H Reeds Big Show

This is the fourth book in the Henry Reed series.In this book, Henry Reed returns to rural New Jersey for his third summer with his aunt and uncle. Each summer, Henry and his friend and partner-in-chicanery, Midge Glass, embark on a business scheme that results in humorous twists and moderately successful outcomes.This summer, Henry and Midge want to produce some sort of entertainment show, but when a music festival and medieval tournament prove to have insurmountable obstacles, they settle on a rodeo. New Jersey being fresh out of stallions and bulls, they improvise and settle on sheep-roping and Sardinian donkey-riding. As always, there is an unexpected funny disaster, but a happy outcome.Like the previous three books, Henry Reed's Big Show is entertaining and completely G-rated. The writing is compelling and through Henry, who lives overseas during the school year, the author passes along obscure facts about the world interesting to children and adults alike.The downside, unfortunately, is these stories occur in a world that no longer exists. I grew up in an area of New Jersey close to the fictional Grovers Corner in which these books are based, and the rural idyll is long-gone, replaced by shopping malls and developments of McMansions. Similarly, it is hard to imagine today's young teens relating to the two characters whose activities, while hair-brained, are squeaky-clean and occuring without the presence of TV, the Internet, etc.I highly recommend this and the other Henry Reed books in the series to children aged 10 and up. There is no objectionable material for a parent to be concerned about, but the cultural world in which the story is set may cause confusion.