Synopsis: The much-loved trickster Horrid Henry returns in this collection of four brand new stories in which he proves himself to be truly horrid!

Review: Horrid Henry certainly lives up to his name, as demonstrated by his appalling behaviour in this collection of tales. Like a cream bun, you know it is naughty and you shouldn’t, yet it is difficult to find him anything other than delightfully wicked! He is blatantly self-centred but perhaps his appeal lies in the fact that he does exactly what he wants and gets away with it. Haven’t there been times you wished you had? I particularly enjoyed his rewrite of Perfect Peter’s diary and the relish with which he dismissed his arch rival Bossy Bill from class. The other two tales had promising starts but I found the endings rather disappointing. Nevertheless, Francesca Simon’s humour shines through and I found that I chuckled merrily along. The stories are a pleasure if their own right but teachers working in Years 2 and 3 may find them a useful resource for developing children’s knowledge of story, in relation to characterisation and simple narrative structure.