HENRY the Dog with No Tail

Title: HENRY the Dog with No Tail
Author: Kate Feiffer
Illustrator: Jules Feiffer
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books, 2007
Genre: Picture book/ Fantasy
Age Range: K-1

Summary: This book is about a sweet little Australian Shepard, named Henry, who has no tail. All of his friends have tails: his best friend a lab has a long tail, the pug has a curly tail, and the poodle has a fancy tail. Henry goes out to find a tail. He has a special tail made by a tailor, a very very long tail. So when he comes back to show it off, he figures out he can’t wag it! “What good is a tail that didn’t wag.” So he sets off again and ends up in a battery park, where he attaches one to his tail and it comes to life. A little too much for Henry. It has him swirling in the air like a helicopter until he decides to take the battery off. As he climbs down from a tree, again with not tail; Henry realizes that he is happy being himself, even with no tail.

Response: This book is precious, especially for dog lovers. It’s an adorable tale of a dog with no tail! He finds himself different from all the other dogs and is sad at first. But once realizing him having no tail is who he is. He comes to reason with it and likes being the Henry with no tail. The illustrations are very cute as well. It was created with charcoal pencil and water color. This story is also very funny so it makes it enjoyable for small children to read or listen too. For instance, Henry flies through the air like a helicopter, gets tangled in his own tail, finds a land of batteries, and meets new friends along his way.

Teaching Ideas: This is a great story to show diversity and uniqueness at a young age. This book could easily lead into a discussion on how people are different and what makes them unique. I would have a kindergarten class go around and say one thing they think is unique about them selves. And maybe in a small group they could go around and say something good about each student in the class.