To be really quite shocked by the content of "Horrid Henry" books?

[shimmerysilverglitter]

A thread on here just reminded me of this, have been meaning to start it for ages.

My ds has recently threatened to "kill" his 3 year old sister, told he he hates her, called her a pipsqueak (ok not so bad) and laughs at kids stealing other kids packed lunches, among other things, he has never said these kind of things before and I was like this upon hearing them. Turns out they are all things he has read in Horrid Henry books.

He read them at school I might add.

I just find them quite shocking really. AIBU or just a bit uptight?

I do laugh at them sometimes in a shocked way but find them a bit much.

The only books I have ever wanted to beg not to have to read were the teeth achingly yawnsome Rainbow Fairies series zzzzzzzzzzz,,, sorry nodded off at the mere mention of them.

Obviously I tolerated them because 6 year old DD loved them.

Just like I tolerated the Mr Men for her older brothers ....snore....

I find reading Horrid Henry with 5 year old DS a positive result in comparison

Wonderful post Milamae.

Its been a few years since my DSs were of an age for Horrid Henry....but we LOVED THE BOOKS.

Mind you it does help if you have a sense of humour or else it will be lost on you.

How anyone can say it's shite is truly beyond me

shimmerysilver, we used to use Horrid Henry books in ABA sessions as a reinforcer and to talk with kids with ASD about inferencing - what does Perfect Peter think? etc.

I think kids with ASD identify with it because it is very bald and clear in its message on one level. You have to support them hugely with the inference, if they are at a level that they would be able to develop that.

If not, see the enactment as role play.

Nope, binning crap books is a good thing! Anyone and everyone who employs even mild literacy skills, regardless of their negative IQ, has penned a book or a dozen, however, that doesn't mean the fruit of their labours is readable. Bin the crap books and take some time to introduce your DC to proper literature for Xst sake. [arrrrghhh]

I've just been reading George's Marvellous Medicine with my son (5).
I'm going to be keeping a very close eye on the contents of the bathroom and kitchen cupboards for the next couple of weeks.

I agree that Horrid Henry's parents are to blame.

But your crap might be somebody else's link between reading and not reading.

I have only come across one book that deserved to be murdered and that was Emma Tennant's 'Pemberley' - Horrid Henry is great literature compared to that.

My daughters have read plenty of crap in their time but also plenty of great books (in the last few months dd1 has read Madame Bovary, Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights amongst others) but I still stand by their right to read crap as well if they want to. I sometimes read crap too, normally in the form of Georgette Heyer or The Famous Five - I can still 'recognise the hallmark of literature' as Frank or Rita might say!

Sorry, Mme B, Jane Eyre etc etc etc are basics, every teenager must read them as a part of curriculum.
There's so much more for them to discover, simply scratching the surface... Makes me terribly sad that an average teenager hasn't heard od Balzac or Hesse or Dostoyevski etc.............

The two classic Horrid Henry stories: The one where Henry is good for a day, everyone should read this, I think its in the first book. The one where Henry gets Frilly Knickers (or the one with the Doll); to be recalled whenever your child gets a naff present.

My kids like the Mummy one, which is actually the only one to ever get us laughing out loud.

The school librarian hates them, but they are massively preferable to: boring girls books (too many to mention), the yucky nasty boys vampire ones, or some of the other rubbish that slightly older kids have read to me.

Personally I think HH will be in therapy for years as an adult - all his parents seem to do is tell him how horrid he is.

If children love them and it gets them reading that is all that matters IMO. When I have got all 'worthy' about books my DSs have looked at me pityingly and said 'It is only a story, mum'. I think that people should bear that in mind.
They are capable of working things out for themselves. It is only a phase-if they are going to be influenced by Horrid Henry they were that way inclined anyway!

Rollmops - I think I'd be struggling to get my five year old to read Dostoevsky just yet.

YABU
Reading books like these offers children a sense of escapism. They get to experience situations that they wouldn't neccessarily encounter. It helps them make sense of the world, and also gives them a sense of emotional literacy.
Sometimes it might spill over into real life, but that's when you do your job as a parent to explain why it's not a good idea to behave like Horrd Henry does.
Every child has a littlr bit of Horrid Henry in them

Rollmops - she hasn't read ANY of them as part of the curriculum, actually. I think to expect teenagers to branch into Hesse etc is a little naive - some will but most won't. I was 18 before I read Hesse.

Besides, the point is that HH etc are starting blocks to later reading - better to begin by loving HH than to not engage with books at all.

I have never found a DC who doesn't like Naughty Little Sister books-even though they are now dated. I agree with cat64.

my 2 ds love them and I let my kids read anything, aiming to free them to make their own choices and enjoy their own tastes.
But i hate those HH books and this is why.

1. boys aspire to be henry, he's cool, funny and got all the same interests (TV junk food etc) as my 2 ds.
   But henry is a meanie and a bully. I don't want my kids reading a book where the hero who they want to be is a bully and no one says anything apart from some droning unattractive parents.

2. The books tackle issues that are vitally important to kids: siblings, peers, 'unfair parents'and so on. The solutions offered in the world of the book are cheating, bullying and pushing other people about.

3. Yes they get kids reading. So what? If macdonalds 'gets fussy kids eating', we don't say it's great do we? How did kids learn to read before hh? There are billions of funny brilliant books out there that kids adore.

4. I don't like it that schools shove these badly-written mean-spirited books on the children. My ds's school gave everyone in the class a free HH book then studied it in literacy! (without tackling the issues of bullying at all I might add)

I do understand that some people just love them. Tastes vary and some parents think they are hilarious. Loads of people like bernard manning too.

I'm not sure how these stories differ from the Dennis the Menace comics I read as a child - other than the obvious lack of 'slippering'.

What purepurple said. Escapism and an opportunity to explore their emotions is a big part of what any good book should be about for a child.
I loved Just William stories when I was younger, similar material!

MumInBeds: The main difference is that Dennis the Menace is not dished out by schools at every opportunity. He is not "the magic book character that gets kids to read".

But yes, like purepurple and alishaflorrick said, a broad range of emotions is important and of course it's okay to let your kids read them so long as you are on hand to discuss and reflect together.

But in the school where I work( and my ds's school actually) loads of kids have parents with no english. They might not be discussing the books with their kids- and even if they were I don't think its fair that badly-written meanie Horrid Henry is uncritically handed out and promoted by schools.

PS Just William wasn't cruel to children weaker than him, so I don't think he's nearly as horrid as Henry!

Well, dd2(5) likes them, and I have no real objection to them in principle, but I am bored of them now!

Agree that books don't turn good children bad, mine just find them funny without any great desire to copy HH's actions.

Almost any book can give children ideas- dd1 (6) is reading What Katy Did atm, and is keen to copy some of Katy's more adventurous games (Kikeri!) Doesn't make it a "bad" book (imo)

Some of you need to seriously get a grip

Agree with happychick.
Also, have binned numerous pointless and/or literally vile childrens books and I absolutely adore books. Some so called authors should be drawn and quartered IMnot soHO , killing precious trees with their utter idiotic nonsense - to put it very mildly.

Happychick I disagree

I don't think boys do aspire to be Henry as he's always in trouble,most of the time is outwitted and has to live with an annoyingly perfect brother who can do no wrong. Neither of my twin boys(6 nearly 7) want to be him they just marvel at his audacity and the clever touches in the books. They feel sorry for him.

The issues aren't just siblings,peers and parents and the solutions aren't always cheating,bullying or pushing people about.

Sometimes HH is the one being bullied.

In the tooth fairy one HH is desperate for a tooth to fall out(as is one of my twins),he tries everything,uses his innitiative to come up with some clever ideas eg the sweets,plastic fang etc. The letter saying "nice try Henry" at the end had us all in stitches and HH got his come uppance.

In the Demon Dinnerlady the dinnerlady was bullying all the kids and stealing their food.HH came up with the idea of putting hot mustard in his food-problem solved. Incidentally Mirander Richardson as a cockney dinner lady is as I said before pure genius.

In HH Goes to Work Bill is bullying HH so he comes up with the photocopier plan.

There are stories about things like weddings,boring campsites,nits,living with a perfect sibling,injections etc. Things kids (or should I say boys)often feel but never get to articulate. Kids love to marvel at how Henry overcomes said issues.

Both Horrid Henry and Perfect Peter are over characterized and I think most kids can see that,my two certainly do. Nobody likes a perfect Peter or a horrid Henry.

Most of the time Henry gets his come uppance and punished and a moral is a big part of the story.I actually think the books are good at illustrating to kids what will happen if you live out your fantasy and behave badly.

There are stories where he does get away with it but he often doesn't and the author is clever at slipping in what most kids know will/should be coming eg the muddy pyjamas in the fairy story, the plastic coin in the Tooth Fairy,the doctor's injection in the injection one.

I think this is what gets them reading the books, the will he/won't he get away with it this time,often just when you think he will he's thwarted at the very,very end.

We met Francesca Simon at Hay this year, and it was actually suprising how boring normal she was.

Unlike Andy Stanton, who was clearly as crazy as Mr Gum. The kids loved him though, especially when DS2 asked him why he had used the name Mr Gum and he replied that it was because he couldn't get away with publishing a book for children called Mr Bum...

Why bin a book? That is such an over-the-top unnecessary action. Loopy.