Is it just me or is Horrid Henry very dubious

[ipanemagirl]

I know that's the whole point but still......

It's also deadly dull. And a hero who totally fails to engage one's sympathy, because there is nothing to him. Just William may have been morally dubious at times, but at least he was funny.

The tapes/CD's are good because of Miranda Richardson.

I agree, can't bear Horrid Henry. He is not even likeable, and does not seem to have any friends.
Terrible.

you don't get him cos you're not 6!

Agree ssd. My ds reads them to himself every night at the moment, so I'm very happy with Henry!

Wouldn't it be a bit odd if you did get it? As ssd says, it is not aimed at you!

My dc think it is hilarious, the fact they do not sympathise with Henry is a good thing IMO - they see him be naughty, they see him get in trouble for it - all good as far as I can see! They don't identify because they are not naughty children, they get to see what happens to a naughty child (ie gets in trouble/loses out on stuff) in a humourous way without any risk to their Perfect Peter record. Brilliant programme.

My dcs didn't think it funny when they were 6. There were lots of other books aimed at 6yos that they did find funny. There are lots of good books about naughty children, doesn't mean a book is automatically good if it has a naughty child in it. Other things, like the style of writing, can be equally important even to a young child.

And I would not be terribly pleased at the thought that the main thing my children was learning from a book was to jeer at people who got into trouble. I'm not fond of Perfect Peters myself.

My 6y DD loves Horrid henry, as does the rest of her class of girls. The teacher read them lots last year, and they are still asking for more this year too. DD reads them in bed as well. She likes them. But then she likes loads of different books.

I don;t even try to like them - I leave them to DD.

Lol Cory, thank you for that, now I am sure that the light hearted tone of my post was taken exactly as it was meant.

If I had meant that it was good simple because of the lead character then I would have said that, if had meant that my children were really Perfect Peter copies I would hand them over to SS myself as I would, clearly, be doing a bad job.

Luckily, you know best and, as your son didn't find it funny when he was six, I am sure it is - therefore - not funny at all and I shall quickly round up my children for a severe beating for having such a TWISTED sense of humour.

Are you sure you don't identify with PP just a little bit?

I've banned them!

No we dont like Horrid henry here...boring. Have you DC tried any of the Mr Gum books by Andy Stanton?
My DS7 Loves them and I love reading them with him they are a hoot!.

we all loved horrid henry and listened to the CDs in the car a lot - until i noticed a lot of his catchphrases cropping up in my DCs' speech and thought i'd stealthily hide them! they still watch it on telly after school but i think his influenceon them is waning - can't say i'm sorry. though i do think the books are funny. there was a really interesting article in the FT (my father-in-law gets it) a while back about middle class mums being up in arms about the evil influence of HH!

Odd isn't it, my dc have never used the phrases or acted superior in any way. No ooh your a perfect peter or anything like that, they watched it and found it funny for exactly what it was - a funny light hearted programme/book/cd (we have had them all!)

On the other hand TRACY BEAKER had to be banned here as it was coming up in speech, certain atitudes were a bit too similar etc.etc. (I even passed the books on to charity after one particular incident) I wonder if it is just the characters that one child identifies with more than another or if it is writing style or something else altogether?

"CBirdy on Mon 05-Jan-09 17:29:11
Lol Cory, thank you for that, now I am sure that the light hearted tone of my post was taken exactly as it was meant.

If I had meant that it was good simple because of the lead character then I would have said that, if had meant that my children were really Perfect Peter copies I would hand them over to SS myself as I would, clearly, be doing a bad job.

Luckily, you know best and, as your son didn't find it funny when he was six, I am sure it is - therefore - not funny at all and I shall quickly round up my children for a severe beating for having such a TWISTED sense of humour.

Are you sure you don't identify with PP just a little bit?"

Are you sure you are not the one overreacting? I never said noone was allowed to find Horrid Henry amusing; just pointed out that being a six-year-old won't automatically do it. Both mine found them quite boring.

I would never have dreamt of banning them, if they wanted to read them they were welcome to do so. Anyone can read them as far as I'm concerned, as long as I don't have to.

I was just noting the fact that not all children do enjoy them.

DS doesn't really enjoy them very much either. He is nearly 6. He doesn't get very excited at the prospect. We read them when I have run out of other English language chapter books.

Yes, I did over-react, I am not quite sure why, I think the moon must be in alignment with the earth or something.

I did feel you were insinuating that you wouldn't like my kids as you don't like perfect peter types, I was annoyed by that as my comment was meant as a joke and not a true representation of my children (who are far from that in reality - they are normal). You also seemed, to me, to insinuate that children watching HH were children who would jeer at a child getting into trouble - which mine would NEVER do (even to each other as I hate that sort of thing with a passion).

Sorry for getting cross with you.

DS (7) is very fond of them. He has pointed out before that Henry is far too naughty and Peter is irritatingly good and that most people should be somewhere in the middle. He seems to find them amusing and reads them himself, so they're fine by me.

now now NC - you getting yoour knickers in knots instead of tidying your house

Yes indeed he is awful as is PP and don't get me started on the parents...

However as they are what got my DS1 interested in reading they are fab in my eyes

He's trying to be a modern day William Brown and fails fails fails every time.

No-one on earth could come close to Just William, but I guess he doesn't cut the mustard in our overly pc 21st century .

Bet you wouldn't like Captain Underpants either

FAQ - you spotted me
See - I will do anything to avoid scrubbing my floors

ahh yes I stalk track down my cult members fellow slatterns to make sure they're not skiving on here

oh well I shall go against the grain. My dcs love HH and I think the HH stories are great. I really don't know why you have a problem with these stories. I wish I had thought of the idea first. Frankly there are far more odious characters in children's literature including the majority of enid blyton's creations who are generally slf rightous and smug and the unbearable sanctimonious Noddy. I find HH quite endearing.

Ooh - I am a fully paid up memeber of the cult now then? I am feeling all included now