Mx3 Review: Horrid Henry’s Monster Movie by Francesca Simon

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky (September 1, 2012)
• ISBN-10: 1402277377
• Source: Publisher

Today I’m pleased to welcome my youngest son, Justin, as a guest reviewer. Justin is seven years old and an avid reader. The review that follows is his in its entirety:

My big brother John used to read Horrid Henry books when he was a little bit younger. When my Mom told me I was old enough to try to read them, I was very happy. Especially when I saw that this book was about a monster movie. I like monster movies and scary things like my Mom. My brother doesn’t so it is probably a good thing that I am reviewing this and not him.

Anyway, this book is made up of four stories, the first about a monster movie that Horrid Henry and his friends want to make. They hear about this super scary movie that they all want to see but when they do see it, it’s not scary at all. So they decide to make their own videos. They are so obsessed with making their own movies and nothing else. This is bad because they end up destroying the video cameras so no monster movie for them!  I think this was my favorite story because it was about a monster movie called The Vampire Zombie Werewolf. Too bad the movie was bad because that is a very good title. The movie actually sounded a lot like it was making fun of Twilight which is pretty awesome.

My other favorite story wasHorrid Henry’s Grump Card. Basically, Horrid Henry is always in trouble and he never earns Grump Cards, which are rewards for good behavior. My brother says I’m a lot like Horrid Henry because I get in trouble a lot. That is true sometimes but most of the time I’m a pretty good kid so I would definitely earn Grump Cards.  Anyway, Henry is made because he doesn’t have any Grump Cards, so he tricks his brother Perfect Peter, into trading him the cards for playing with him. The Grump Cards can be used to get out of anything: doing chores, watching TV, talking bad to your parents so obviously Henry wants a lot of these. So, he gets them and uses them until he runs out. The bad thing is he runs out right after doing something he should of, so he gets punished even more! This is what happens when you trick someone to do something!

I think these stories are pretty fun. I especially like to read about what sort of trouble Henry gets in (and no, John, not because I want to do them myself!). If Henry was a smart kid he would learn a lesson from all of this and not get in trouble, but he doesn’t. So, to normal kids like me, the stories teach a great lesson about what NOT to do.

The only thing I didn’t like about the book was how Henry treated his parents. He told them to shut up a lot. This is a bad word in our house. Mom says I’m allowed to say it because I’m talking about it happening in a book. Hopefully, other kids won’t read this and think they can say it!

My mom asked me if I would tell my friends about his book and I definitely will. The stories are nice and short, the drawings are funny, and they make it fun to read! So buy it please!

Thank you, Justin!  Yes, I agree with his statement about the way Henry treats this parents. Luckily, my boys have a bit more respect, but this aspect of the story would be a great teachable moment for kids reading along with their parents. Bottom line, our entire family as a whole are huge fans of Horrid Henry! It’s great to see my youngest son picking up where my oldest left off!