Horrid Henry

By Francesca Simon and Tony Ross

Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 to 5

Horrid Henry is the very first collection of stories about the master of mischief (and the funniest kid in the universe) including:

• Horrid Henry is dragged to dance class.
• Horrid Henry competes with Moody Margaret to make the World's Yuckiest Glop™.
• Horrid Henry tries to survive vacation without TV.
• And, Horrid Henry tries to be good like Perfect Peter (but finds out he is bad at being good).

Horrid Henry is a publishing and media phenomenon all over the world. This laugh-out-loud series has sold millions of copies in the UK and over 200,000 in the US, has spawned a very successful TV show in Britain, has been published in 27 languages, and has received incredible praise from the press, librarians, booksellers, parents, and, most importantly, kids, the world over!

"For kids beginning to read independently, Horrid Henry by Francesca Simon and Tony Ross arrived from England this year, importing sophisticated humor and a sly approach to storytelling."—Los Angeles Times

"Will make you laugh out loud."—Sunday Times

Why Horrid Henry?

Kids love it!

"I love the Horrid Henry books by Francesca Simon. They have lots of funny bits in. And Henry always gets into trouble!"

Mia, age 6, BBC Learning is Fun

"It's easy to see why Horrid Henry is the bestselling character for 5-8 year olds."

Liverpool Echo

Because it's funny

"My two boys love this book and I have actually had tears running down my face and had to stop reading because of laughing so hard. My oldest son is rereading all the books in this series on his own now and he still loves them. Happy reading!"

T. Franklin, Parent

"A modern comic classic."

SF Said, Guardian Children's Books Supplement

Kids get to be harmlessly rebellious

"Henry is a beguiling hero who has entranced millions of reluctant readers... little rebels will love this collection and even little angels will be secretly thrilled by Henry's anti-heroic behaviour."

Herald

Henry's naughtiness is a yardstick against which children can get a sense of their own moral goodness and social justice

"What is brilliant about the books is that Henry never does anything that is subversive. She creates an aura of supreme naughtiness (of which children are in awe) but points out that he operates within a safe and secure world."

Emily Turner, Angels And Urchins Magazine

Reaches the most important age group—children who are learning to read

"I have tried out the Horrid Henry books with groups of children as a parent, as a babysitter, and as a teacher. Children love to either hear them read aloud or to read them themselves. The books are spot on for the 5-8 age range and are fun for the adults who share them too."

Danielle Hall, Teacher

The structure provides new readers with a real sense of accomplishment

"My son is 7 years old and a big Horrid Henry fan. This book lived up to his expectations! Horrid Henry is like most boys: he always has a plan and is always getting into mischief! It was amusing, and he could not put it down. Can't wait for the next. He read it cover to cover by himself in 2 days! That for me sells a book! He can't wait for the next one to be published. He has recommended it to all his friends."

Mrs. Tami Gold, Parent

Reaches both boys and girls equally

"Wonderfully appealing to girls and boys alike, a precious rarity at this age."

Judith Woods, Times Books

A global publishing phenomenon with 12 million copies sold!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sourcebooks
• Release date: Apr 1, 2009
• ISBN: 9781402246630

Francesca Simon

Francesca Simon is universally known for the staggeringly popular Horrid Henry series. These books and CDs have sold over 20 million copies in the UK alone and are published in 27 countries. Horrid Henry and the Abominable Snowman won the Children's Book of the Year award in 2008 at the British Book Awards. She lives in North London with her family.

Book preview

1

HORRID HENRY’S PERFECT DAY

Henry was horrid.

Everyone said so, even his mother.

Henry threw food, Henry grabbed, Henry pushed and shoved and pinched. Even his teddy bear, Mr. Kill, avoided him when possible.

His parents despaired.

What are we going to do about that horrid boy? sighed Mom.

How did two people as nice as us have such a horrid child? sighed Dad.

When Horrid Henry’s parents took Henry to school they walked behind him and pretended he was not theirs.

Children pointed at Henry and whispered to their parents, That’s Horrid Henry.

He’s the boy who threw my jacket in the mud.

He’s the boy who squashed Billy’s beetle.

He’s the boy who… Fill in whatever terrible deed you like. Horrid Henry was sure to have done it.

Horrid Henry had a younger brother. His name was Perfect Peter.

Perfect Peter always said Please and Thank you. Perfect Peter loved vegetables.

Perfect Peter always used a hankie and never, ever picked his nose.

Why can’t you be perfect like Peter? said Henry’s mom every day.

As usual, Henry pretended not to hear. He continued melting Peter’s crayons on the radiator.

But Horrid Henry started to think. "What if I were perfect? thought Henry. I wonder what would happen."

When Henry woke the next morning, he did not wake Peter by pouring water on Peter’s head.

Peter did not scream.

This meant Henry’s parents overslept and Henry and Peter were late for Cub Scouts.

Henry was very happy.

Peter was very sad to be late for Cub Scouts.

But because he was perfect, Peter did not whine or complain.

On the way to Cub Scouts Henry did not squabble with Peter over who sat in front. He did not pinch Peter and he did not shove Peter.

Back home, when Perfect Peter built a castle, Henry did not knock it down. Instead, Henry sat on the sofa and

Reviews for Horrid Henry

[elizajane_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Acquired: Borrowed a copy from the local library.Reason for Reading: I thought ds should be able to read this as his reader and I had read good reviews of how funny they were.First, we must get one thing straight. Henry is a horrid little boy. He is naughty, likes to cause trouble, is contrary on purpose, likes to make his perfect brother miserable and is never happy unless he gets his own way. Each book contains four short stories and in no way whatsoever does Henry ever learn a lesson, have things turn out bad for him or say he's sorry at the end. No, Henry may have things go not quite the way he planned at the beginning but they only turn out better than he had planned and in the end he gets what he wanted or even better. Henry is no role model, nor can we learn a life lesson from him BUT he is absolutely hilarious, laugh out loud funny. My son wants to read more books in the series and even if he didn't, I would read them on my own and I am way out of the 7 to 10 recommended age group!This is the first book written and so the first story simply introduces us to horrid Henry and his brother perfect Peter. Henry decides to try being perfect for a day to see what it is like and while he finds it irritating at times, he so confuses his parents and annoys his brother that Peter gets into trouble for a change and Henry can't stop laughing and ends up in his room as usual. Next Henry causes a ruckus at dance class; he'd rather go to karate lessons. Practicing to be a raindrop for Henry is more fun when he does his elephant dance and one thing leads to another until he's finally kicked out of dance class. Hopefully karate classes will now fill in the free time on Saturdays. Then Henry gets together with his neighbour Moody Margaret and the two of them end up in the kitchen making a disgusting, gloopy, gummy, greasy mess called Glop, which they've dared each other to eat. Finally, we end with a camping trip, but Henry's idea of a campground and that of his parent's vary from each other considerably. He wants to go where Moody Margaret's family goes: they have electricity, a pool, TVs, a fridge, a shower and more. Mom and Dad want to go back to nature. Let's just say that when Harry is finished with them, Mom and Dad may never want to be left alone with nature again! Hilarious! Ds did a good job of reading the book, too! It was just a tad over his ability but he enjoyed the stories so much he just kept on going!