“A Friend Like Henry” Retells the Life of an Autistic Boy

I could not even get into this book and I love to read. So I passed it on to a friend, named Amy, who is a RN and who has worked with autistic children. She was recovering from surgery and very excited to read the book, at least before she read it. Here is Amy’s review.

A Friend Like Henry was written by a mother of an autistic boy. The mother is a nurse and at times uses medical terminology throughout the book, that I am not sure the general public would understand. The story started off slowly with a lengthy description of her problems regarding infertility. Eventually she conceives and gives birth to her son, Dale. The book chronicles him growing up to about the age of five.

At this point is when Dale gets his dog, Henry, who is named after one of the cars on the Thomas the Train children’s show. The boy is obsessed with Thomas the Train and the story is very slow moving. I have an interest in Autism and have worked with autistic children, but don’t believe the story could hold the interest of many individuals.

The book serves as a thank you to all of the individuals who help Dale reach his maximum potential. Teachers, nurses and therapists are pointed out if they did something right and or wrong. Overall, I found the book mediocre.

I like to read in bed and love when I can’t put a book down. This book put me to sleep and took twice as long to read it as it should have. I would not recommend it to others.

Written by Perri, a homeschooling mom of 6 kids - 2 that are grown and out of the house and 4 younger ones who help wreck and clean the house. Perri also has two precious grandchildren. She spends a lot of time doing ministries with her church, volunteering in the community and baking a mean cheesecake. She blogs about her family’s life at My Life in Bits & Pieces.