Customer Reviews

Horrid Henry and the Scary Sitter

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The Horrid Henry series is an international bestselling juvenile fiction chapter book written by Francesca Simon, an American-born author who now resides in London.

Horrid Henry and the Scary Sitter has four stories about mischievous Henry and his horrid antics. Although Horrid Henry lives in what many of us would consider a normal household, with a little brother named Perfect Peter and parents who care about their children, Henry is anything but normal.

However, don't let the mischief that Horrid Henry creates turn you off. With the laugh-out-loud stories, such as "Horrid Henry Tricks and Treats," "Horrid Henry and the Scary Sitter," "Horrid Henry's Raid," and "Horrid Henry's Car Journey," even the most reluctant readers won't be able to put this book down.

In Chapter One, "Horrid Henry Tricks and Treats," Henry is faced with a real problem: his little brother, Perfect Peter, decides to trick or treat as a big, pink, bouncy bunny! Henry realizes this isn't good and sets out to ruin Perfect Peter's costume. But when the boys' mom sees what Henry has done, Henry finds himself at home handing out candy instead of going trick-or-treating. What is a boy to do, especially a boy like Horrid Henry? You'll have to read the book to find out!

In Chapter Two, children will find themselves face-to-face with a fear they all share with Horrid Henry: a big, mean babysitter! In "Horrid Henry and the Scary Sitter," even Perfect Peter can't do anything right to make this babysitter happy. It doesn't take long before Horrid Henry finds himself exchanging wits with this nasty teenager named Rabid Rebecca. However, you'll have to read the book to see who wins in the end.

In Chapter Three, "Horrid Henry's Raid," kids will laugh as Henry and his neighbor Moody Margaret try and out-sneak each other. They both have rival clubs, and only one of them can be on top, but who will it be?

Lastly, in Chapter Four, "Horrid Henry's Car Journey," this boy of mischief not only creates trouble for his parents on the long drive to his aunt's house, but his parents find themselves in a dilemma of their own.

Tony Ross's illustrations only complement Henry's craziness in every chapter with the comical expressions of the characters who have to deal with this out-of-control little boy nicknamed "Horrid Henry."

Horrid Henry is up to his tricks again, trying to boss his little brother around, terrify babysitters and plan sneak attacks on neighborhood girls. My daughters and I had great fun reading this book aloud. In the first chapter, Horrid Henry is excited to go out on Halloween. "Every year, Horrid Henry could not believe it: an entire day devoted to stuffing your face with candy and playing horrid tricks." He has the perfect scary costume, but then he realizes he's expected to take his little brother, Perfect Peter, with him and this year Perfect Peter has a cute polka-dot bunny costume. It's more than Horrid Henry can bear. We laughed so much as we watched Henry trick Peter into a scary haircut, then get punished.

Horrid Henry is a great series for kids who want action, laughs and quick stories. Each book has four short chapters, and is written at about a 2nd or 3rd grade level. Kids will like how they see some of themselves in the stories, but can laugh at how Horrid Henry takes everything one step too far. Adults will laugh and cringe at the stories, for Henry is truly a horrid little child. But he has a little of all of us in him.