Uncle Henry's Dinner Guests

Dave Jenkinson is Associate Dean of the Faculty of Education at the
University of Manitoba.

A Governor General’s Literary Award finalist for illustration in the
French-language children’s literature category, Uncle Henry’s Dinner
Guests is also available in French as Les Fantaisies de l’oncle Henri.
Three children know two versions of their Uncle Henry. One uncle is the
serious, proper adult relative who talks formally with the children’s
parents while the children are expected to remain politely silent; the
zany, fun-loving side of Uncle Henry emerges when he is babysitting the
children. Family complications arise with the “wrong” uncle’s
inappropriate appearance. During a formal supper visit, the bored
children become amused by Uncle Henry’s “dinner guests,” the
chickens that constitute the pattern of his shirt. Much to the
children’s amusement, the chickens seemingly jump off Uncle Henry’s
shirt, and the poultry’s increasingly frantic antics turn a boring
meal into a fun-filled event, much to the discomfiture of the
children’s parents, who respond to Uncle Henry with increasing
disapproval.

Children aged four to eight who have had to endure the boredom of
sitting through long, tedious adult events will respond sympathetically
to this threesome, whose imaginations allow them to create a world of
amusement where none is present.