Some things are true: Henrietta has a baby brother the size of a sock (almost), a crazy brown dog named Madge, and a constant hunger for chocolate ripple cake. She is good at explorification and making her dad's underwear into a superb hat. Other things ar not true: Henrietta says she can keep a secret. She cannot.

But if Henrietta has a habit of making things up, she has an even bigger habit of making things fun, even little brothers and hamsters. So come meet Henrietta, and make an irresistible, irrepressible new friend.

"This hybrid picture-/short chapter book introduces free-spirited, precocious, and self-absorbed Henrietta, who describes herself as “a good wiggler, and sometimes I’m exhillperating and sometimes I’m expasperating.” In a rambling narrative featuring creative wordplay and colorful fonts, the girl describes her family, pets, friends, and imaginative journeys. Scattered throughout are plenty of whimsical, childlike drawings with red accents. In one venture, she sets sail in her bathtub for undiscovered lands, first dropping her baby brother, Albert, in the Land of One Thousand Alberts before heading on to the Wide Wide Long Cool Coast of the Lost Socks. She also has a special relationship with “the Rietta,” an imaginary partner-in-crime. While her musings are a bit silly at times, they are effervescent and inventive, too. One episode gently relates the demise of one of her pet mice, who dies of loneliness after her companion runs away. This causes Henrietta to muse thoughtfully that “all things get lonely.” This girl will be embraced by many young readers, particularly those who’ve enjoyed Lauren Child’s “Clarice Bean” books (Candlewick)." -- School Library Journal

"Not so much a story as a slice of Henrietta's life, exuberantly illustrated in her favorite red and occasionally busting out into her personal handwriting, this is a book to inspire budding memoirists everywhere." -- The Washington Post