Once you start it, you won't be able to switch it off!
Advantages:
Lovely story, easy for children to follow
Disadvantages:
Having to read it ten times a day !
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
I am very proud of my daughter & her love of books. She's only 2½ years old but she loves hearing stories & being read to. A typical request in our house is 'Mummy read, read it Mummy'. She has a lot of books, some of which are favourites, which we find ourselves reading over & over again & then there's some that are hardly glanced at. This review is about one of her definite favourites.
Horatio Happened is a superbly illustrated children's short story. The majority of the book takes place 'Under the bed' - Jack has to tidy his room & you know how children tidy up, out of sight, out of mind, & therefore shoves all manner of things under his bed. Then he goes to sleep. This is when Horatio 'Happens'. Horatio is a cute, little, furry creature with a gold star on his tummy, not quite sure exactly what type of creature he is, he's just 'HORATIO'. He is, however, magical & he creates an amazing world under the bed, this is brought to life by the beautifully detailed illustrations throughout. Horatio's friends soon begin to join him in his magical world but this is brought to an abrupt end when jack's mother decides to clean under the bed & finds Horatio. Horatio disappears. His friends then spend the rest of the book searching for him, I won't say where, or if, they find him, but in true children's book fashion, there is a happy ending.
Amy loves this book, I think partly because it's different to a lot of her other books, but also because it's short, so it holds her attention. It's an easy story to follow & easy for her to understand. She also likes to join in, giving a little scream when Jacks mother screams upon finding Horatio & she becomes quite concerned when Horatio vanishes, asking 'Where's T'ratio?' (She can't quite say Horatio properly yet, but she's working on it). In fact Amy enjoys this book so much she almost knows it word for word herself & if no one is available to read it for her she will sit, looking at the pictures & reciting the words she knows. When I asked her for a comment for this review she said 'Read T'ratio Mummy, Read it, read it'.
The book is written by Kathryn Cave & illustrated by Chris Riddell. It's published by Hodder Children's Books & is available in both hardback & paperback from all good book stores, including Amazon, WHSmith & Waterstones. It retails at £4:99, but can be picked up cheaper if you shop around. I managed to get the paperback version from our local Poundstretcher for the amazing sum of 99p.
So I guess that about sums it up really. I would recommend this book to anyone who has children, who enjoy stories. I will say the one surprising thing about this book is that, even though we must have read it at least a hundred times so far, I'm not bored with it yet & I can't honestly say that about all of Amy's books.
More details
How does it compare to similar audio books?
Excellent
How does it compare to audio works by the same author?
Very good
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