Horrid Henry

Don't do what I did. Don't fall in love with Horrid Henry books and expect THIS one to be anything new. This was released in 1995 with this cover, and then again in 2009 with a blue cover and Henry wearing a pirate hat. It is exactly the same book, word for word. I was thrown by the words 'and Other Stories' - there are NO new stories in here. Buy the newer one unless you're a collector and simply must have every single edition of the Horrid Henry series!

I grew up in England and loved reading books likeFive on a Treasure Island (Famous Five) - now I have children and can enjoy the many good modern books coming out of the UK and Horrid Henry is the best of the lot. Lovely mix of characters from Perfect Peter to Moody Margaret that act as the perfect foil to they stereotypical tomboy that is Horrid Henry. I recommend all the books for girls and boys alike - (another that will apeal to all is Jodie & Lilly. . .and the Fake Mansion

Naughty bad little boys are the joy of the sometimes naughty, often good little readers. There's the vicarious thrill of reading about a kid who's bad, knows it, and still goes through with behavior not always on the up and up. In America, we have our fair share of these fellows. Now "Rotten Ralph" and "Horrible Harry" have a challenger to their bad behavior based throne. From England comes "Horrid Henry", the boy who will gleefully ruin a dance performance, torture his perfect little brother, sabotage a family outing, and generally act in a rather naughty manner unless caught and told to do otherwise. And even then he'll probably still continue. He may be one of the least charming fellows you, the adult, will ever meet. And your children? The first time he throws someone else's jacket in the mud your kids will be his, heart and soul. For those parents who have complained that "Junie B. Jones" is too much of a handful for their kids, steer clear of "Horrid Henry". He's funny, he's nasty, and he's a hard one to duplicate, that's for certain. In four stories Henry wavers between being merely bad to downright awful. "Horrid Henry's Perfect Day" describes a single 24-hour period when Henry vows to be just as perfect as his annoying little angel-like brother, Perfect Peter. What he fails to predict, however, is how quickly this disturbs and unnerves his entire family. "Horrid Henry's Dance Class" tells the tale of Henry's attempts to stomp to his own beat in dance class, and how it eventually becomes the undoing of his recital. In "Horrid Henry and Moody Margaret" we meet Henry's match in the form of the girl next door who won't budge an inch when it comes to playing backyard games. And finally in "Horrid Henry's Holiday", Henry and Peter are finally on the same side when they take a family camping trip that is not what either of them expected it to be. I find it very interesting that the first story in the "Horrid Henry" series (and there are other books to follow this one) is all about Henry NOT being horrid for a change. You get three pages of a general gist of Henry's normal behavior, and then for the rest of the tale Henry could rival St. Francis in terms of calm restraint. What's amazing is that in those three pages, Simon has very effectively set up Henry's normal terrible behavior. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that as he decides to be perfect for a day he's melting his brother's crayons on the radiator. The real advantage to making this the first story too is the fact that right from the start you can show how Perfect Peter is really just a two-faced little squirt. If you were Henry, you'd probably feel tempted to lob a pea at him too. Peter is the Little Lord Fauntleroy of the family. It would not be too difficult to picture him in a velvet suit and lace dickey. Ipso facto, Henry (in spite of his horrid nature) is instantaneously and weirdly sympathetic. "Horrid Henry", as the name implies, is a Briti

As authors of books for children, we set out to create books our young readers will enjoy. We hope our books will be "keepers" to be read again and again. Recently I received another email telling me that my action-adventures and mysteries have had this effect on an eleven year-old boy. In our family, it was the "Mr. Men and Little Miss" books that our children wanted my wife and me to read over and over again, and we did. Even though our children are 30 and 28 now, I highly recommend these books to parents today. Now I have the opportunity to introduce you to another set of books that I think will be "keepers." I'm talking about the "Horrid Henry" books by Francesca Simon. I would first suggest these as books for boys 5 - 8. Each book contains four short chapters. Girls will enjoy the books just as much as boys. The series has been successful in England, and is now being published in the US. In addition to "Horrid Henry," the titles include "Horrid Henry Tricks the Tooth Fairy," "Horrid Henry and the Mega-Mean Time Machine," and "Horrid Henry's Stink Bomb." Parents might be concerned that Henry will give kids ideas of ways to get into trouble, but there are always consequences for the things that Henry does. Other characters, in addition to Horrid Henry, include his brother, Perfect Peter, Moody Margaret, Spotless Sam, Goody-Goody Gordon, Tidy Ted, and Soar Susan. The Horrid Henry books deal with real life situations. Young readers may recognize their own parents, teachers, siblings, friends...even themselves, in the characters. But it's the humor that will have kids coming back for more. My first concern, as an author, is for struggling or reluctant readers, since I grew up hating to read. Horrid Henry may be just the cure for children who think they aren't interested in reading. Published by Sourcebooks' Jabberwocky Max Elliot Anderson Author Books for Boys

I brought the first 4 Horrid Henry books down to my almost 8 year old grandson over Easter, and I asked to read a chapter or two and tell me how he liked the stories. He's a second grader and had no problem reading the stories and enjoying the plots, and thought them "pretty cool." I was a little worried that Henry might give him ideas of ways to get into trouble, but instead I was delighted that there were alway consequences to the naughty things that Henry did - always. The chapter lengths are about right for a boy who doesn't like to sit still very long. This series could be the successor to the Beverly Cleary "Henry" books I loved as a child. Ann Zeise [...]