarian in Portland, Oregon, and hearing little boys in there constantly complaining about the badly outdated Victorian "Little Lord Fauntleroy" nonsense constantly being crammed down their throats at school; and he would remain Cleary's "main character" from his explosive start in 1950 all the way until the mid-'70s, when as a grandmother she embraced the new wave of "young adult" writers like Judy Blume and Betsy Byars, and took her former impish devil Ramona Quimby and aged her up to a tween herself in order to write stories more emotionally revealing and bittersweet than the Huggins books earlier in her career.
But that's okay with me! I loved the Huggins books as a kid, especially that magical age between seven or eight and twelve to thirteen, and would re-read the entire six-book series seemingly every summer* (including 1950's Henry Huggins, '52's Henry and Beezus, '57's Henry and the Paper Route, '62's Henry and the Clubhouse, and '64's Ribsy). Now that I've reread them as a middle-ager, it's easy to see why, because they clearly have the same tone and spirit as Jeff Kinney's modern hit Diary of a Wimpy Kid, of tween boys acting stupid and silly and very real, but also coming to grips with some adult truths about the world for the very first time, and growing into some adult traits for the first time like natural politeness, concern for others, etc. Henry doesn't have the "stolen inheritance" adventures of Victorian children's tales, but very real adventures -- the one year he and his buddies build a clubhouse, his agony about not being old enough yet for his first summer job -- and instead of fairytale villains he has very real villains -- such as the aforementioned Ramona Quimby, seen as a hellion four-year-old in these books, a personification of Discordia who leaves a FEMA-level disaster in her wake anywhere she walks.
It's basically a genteel version of social realism, showing the great drama inherent just in these small ordinary lives here in this pleasant mid-sized city; we take it so much for granted now in children's literature, so it's a fresh shock all over again to remember how groundbreaking and controversial it was when Cleary started writing books for children in this fashion, starting just one year before JD Salinger kickstarted the Young Adult genre into existence with The Catcher in the Rye (helped immensely of course three years later with William Golding's Lord of the Flies). Cleary's Henry Huggins books are kind of like that for those readers' little brothers in fourth through sixth grade, which is what makes them still so timeless and readable to this day, especially series high point Henry and the Clubhouse which features almost a perfect blend of zany standalone stories but all of them combining into a grand finale at the very end, with a good dose of earned sentimentality too. If you take on these six books, and then the '70s more touchy-feely fellow six-book series of Ramona as a tween, you'll have pretty much read the top twelve books of her career, making the rest only really of worth to diehard completists. They come recommended in this spirit.
*Like I suspect is the case with a lot of the nerds here at Goodreads, every year of my childhood I participated in my public library's summer reading program, in which goals at home for books checked off a list was combined with live social events at the library's large back field, and that this combination of indoor and outdoor activities makes up a giant sweet spot of my fond memories of my tween years (whatever ones I can still remember here in my fifties, anyway). I always went for the biggest goal you could get, which was something ridiculous like 30 books in the 15 weeks between Memorial Day and Labor Day; but the only way I could get to that number by the end of the summer was to re-read a certain amount of books I was already familiar with, which is how I ended up re-reading the entire Huggins series every summer, a lot of Judy Blume books every summer, the "Mad Scientist Club" books every summer, etc. I was actually reading them again from cover to cover, so I suppose technically that counts!
The 2021 Beverly Cleary Memorial Re-Read:
Henry Huggins (1950)
Henry and Beezus (1952)
Otis Spofford (1953)
Henry and Ribsy (1954)
Fifteen (1956)
Henry and the Paper Route (1957)
Henry and the Clubhouse (1962)
Ribsy (1964)
Ramona and Her Mother (1979)
Dear Mr. Henshaw (1983)
Ramona Forever (1984)
Strider (1991)
But that's okay with me! I loved the Huggins books as a kid, especially that magical age between seven or eight and twelve to thirteen, and would re-read the entire six-book series seemingly every summer* (including 1950's Henry Huggins, '52's Henry and Beezus, '57's Henry and the Paper Route, '62's Henry and the Clubhouse, and '64's Ribsy). Now that I've reread them as a middle-ager, it's easy to see why, because they clearly have the same tone and spirit as Jeff Kinney's modern hit Diary of a Wimpy Kid, of tween boys acting stupid and silly and very real, but also coming to grips with some adult truths about the world for the very first time, and growing into some adult traits for the first time like natural politeness, concern for others, etc. Henry doesn't have the "stolen inheritance" adventures of Victorian children's tales, but very real adventures -- the one year he and his buddies build a clubhouse, his agony about not being old enough yet for his first summer job -- and instead of fairytale villains he has very real villains -- such as the aforementioned Ramona Quimby, seen as a hellion four-year-old in these books, a personification of Discordia who leaves a FEMA-level disaster in her wake anywhere she walks.
It's basically a genteel version of social realism, showing the great drama inherent just in these small ordinary lives here in this pleasant mid-sized city; we take it so much for granted now in children's literature, so it's a fresh shock all over again to remember how groundbreaking and controversial it was when Cleary started writing books for children in this fashion, starting just one year before JD Salinger kickstarted the Young Adult genre into existence with The Catcher in the Rye (helped immensely of course three years later with William Golding's Lord of the Flies). Cleary's Henry Huggins books are kind of like that for those readers' little brothers in fourth through sixth grade, which is what makes them still so timeless and readable to this day, especially series high point Henry and the Clubhouse which features almost a perfect blend of zany standalone stories but all of them combining into a grand finale at the very end, with a good dose of earned sentimentality too. If you take on these six books, and then the '70s more touchy-feely fellow six-book series of Ramona as a tween, you'll have pretty much read the top twelve books of her career, making the rest only really of worth to diehard completists. They come recommended in this spirit.
*Like I suspect is the case with a lot of the nerds here at Goodreads, every year of my childhood I participated in my public library's summer reading program, in which goals at home for books checked off a list was combined with live social events at the library's large back field, and that this combination of indoor and outdoor activities makes up a giant sweet spot of my fond memories of my tween years (whatever ones I can still remember here in my fifties, anyway). I always went for the biggest goal you could get, which was something ridiculous like 30 books in the 15 weeks between Memorial Day and Labor Day; but the only way I could get to that number by the end of the summer was to re-read a certain amount of books I was already familiar with, which is how I ended up re-reading the entire Huggins series every summer, a lot of Judy Blume books every summer, the "Mad Scientist Club" books every summer, etc. I was actually reading them again from cover to cover, so I suppose technically that counts!
The 2021 Beverly Cleary Memorial Re-Read:
Henry Huggins (1950)
Henry and Beezus (1952)
Otis Spofford (1953)
Henry and Ribsy (1954)
Fifteen (1956)
Henry and the Paper Route (1957)
Henry and the Clubhouse (1962)
Ribsy (1964)
Ramona and Her Mother (1979)
Dear Mr. Henshaw (1983)
Ramona Forever (1984)
Strider (1991)
January 20, 2024
Another good book by Beverly Cleary. Loved her books as a child.
February 9, 2016
The Henry Huggins series of books by Beverly Cleary. They are, in chronological order, Henry Huggins (1950), Henry and Beezus (1952), Henry and Ribsy (1954), Henry and the Paper Route (1957), Henry and the Clubhouse (1962), and Ribsy. The Henry Huggins series contains the Ribsy series and meshes with the Ramona series.
For our second--and the second largest--character series by Cleary, we moved from Ramona to Henry and his beloved dog, Ribsy. The first scene introduces Ribsy and he appears in all the books, more or less prominent.
We were once again drawn into life on Klickitat Street in 1950s Oregon. We were once again lulled and charmed by the simple writing, the realistic characters, and the small things of suburban life. While we did enjoy the series, we found it did not quite live up to the Ramona series.
HENRY HUGGINS SERIES
A couple complaints: too many adverbs (those pesky, oft-unnecessary -ly words), and sometimes Huggins is a butthead. Yes, he is a little boy and little boys are often buttheads, but my kids were surprised by Henry's internal dialogues and how annoyed he is by anyone who gets in his way. He wouldn't act out, but he'd sure think some mean things. (Of course, this is all relative to the time period and place we are reading about. His being a butthead is nothing compared to some more modern characters and situations my kids might read about.)
Also, Ramona is not entirely consistent with her character in her namesake series. Just a warning: you aren't going to fall in love with Ramona laterally.
I honestly don't know if I have much more to say. Huggins was nice, but it was no Ramona. Cleary is nice, but she's at her best with Ramona. Read Ramona first, and if you want to stay in that world, try Huggins. Our favorite was Henry and the Clubhouse.
***REVIEW WRITTEN FOR THE STARVING ARTIST BLOG***
For our second--and the second largest--character series by Cleary, we moved from Ramona to Henry and his beloved dog, Ribsy. The first scene introduces Ribsy and he appears in all the books, more or less prominent.
We were once again drawn into life on Klickitat Street in 1950s Oregon. We were once again lulled and charmed by the simple writing, the realistic characters, and the small things of suburban life. While we did enjoy the series, we found it did not quite live up to the Ramona series.
HENRY HUGGINS SERIES
A couple complaints: too many adverbs (those pesky, oft-unnecessary -ly words), and sometimes Huggins is a butthead. Yes, he is a little boy and little boys are often buttheads, but my kids were surprised by Henry's internal dialogues and how annoyed he is by anyone who gets in his way. He wouldn't act out, but he'd sure think some mean things. (Of course, this is all relative to the time period and place we are reading about. His being a butthead is nothing compared to some more modern characters and situations my kids might read about.)
Also, Ramona is not entirely consistent with her character in her namesake series. Just a warning: you aren't going to fall in love with Ramona laterally.
I honestly don't know if I have much more to say. Huggins was nice, but it was no Ramona. Cleary is nice, but she's at her best with Ramona. Read Ramona first, and if you want to stay in that world, try Huggins. Our favorite was Henry and the Clubhouse.
***REVIEW WRITTEN FOR THE STARVING ARTIST BLOG***
May 21, 2019
I read this book during a walk this afternoon and it was the perfect way to spend an hour or two. I saw a couple of scenes slightly differently than I did when I first read it as a kid (Henry isn't quite as noble and selfless as I remembered, and Ramona has a bigger streak of anarchy than I thought) but overall it held up quite well. This edition listed here isn't the same one I read which is a shame because part of what I loved then and today was the wonderful drawing by Louis Darling. They are so precise and expressive that one picture conveys the intent of the entire scene. I don't know what the new illustrations are like but I can't imagine they improved on the originals.
June 20, 2023
I very much enjoyed this almost final Henry Huggins story. While he did have some stumbles (why didn't he take the key with him into the clubhouse??), a whole lot of other things started looking up for him. His idea to get Ramona to quit pestering him was pure genius. And when it snowed, his care for his customers' newspapers earned him all kinds of accolades. I thought this was a great way to end Henry's series of adventures.
August 5, 2013
Review from an eight-year-old:
"This is a book about a clubhouse and no girls allowed. Someone locked Henry inside on purpose because of this. I like the book because Henry and I have a lot in common and it's a funny story. My favorite part was when Henry got his name in the newspaper. I would rate this book 6 stars- the best!"
8/5/13
"This is a book about a clubhouse and no girls allowed. Someone locked Henry inside on purpose because of this. I like the book because Henry and I have a lot in common and it's a funny story. My favorite part was when Henry got his name in the newspaper. I would rate this book 6 stars- the best!"
8/5/13
June 23, 2018
It was great!
April 2, 2022
This audio book was really funny. Neil Patrick Harris performs the characters so perfectly!
February 3, 2023
This was such a sweet book. I loved the interactions between Ramona and Henry.
June 19, 2023
Beverly Cleary is the absolute best. My youngest son and I laughed our way through this book.
December 16, 2023
Isaiah loves Henry and Ramona!
April 24, 2024
One of my faves in the series!
May 29, 2024
I want a journal bag now!!
July 23, 2025
Eddy says 10
March 6, 2024
So good.
November 28, 2024
Alternate title: Ramona: The Revenge
March 8, 2013
Another classic by the beloved children's book author, Beverly Cleary!
I read this a long time- probably in elementary school but you can never go wrong re-reading Beverly Cleary's books. While there are so many current children's books out now that are great, there's something to be said about Beverly Cleary's books. Mainly, I think it's because they seem so wholesome- for lack of a better word. She write about a time when kids had paper routes and wrote letters by hand (and not texting on their phones or computers) and looked up words in an actual dictionary (not computer spell check!)
Was it just me or was anyone else impressed by Henry and his two friends building a clubhouse from scratch? I barely know what materials I would need to fix a door never mind a clubhouse complete with windowpanes and door on hinges!
This book's main character is Henry Huggins but the lovable Ramona makes her presence known throughout the book. Her antics make me laugh aloud. I probably think she's adorable because I don't have to be responsible for her! She would probably drive me insane as she does Henry, her sister Beezus and her mother among others :)
I think this book should also include Henry's paper route. It feels like it's more about his paper route than his clubhouse.
Beverly Cleary makes it easy to love her books and the illustrations are also fantastic! I always want to be a little kid again after reading her books.
I read this a long time- probably in elementary school but you can never go wrong re-reading Beverly Cleary's books. While there are so many current children's books out now that are great, there's something to be said about Beverly Cleary's books. Mainly, I think it's because they seem so wholesome- for lack of a better word. She write about a time when kids had paper routes and wrote letters by hand (and not texting on their phones or computers) and looked up words in an actual dictionary (not computer spell check!)
Was it just me or was anyone else impressed by Henry and his two friends building a clubhouse from scratch? I barely know what materials I would need to fix a door never mind a clubhouse complete with windowpanes and door on hinges!
This book's main character is Henry Huggins but the lovable Ramona makes her presence known throughout the book. Her antics make me laugh aloud. I probably think she's adorable because I don't have to be responsible for her! She would probably drive me insane as she does Henry, her sister Beezus and her mother among others :)
I think this book should also include Henry's paper route. It feels like it's more about his paper route than his clubhouse.
Beverly Cleary makes it easy to love her books and the illustrations are also fantastic! I always want to be a little kid again after reading her books.
October 31, 2017
A Beverly Cleary classic. Just the right length audio book.
April 8, 2015
I read this out loud to my 6-year-old son and my 4-year old daughter occasionally listened, but wasn't as enthralled by it as some others we have read. My son did pay attention, but I felt he also wasn't as interested as others.
I think this is a book for a very confident young reader, as the entire book was only 6 chapters long and each chapter was about 30+ pages - much too long for a reader new to chapter books. This was not a page-turner, in that each chapter sort of had its own plot that wrapped up by the end. I wish I had known this was #5 in a series that we had only read #1 of. I just picked another one with Henry in the title by Cleary, that the library had at the time. I also have "Henry and Ribsy", which we are going to read next, but if it's no better than this one, we probably won't read any more "Henry books".
I think this is a book for a very confident young reader, as the entire book was only 6 chapters long and each chapter was about 30+ pages - much too long for a reader new to chapter books. This was not a page-turner, in that each chapter sort of had its own plot that wrapped up by the end. I wish I had known this was #5 in a series that we had only read #1 of. I just picked another one with Henry in the title by Cleary, that the library had at the time. I also have "Henry and Ribsy", which we are going to read next, but if it's no better than this one, we probably won't read any more "Henry books".
Displaying 1 - 30 of 263 reviews