Kaaaching (Horrid Henry gets rich quick - Francesca Simon)

Member Name: MI9to5

Product:	Horrid Henry gets rich quick - Francesca Simon
Date:	01/12/08 (264 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great fun to read

Disadvantages: NONE

Horrid Henry, his brother Perfect Peter and his rabble of friends that includes Greedy Graham, Sour Susan and Moody Margaret are currently the subject of 17 books written for children aged between 6 and 11. The author of these books is Francesca Simon and each book is based around the antics of Horrid Henry. As his name suggests Henry is quite simply a horrid child and so are many of his friends, which you may have guessed by their names. Peter his brother on the other hand is completely perfect and mum and dad just wish Henry was more like him. Readers of the Horrid Henry books however do not wish this at all, as that would make the stories rather dull, as it stands they are humorous and make an excellent read.

Horrid Henry Gets Rich Quick is book number 5 in the collection and was published in 1997. The book contains four stories entitled, Horrid Henry Runs Away, Horrid Henry's Sports Day, Horrid Henry Gets Rich Quick and Horrid Henry's Christmas.

Each of the four stories is roughly 20 pages in length and is therefore more than manageable for children within the target age range. The stories are also interspersed with some fabulous illustrations by Tony Ross, which grab and hold children's attention as well as helping them to engage further with the story being told.

So what is each of the stories within the book about? Well just for you I have written a short synopsis for each of the four stories in order to tell you just that.

**Horrid Henry Runs Away **
Henry is fed up of always being told off. Fed up of Peter being so perfect and so has decided to run away. Waking early one morning Henry packs a suitcase full of sweets and comics and sets off to the tree-house. Here however he finds Moody Margaret who has also run away from home. Henry is determined to go on a jungle adventure to the Congo but Margaret believes he'll never get there. Is she right?

**Horrid Henry's Sports Day**
That fateful day has come around again - Sports Day. Henry hates Sports Day. He never wins anything, unlike his brother Perfect Peter. This year however Henry is determined to win at least one event. How he wins however is not important to him and so as you can imagine cheating is definitely on the menu.

**Horrid Henry Gets Rich Quick**
Peter is eagerly saving his pocket money for some new fancy thing that he desires. Henry desires to save his for a new toy too but seems to keep forgetting his ultimate goal and spending it on sweets and comics instead. In an attempt to get Henry out of her hair mum suggests he sell some of the things he doesn't want and therefore make some money. This captures Henry's imagination but what he actually decides to sell probably isn't what mum initially had in mind.

**Horrid Henry's Christmas**
It's Christmas once again and Henry is desperate for a fancy and expensive as well a horridly messy toy. As you can imagine this is not exactly what mum and dad have in mind. To make matters worse Cousin Steve is also coming to stay and Henry hates Steve with a vengeance. During the night however Henry has a beastly idea that might just get him the present he wants the most.

My favourite story in the book is Horrid Henry's Christmas because it makes me think about how many people have actually done what Henry does in the story. The thought of this really makes me smile although I know that it isn't really something we should encourage. :)

I would highly recommend these stories to all children within the target age range. They are simple yet entertaining reads and are sure to capture the imaginations of all that read them.

Summary: A brilliant collection of Horrid Henry stories