Horrid Henry

Horrid Henry
By Francesca Simon, illustrated by Tony Ross
Minneapolis, MN : Spotlight, 2013, Ages 6-9

This story is about Horrid Henry and different stories about his life. The main characters are horrid Henry and his brother Perfect Peter. The first story is about Henry trying to be perfect for the day. The other stories are about Henry being horrid while is brother is being perfect and how Henry tries to get his way.

The author uses alliterations to describe every person in the book who has a name:  Horrid Henry, Perfect Peter, Lazy Linda and Moody Margaret. The first line of the book illustrates the use of alliterations, "Henry was Horrid." And when his mother says, "Why can't you be perfect like Peter?"

The pictures in the book are done in pencil and are fun sketches. Pages 2 and 3 depict Henry and Peter perfectly. The pictures on those pages really help develop our imagination of what Peter and Henry would look like and how horrid Henry really is.

When I read this book I put myself in the mind of a fourth grader, and loved it! The book may have been fairly easy for a fourth grader to read, although it is still a book I would read to my students if I was teaching about alliterations. Henry is around the readers' ages and the readers should be able to understand not being perfect if they have a younger sibling. The readers may relate to doing an activity they do not like but are forced to go to, just like Henry. I cannot wait to read a few of the stories to my class to teach about alliterations.

--Reviewed by M.K.B.