A Pig Called Henry - Karen Wallace

Advantages: Encourages a love of reading.
Disadvantages: Can cause bad behaviour.

.... She got bored after a few sentences, but I think that she will go back to it again when she is ready and a beautiful story will emerge. My daughter's favourite part of the annual is 'How to run a Club'. She has created a 'Big Belly Club' with some of her friends and she has taken a lot of ideas from this annual. I think that is great because it does encourage social interaction, although, perhaps unsurprisingly, some children are excluded from the club and this has caused some problems at school. The Worst Bits The worst parts of the annual are related to the worst parts of the books and in fact the concept of Horrid Henry. He is a naughty boy and it can encourage children to be naughty. Since my eldest daughter became a fan of Horrid Henry, her behaviour towards her younger sister has deteriorated. She is always calling... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Very entertaining easy to read stories.
Disadvantages: none

...Horrid Henry’s Nits by Francesca Simon Although there are at least ten books in the Horrid Henry series, Horrid Henry’s Nits was the first book we bought for our son and the one that introduced us the wonderful world of Horrid Henry. Henry is a lovable little rogue, probably aged about nine who lives with his long suffering parents who are never actually named but simply called mum and dad throughout. There is also his often-tormented younger brother Perfect Peter. While being selfish, cunning and usually obnoxious Henry is more mischievous than evil. The slightly younger Peter on the other hand is perfect in every way and the ideal foil for Henry’s antics. Henry actually sold Peter to his neighbour and classmate Moody Margaret as her slave in one tale which gives you an idea of the scale of things. Each book... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Wonderful childrens stories
Disadvantages: You might find yourself addicted

...For Christmas I was given 2 guinea pigs. I had a vague recollection in my head of a children’s book I’d read long ago about a guinea pig ,so I called one of them Olga da Polga in honour of this fictional piggie from my childhood. (I called the other one Parsley Pig da Polga just so she wouldn’t feel left out in the interesting names stakes!) The more I started to think about the Olga da Polga book, the more curious I became about whether it was still available, or even if I’d made it up in my head as a child, because no one else seemed to remember it. A few enquiries in Ottakars later, and I was the proud owner of ‘The Tales of Olga da Polga’ by Michael Bond in paperback (and a whole heap of nostalgia, mixed with a bit relief that Olga wasn’t just a figment of my imagination that I’d carried round with me for 20 years... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful