The front cover glows in the dark!
Well it grabbed my attention anyway. I had to cup my hands
around my eyes to check. And glow it did. Having pressed my face so close to
the copy on the shelf, it seemed a bit rude not to take it to
the check-out... Not that I needed much encouragement. I’d heard good things about horrid Henry from some of the kids at the library where I’m doing voluntary work. The only complaints were about the distinct lack of Henry on the library shelves, the early kids having stripped them bare.
This latest offering from Francesca Simon has the usual collection of short stories. My
favourite is the one where Henry and his pal, Rude Ralph, try to freak each
other out with scary stories. Here Henry shows a rare vulnerable side. It turns
out that he isn’t quite as tough as he likes to make out. That makes him easy
to identify with, and we can all think of someone a little (or a lot) like him.
He has a certain charm so that, despite his horridness, we can’t help loving
him.
Is Henry a good role model? One mum at the library said that
she didn’t like her daughter reading the books because she copied the bad
behaviour. But the thing with Henry is that he doesn’t always get away with misbehaving, there are often consequences. So perhaps the books are a good way
to chat to would-be Henry’s and Henrietta’s about how being horrid can go horribly wrong.
Funny, loveable and glows in the dark. What more could a kid
(however grown-up) want?
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