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Horrid has never been so good! Horrid Henry Rocks by Francesca Simon is a short story collection featuring every boy’s mischievous hero. In these four short stories, Henry invades his brother Perfect Peter’s room, infiltrates Moody Margaret’s sleepover to steal yummy treats, writes his autobiography with odd results, and plots to find a way to attend a concert given by his favorite band, the Killer Rat Boys.

This is the first Horrid Henry book I’ve read, but it certainly won’t be the last. I have never laughed so hard in my life. Now, if Horrid Henry was my kid, I would certainly be crying a boatload of tears, but Simon’s horrible main character will delight early readers with his antics. Simon creates a group of quirky characters and embellishes their quirks to the hilt. Moody Margaret is as stubborn as June B. Jones and as obnoxious as Junie’s nemesis, May. Perfect Peter, Henry’s younger brother, is the most perfect kid on the earth. He keeps his room nice and tidy; he does his homework without a problem; and he loves Daffy and Her Dancing Daisies like every good boy should. Lazy Linda is too lazy to bother doing much of anything, and Vain Violet won’t sleep on the floor at Moody Margaret’s sleepover.

The illustrations by Tony Ross are perfect for this one. Ross captures Simon’s zany characters in all their quirkiness. From the point of Moody Margaret’s nose to the ominous zombie from sleepover ghost story, the book wouldn’t be the same without this fabulous artwork.

I could see Horrid Henry Rocks ending up on the banned list for the rotten example it sets for kids, but I think Simon does such a great job of going so over the top with her characters that kids and parents will take it in stride. Even though this book is geared more towards boys, I believe girls will enjoy it too.

I’m now a Horrid Henry fan. I want all the books now!



My 7 year old daughter, Jules, recently had the chance to review Horrid Henry Rocks by Francesca Simon. As a new reader to chapter books, she really enjoyed reading the Horrid Henry stories. The stories were appropriate for her level of reading.

The book is divided into several different stories, but she would have preferred one long story. However, that was the only thing she wished were different. She loved how funny the stories were and finished the book in a matter of days.

Horrid Henry is a funny book about a boy who enjoys teasing his brother Perfect Peter, irritating his teacher Mrs. Battle-Axe, driving his neighbor Moody Margaret crazy and twisting his parents around his little finger. Kids like this book because of the laugh-out-loud humor at a boy whose behavior is so outlandish, it’s funny.

Jules enjoyed the book so much on our next trip to the library, we had to check out a couple more Horrid Henry stories. We would definitely recommend Horrid Henry Rocks to new readers of chapter books.



It is so funny that it makes you laugh out loud.

Horrid Henry Rocks is a collection of short stories written by Francesca Simon. It’s about the adventures of a young boy, Horrid Henry, and the mischief he causes. There are four stories in the book, and each would take a child 15-20 minutes to read. They are simple enough for a child to read, but beginning readers will probably need some help from a parent. The ideal age for this book would be anywhere from first to third grade.

The stories are wacky and goofy and will definitely make children laugh. When it was read to two 7-year-old boys, the two were hysterical the entire time. In each story, Horrid Henry plays tricks on Perfect Peter (his brother), Moody Margaret (his neighbor), or anyone else around him. If your child still laughs at the mention of boogers or other disgusting things, then this book is definitely for him. Girls will most likely get less entertainment out of this book than boys.

One word of warning to any parents who have their own horrid children: This book will probably give your child some bad ideas! Each story usually ends with Horrid Henry getting away with whatever mischief he caused (normally through the “I won’t tell on you if you don’t tell on me” method of child diplomacy), so don’t expect any sort of moral to this story. That said, the book will definitely bring laughs to your children and even to you during some of the more absurd moments.


Horrid Henry is a series about a mischievous boy. He actually reminds me of my son, Zachary who is 5, and plays tricks on his sister, Nevaeh who is 2 at this time, and gets her into trouble. Henry plays many mean tricks on Perfect Peter, his little brother. I really liked how this book actually has 4 stories wrapped up in one book. The first chapter gives you an idea of how Horrid Henry really is...how perfect Peter is, and the chapters that follow introduce some of Henry’s classmates and acquaintances.

I also like how each character has an adjective describing them before their name, Moody Margaret, Sour Susan, Whimpy William, etc... You get a feel of how kids read each other by their adjectives before their name. Henry knows Moody Margaret is mean and bossy to her friends as in the second chapter when she has a sleep over for her Secret Club, Whimpy William cries a lot about everything. My son thought these were good ideas, plus it gave him a sense of the meaning of the words. In the final chapter of the book, Horrid Henry desperately wants to see his favorite band perform, and his parents and brother do not like them so they purchase tickets to Perfect Peter’s favorite band. While at the concert Henry wins the chance to sing and dance with this band who he truly hates, when asked to start a song off he sings a song of his favorite band’s. He then receives tickets in the mail from the band telling him they saw him in a video singing their song and he also gets a back stage pass! I thought this story was wonderful considering, Henry never gets his wish...

I think our favorite part was chapter 3 the Autobiography, where each student in Horrid Henry’s class wrote a page long story about their life and Henry stole Moody Margaret’s and replaced it with his version of her life, all the while not knowing she replaced his with her version of his. There are also some really cute rhymes in the stories from their favorite bands. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who has children of age looking for some wild stories to tell. I will be getting the other books from this series also!



Prior to this review, we were unfamiliar with Horrid Henry, the main character in a best-selling children’s chapter book series from author Francesca Simon. The newest installment, Horrid Henry Rocks!, was devoured in record time by my eight year old, Kylie. I happen to think it’s because Horrid Henry and Kylie have quite a bit in common. :)

You won’t believe what Horrid Henry will do next! All Henry wants is to see the best band in the world. But his family gets "Daffy and Her Dancing Daisies" tickets instead. AAARRGGH!


Join Horrid Henry in his latest adventures in Horrid Henry Rocks, by American born author Francesca Simon, which contains four laugh-out-loud stories. See why he is called Horrid Henry as he gets even against Perfect Peter, butts heads with Moody Margaret, and plots to see the bestest band in the world, Killer Boy Rats!


When the book arrived, I noticed right away that there was something quite funny on the back cover. It said, "If you read this book, you’ll laugh so hard MILK MIGHT COME OUT OF YOUR NOSE!" That in itself had me laughing. But while I was a bit concerned about whether Horrid Henry’s mischievous antics may give the kids ideas, I was curious to see how they would react to the stories. Kylie enjoyed them the most by far. She is a middle child, and the youngest girl in our family, and Horrid Henry... well let’s just say they are kindred spirits. :) His tattletale brother Perfect Peter, well... he reminds us of Caitlyn. Needless to say, while Kylie may not actually pull these pranks on her big sister in real life, thanks to Horrid Henry she can live vicariously through his evil plans.

Any kids who sometimes have trouble getting along with their brother/sister would love this book. Horrid Henry Rocks! is lots of fun and features four stories including Horrid Henry’s invasion, Moody Margaret’s Sleepover, Horrid Henry’s Autobiography and Horrid Henry Rocks. It’s geared toward ages 7 - 10 and is 98 pages full of laughs. Horrid Henry’s plans always get out of hand, and Kylie thought it was super funny, actually laughing out loud at parts. While it may be a smidge of a bad example, the stories spoke volumes to a little girl who sometimes feels low on the family totem pole!



The Horrid Henry collection was designed for ages 7-10 (about 1st-5th grade). These anticay tales will captivate your child if they like books such as Captain Underpants or Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Horrid Henry Rocks is an early chapter book with a comic book feel offering mischievous, immature humor, and is designed for younger readers who can joke and understand sarcastic, over-dramatized stories. For these reasons, even reluctant readers will enjoy Horrid Henry Rocks. All readers will appreciate these short chapters (about 25 pages each) as read aloud as well as for some silent reading as if offers easy break points.

“What is brilliant about the books I that Henry never does anything that is subversive. She [author, Francesca Simon] creates an aura of supreme naughtiness (of which children are in awe) but points out that he operates within a safe and secure world … eminently readable books.” – Emily Turner, Angels and Urchins



You won’t believe what Horrid Henry will do next! The title character in the best-selling children’s chapter book series is back with more fun then ever- causing mayhem and hilarity and trouble- but it’s not his fault! He can’t help that Perfect Peter is being even more of a toady toad than usual- he had no choice but to take action!

Join Horrid Henry in his latest adventures in Horrid Henry Rocks, by American born author Francesca Simon, which contains four laugh-out-loud stories. See why he is called Horrid Henry as he gets even against Perfect Peter, butts heads with Moody Margaret, and plots to see the best band in the world, Killer Boy Rats!
My Take on the Book
This book follows the format and humor of the other Horrid Henry books that I have read in the past. While I laughed hard throughout this book, I still shook my head constantly as I could see myself pulling my hair out with a child like this.

I have to say that I don’t know where Francesca Simon gets her inspiration, but it is amazing to read through these adventures must have such fun writing them. I found the book to be very funny and I know that my daughter would love the book as well, though it scares me to think that she could try some of his tactics...

Overall, another great addition to the Horrid Henry series



When the package with this book arrived my daughter was eager to read it. In fact she finished it in record time - even memorizing some parts of it. She like it very much - I think she could relate to the antics of Henry since she has two brothers of her own. She liked Perfect Peter because she could sympathize mostly with him - as her own brothers pull some of the same things off. This book is very engaging and quick moving. All three stories move rapidly. Horrid Henry is the typical active boy. Great for readers eager for their first chapter books. I found the names of the characters to be cute and funny and the general theme good.