Can you remember the stories red to you as a child at school? I seem to remember the stories that either made me laugh or cry such as Charlottes Web, Danny the Champion of the world and The BFG. Unfortunately story time for me at school was a time when we had to sit on a hard floor and listen to dull boring stories.
As a teacher now I try my best to read stories that will captivate children, get their attention and make them laugh. I want my class to hear the first paragraph and want to know more. I was introduced to ‘Horrid Henry’ on my teaching practice.
I have used the books since as a supply teacher to get the buggers to behave. As soon as I pull the book out of my bag the kids stop talking and sit waiting to hear the story. Why can a book get this response?
***THE AUTHOR*** Francesca Simon is a very talented author her books capture the children with stories in which they could easy imagine themselves. The stories are based around the central character ‘Horrid Henry’ in school, at home, in his town basically anywhere he goes there is chaos. Horrid Henry is a little sod the type of child in desperate need of a bit of discipline and his parents who could do with a visit from ‘supernanny’. I can imagine that not only would these books appeal to mischievous kids but also the parents suffering with tantrums, untidy rooms and lazy kids.
***THE CHARACTERS*** Horrid Henry lives at home with his mum, dad and his perfect brother perfect Peter, the two are certainly chalk and cheese. The author carefully incorporates Henry’s school friends with careful alliteration. This book is a useful tool for teaching certain aspects of the English language such as nouns, adjectives and alliteration. Rude Ralph, Tough Toby, Dizzy Dave, weepy William and Lazy Linda. The author carefully uses an adjective prior to the name which instantly tells us what that character is like e.g. Lazy Linda is well....Lazy!Henry’s teacher Miss Battle-Axe struggles daily to control and tame Henry’s behaviour, Henry however is such a handful she has very little luck.
***THE BOOK*** This review is about 'Horrid Henry's Underpants' The book includes 4 seperate stories.
1. Horrid Henry Eats a Vegetable 2. Horrid Henry's Underpants 3. Horrid Henry's Sick day 4. Horrid Henry's Thank You Letter
Each story is about 20 pages long so is ideal as a bedtime story.
In the first story 'Horrid Henry Eats a Vegetable' Henry is given a plate of vegetables he pokes around and complains that his cauliflower looks like 'brains' and he refuses to eat it. Perfect Peter pipes up that vegetables are good for him. The sibling rivalry is so well set out. I am sure you can all remember a time where your brother/sister tried their best to get you into trouble?
Well Henry is given a bribe 'if he eats all his vegetables for a week then he can have a special treat' Henry refusing to eat his vegetables finds a way to get rid of his vegetables without eating them. This hilarious story always gets the kids giggling as they can truly sympathise with Henry.
In Horrid Henry's Underpants we learn of the unfortunate present received by Great Aunt Gretna who seems to believe Henry is a girl sending him a pair of pink frilly pants AAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH! Henry cannot believe it afraid of what his mate Rude Ralph might think he tries to hide his pants he shoves them to the back of his pants drawer. They stay hidden well until the day he is late for school picking up his pants he rushes off to school. Feeling himself itch he decided to take a peek at his pants….the pink pants had surfaced and he was wearing them. If wearing pink, frilly, heart patterned pants was not bad enough, the new game on the playground involved pulling each others trousers down in an attempt to reveal the underwear beneath. OH NO. Already faking illness twice that week the situation doesn’t look good! Can Henry save himself?
The next story is not as funny as the first two but Horrid Henry's Sick day is still a story children may be able to recognise. Henry notices that his brother Perfect Peter is ill and gets to have a day off school so he tries to do the same, thermometers under light bulbs, fake coughing and sneezing until he gets his way! As you can imagine two siblings home together both ill (well one of them anyway) is not a good idea. Horrid Henry milks the attention the best he can. If Peter coughs Henry coughs louder. Running his mum and dad ragged until they both end up ill just in time for the weekend. Its Friday, 3:30pm passes as does the end of the school day Henry mysteriously gets better in time to look after his mum, dad and Perfect Peter. The constant requests for drinks, TV, food and plumped up cushions. This is one of the few stories where Henry seems to get away with his antics.
The last story is a forgettable one, don’t get me wrong its funny but not a good as the other stories. ‘Horrid Henry's Thank You Letter’ starts with mum asking Henry if he has written his thank you letters for the Christmas presents received. Perfect Peter pipes up that he wrote his in his perfect little voice. Henry is surprised at writing a letter for an awful green cardigan that was miles too big. Henry however found a great way of writing letters that are short but not so sweet. Writing sentences such as “No thank you for the present”, “Didn’t some Roman say it was better to give than receive so you should be writing me a letter”. After the success of writing this letter Henry decided to set up a business writing letters for other people to give, oops!
***OTHER BOOKS*** * Horrid Henry * Horrid Henry and the Secret Club * Horrid Henry’s Nits * Horrid Henry Gets Rich Quick * Horrid Henry’s Haunted House * Horrid Henry and the Mummy’s curse * Horrid Henry’s revenge * Horrid Henry and the Bogey Babysitter * Horrid Henrys Stinkbomb
All books follow the same kind of storyline with Henry causing chaos, the titles are a huge part of what would attract the children to reading these books. Things such as nits, babysitters and secret clubs are things that would make kids laugh. These books appeal to girls and boys alike which is a very good thing. Boys’ literacy skills has been a much debated area for a few years and any book which attracts young boys to reading is good. I have seen children desperate to move up a level just so they can read ‘Horrid Henry’
***PRICE*** The retail price of these books significantly changes depending on where you buy them. I get my books from Matalan where they cost between 1 and 2 pounds. In Waterstones, WHSmiths and The Works the books cost 4.99 pounds (The RRP).
I am sure on EBAY and Amazon you can get them at a cheaper price. The books can also be found as a box set for around 20-30 pounds. You can also get audiobooks from all popular book shops.
***TV*** Horrid Henry has been made into a television programme which can be seen on ITV, I think the books are better though as there seems to be more description the cartoons are shortened and slightly disappointing.
***SUMMARY*** If you have a child reluctant to read try them with these books. The literacy skills to be learned are vast. The books are easy to read and are great at showing children about expression. There are many points in the books where Henry suddenly shouts or makes a funny noise. I love to read the book with lots of expression with my class as they end uo wetting themselves laughing. A book that leaves children with lots to discuss is a great book and Horrid Henry is certainly a great book!
Fluffy69
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How does it compare to similar audio books?
Very good
How does it compare to audio works by the same author?
Excellent
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