A new first-grader dreads reading until a friendly teacher helps him. Henry’s excited to learn new things, but finds that he’s the only student who doesn’t like reading. (Henry’s a gray mouse with huge round ears; the other students are rabbits, dogs and pigs. All walk on two legs and wear colorful clothing.) Henry likes listening to stories at home and at school, but never raises his hand to read aloud in class. “Reading is boring!” he decides. It takes the intervention of a friendly teacher, Mr. McCarthy, a big brown dog, to get to the root of Henry’s problem: He fears the alphabet. Concentrated help, both at home and at school, turns Henry into an eager reader, which he demonstrates by volunteering to read the lunch menu aloud to the class. Carlson’s typical bright colors and simple geometric shapes match the illustrations to the target readership. A shrewd tool for a parent or teacher faced with a bibliophobe. (Picture book. 4-7)
